Page 22 - May June 1999

The other aspect of the real thing is the vast area that, for example, freight yards can cover, also the sheer length of consists. This struck me particularly last year at the ‘Banrail’ exhibition, when two switching layouts, approximately the same size, one in HO, the other in N, were shown side by side. The N scale layout seemed to me to better convey the spaciousness of the prototype. Whilst the HO detailing was fine, the train shortness lacked conviction.
Before really committing myself to N scale, one or two further tests needed to be done. At over 60, both my eyesight and manual dexterity are probably past their best. How would I cope with the smaller scale? Questions of couplers needed to be addressed, and also sources of supply. These, editor permitting, I will turn to in my next article.
(To be continued.)
Modelling Tips
Rick Shoup, of The Sun City Center Model Railroad Club, Florida, sends these helpful tips:
1. A good way to keep freight cars from rocking is to use flat head screws to hold the truck on. The angled shape steadies the car quite a bit.
2. To improve the bond of Pliobond, after cementing the two pieces together, put a drop of Crazy Glue (ACC) on the joint. Will hold better yet allow a slight amount of “give.”
3. The same thing happens when using Ambroid Cement. It sets fairly slowly, per- haps in 2 hours. A drop of Crazy Glue speeds up the chemical reaction to just a few moments.
4. Coat the red aluminum oxide separating disks that are used to cut rail etc with a layer of Crazy Glue, let dry and the disk will not break or chip.
5. Two disks glued together are almost the correct width for cleaning out the solder from flangeways when building turnouts. 6. Take a cross cut bastard file and heat the end with a propane torch about 1/2 inch back and bend to a 30 degree angle. Then bend the tang the other direction. Ie: to make a Z. This is a very good tool for filing rail without skinning your knuckles. Yes, it takes away some of the temper, but the one I bent 30 years ago still works for filing rail.
7. A good cheap big heat sink can be made by obtaining a clothes iron and removing everything but the sole plate. Drill and tap for a 2-56 pan head screw. Take a spring loaded clothes peg apart and fasten the spring down
to the iron with the screw. Slip one of the wood shafts back under the spring and now you have a hold-down that will absorb lots of heat yet will allow soldering without the piece sticking to the iron.
8. Do the same thing with a piece of wood and again you have a third hand for solder- ing or gluing. Yes, the wood will char a bit but wood burning really is a nice smell.
CONSTRUCTOR’S CORNER...
DISPATCH FROM A DOWNSIZER...
Moving to N Scale
Robert Varley
Years ago I was fascinated by things American on the railroad front. However, apart from acquiring a Rivarossi bobber caboose and a Varney stock car, I did little about it, other than drool over the Rivarossi catalogue. Much later I bought some American N scale items, but recycled them without building a layout. I guess that is par for the course, for an armchair modeller!
About 10 years ago I caught the G scale bug in a big way. I began to collect American outline items when I failed to resist the temptation to buy an LGB D&RG drovers’ caboose from Phil Dew’s “Bolton Model Mart”. Soon I added further American models including a C&S Mogul, and then joined the NMRA. A friendly “cold call” letter from Geoff Meek led me to attend the Calder Northern meets at Bardsley Hall, where I was made most welcome. In passing, I wonder just how many people Geoff has recruited to the Association. Its debt to him must be incalculable.
Soon I added HO to my portfolio, first attracted by the Southern, then led into matters Canadian National by Dave Gunn. But my grasshopper mentality and pursuit of the less common, led me into CNJ and Mopac. The trouble with modelling American railroads is that there are just too many that take ones fancy!
I soon became adept and an addict at putting together ‘shake the box’ kits from Accurail, Athearn, E&C and Roundhouse. Intermountain and Life-Like I found a bit too demanding. Also I was put off by the lack of spares for some of the finer detail parts which are all too easily broken when removing them from the sprues. I do not understand why kit manufacturers are so parsimonious, or why they don’t use a less brittle plastic, as Kato do with their small details for their diesels.
Going back to ‘shake the box’ kits, how often one finds items like stirrup steps broken in transit. It would be better if they were separate parts to be cemented on (as on some E&C kits) or on a separate ‘bridge’ across the end of the floor (as on Microtrains N scale freight cars).
I have always taken a pride in making my rolling stock run freely, so I was soon into fitting Kadee wheels and couplers for best performance. Despite advancing years I found to my surprise that I could fit Kadee knuckle springs and assemble 30 Series couplers without too much difficulty. This stood me in good stead when I came to assemble Microtrains N scale couplers.
As part of the upgrade process, when assembling Accurail kits, I replaced the push-fit pegs for the trucks and couplers, with Athearn 2.56 screws. When maintenance requires disassembly I like to
be able to do this easily - the push-fit pegs break off too easily.
Staying with couplers, I became quite skilled at using the wide range of Kadee’s for converting locos. I liked in particular the versatility of the 30 Series mentioned above. They seem to me to be more consistent in returning to centre from either left or right.
I also took a fancy to Athearn’s 86’ hi- cube box cars, again experimenting with different couplers and testing them out on the Manchester Society’s “Basin Street” layout. I built them both with Kadee 27’s on the existing coupler arms (taking care to ensure they swung freely) and also using the body-mounted coupler arrangement from the Walthers autoracks (available separately as part #933-977). With care I found both could be made to operate satisfactorily.
As I suspect happens with many of us, my collection of locomotives, cars and unbuilt kits soon outstripped what I could reasonably expect to run at the Bardsley Hall sessions. With a G scale layout in the loft, it was hardly likely I’d ever find room at home for an HO one! Inevitably, the HO began to take up too much space. Increasingly, the repeated reviews in “Continental Modeller” of the latest Microtrains releases set my thought turning to N scale again. The standard of these products is, I think, well up to the corresponding HO models, and the printing and general standard of finish is superb. The wheel standards may be a bit coarse but I can’t say that bothers me unduly. Peco Code 55 track is certainly fine enough for me - after all, track is far more visible than wheels when a layout is being operated.
The modular Calder Northern N scale layout showed that the recent offerings of Atlas, Kato and Life-Like run every bit as well as the corresponding HO ones.
A chance offering of an Atlas GP35 in C&NW colours, a road I’d begun to take a fancy to, together with a couple of second-hand freight cars, and I was off. Thus N scale became my second interest alongside G scale, and I began to dispose seriously of my HO assets.
It is perhaps worth noting that I am not the only G scale enthusiast to have N as a second string. At Calder Northern, Colin Law and Garth Rooney, to name but two, are ‘dual gauged’. This led me to reflect on the respective attractions of large and small scales. Real railroads are large. The sheer size and bulk of the prototype can be awe-inspiring. There is no better way of experiencing this than being trackside when a long consist of double-stacks hi- balls past. One can sense something of this in G scale when trains of freight cars, especially metal-wheeled, rattle by. LGB’s G scale F7 covered wagons also convey something of the massiveness of the prototype.
22 ROUNDHOUSE