First N scale project.. need a little help


C

crichard6069

New Member
Hi all - I'm new here and new to railroading in general, though I have been around it for my whole life. My grandfather (who sadly has fallen very ill) has always been a RR enthusiast. He has a room in his basement dedicated to his HO setup and I've gone to a number of model RR shows with him recently.. he had even convinced me to buy some track, an NCE powercab unit, etc.. though I haven't done much with it at this point.

However, I finally have my first project. I have a 5 month old daughter and I am looking to do a small project in her bedroom. I have a wall where I want to run a "shelf" type track along the wall. At each end of the room there is a closet that I want to tunnel into and turn the train around and then come back out of the closet.

I'm not quite sure where to start with it, but I do have two beginners questions....

1) Power supply... I don't think this system needs to be advanced with DCC as I'm only going to run a single train on it. It more or less needs to be one that turns on and off and thats about it. I want to be able to turn it on and let it run so my daughter can watch it. What is a very "basic" powersupply that can do that? I know a bit about DCC, but I have no idea what the alternative to DCC is if you opt not to use DCC...

2) What would the minimum radius be for turning around an N scale train in a closet area that no one will see? I'm not looking for the turn around to "look proper" or anything, I just want to accomplish getting the train turned around so it comes back out of the closet.. the turn arounds will be completely out of sight and I'd like to get them as tight as I can without having a train jump the tracks...

...and I guess that seems like the best place to start with this project. :)

Thanks!!!
Chad
 
crichard6069 said:
Hi all - I'm new here and new to railroading in general, though I have been around it for my whole life. My grandfather (who sadly has fallen very ill) has always been a RR enthusiast. He has a room in his basement dedicated to his HO setup and I've gone to a number of model RR shows with him recently.. he had even convinced me to buy some track, an NCE powercab unit, etc.. though I haven't done much with it at this point.
Click to expand...

Hey, welcome to the hobby....and the forum!

However, I finally have my first project. I have a 5 month old daughter and I am looking to do a small project in her bedroom. I have a wall where I want to run a "shelf" type track along the wall. At each end of the room there is a closet that I want to tunnel into and turn the train around and then come back out of the closet.
Click to expand...

I understand wanting to look at N scale because it fits in a confined area well, but I'd be a little concerned about the small parts of an N scale setup and a small child. Please make sure you take this into account in your design and make it so she can't get to anything that will harm her.

I'm not quite sure where to start with it, but I do have two beginners questions....
Click to expand...

OK, lets take these one at a time.........

1) Power supply... I don't think this system needs to be advanced with DCC as I'm only going to run a single train on it. It more or less needs to be one that turns on and off and thats about it. I want to be able to turn it on and let it run so my daughter can watch it. What is a very "basic" powersupply that can do that? I know a bit about DCC, but I have no idea what the alternative to DCC is if you opt not to use DCC...
Click to expand...

I'm normally a big fan of DCC, but if only one loco will ever operate on the layout, and you don't need the percision control offered by DCC, I see no reason that you couldn't go with a good old DC setup. Some of the Tech 4 power packs by MRC are real nice, and you could probably get a used one off of EvilBay for a good price.

2) What would the minimum radius be for turning around an N scale train in a closet area that no one will see? I'm not looking for the turn around to "look proper" or anything, I just want to accomplish getting the train turned around so it comes back out of the closet.. the turn arounds will be completely out of sight and I'd like to get them as tight as I can without having a train jump the tracks...
Click to expand...

Having a loco turn around is actually based on several criteria. First, a loco with a shorter fixed wheelbase will always be able to negociate a tighter turn then a longer fixed wheelbase. If you think about it, it makes sense. For a small diesel switcher loco the NMRA (National Model Railroad Association) recommends a 9 3/4"r curve as a minimum, however I've seen well tuned loco's go around curves as tight as 7 1/2"r, though it ain't pretty! Really, when it comes to curves, bigger is always better. It's easier on the rolling stock and it's more reliable in operation.

The second issue with it is your selection of rolling stock (cars). Shorter cars, like 40'-50' cars go around tighter curves better. Autorack cars, being that they are longer, require more generous curves.

You also mentioned turning the train around. Just a thought, but if you plan to use a balloon track type setup on each end of a single track to do that, you're going to need some special wiring and sprung turnouts to pull it off. A simpler setup would just be an oval of track. There's nothing that says the long straight legs of the oval can't run side by side.

BTW, the NMRA site I gave you a link to is a wealth of information. Check it out!

...and I guess that seems like the best place to start with this project. :)

Thanks!!!
Chad
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Keep us posted on your project Chad. We'll be interested in how things go. And if you have any more questions (and you probably will), you know where to come!
 
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Thanks for the quick response!!

Effectively my plan is to make this be a big oval track (though not a perfect oval). I did a poor job explaining that. In the closets I'd like to have it start to loop back but on the main "stretch" going along the wall I planned on having two tracks side by side.. basically the layout would sort of look like a dog bone (if that makes sense).

Good point about the small pieces to the track. I'll be running this near the ceiling on that part of the room so it will be going across the top of the windows on that wall. Normally I would have wanted to go with HO but I don't believe I have enough room to turn the train around in the close with HO scale.

Thank you for the links!! I'm glad to hear the radius with N scale can get that small. That is much smaller than what I need - my "ideal" radius would be a 12" radius so it sounds like this is certainly possible.

Thanks again.. When I do start this project I will take plenty of pictures. :)
 
Yes a dog bone would be the name for that.
I would buy a set that has a loco and some cars you like.
The engine and power pack that come with them are fine for running circles.
I would probably stash the track that comes with them away and use flex though.

Most of the time this type of prodject goes around the room above the doors and windows. Then you could use a bigger scale. I love N scale but you won't be able to see it on a shelf up high. It's just not tall enough.

I would hide the throttle control and set it for a moderate speed. Have it get power from a light switch were anyone can turn it on.
 
PartsMan said:
I would hide the throttle control and set it for a moderate speed. Have it get power from a light switch were anyone can turn it on.
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Good one! I like that!

I'd also suggest a larger scale for that height. Plus, with a larger scale small track undulations and such won't play as big of a part in causing potential problems.
 
PartsMan said:
Most of the time this type of prodject goes around the room above the doors and windows. Then you could use a bigger scale. I love N scale but you won't be able to see it on a shelf up high. It's just not tall enough.

I would hide the throttle control and set it for a moderate speed. Have it get power from a light switch were anyone can turn it on.
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I wouldn't mind using HO scale because I already have some atlas flex track, etc, but I'm sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place. The room is a square but one of the walls has the ceiling to the house tapering down until it's only about 4' off the floor. So on three walls the train would be running above the windows (~7' off the ground) but I wouldn't be able to go around the entire room because of the sloped ceiling pitching down to the 4th wall. I suppose I could suspend a huge train bridge from the ceiling!! :)

Thus, I was thinking of making a tunnel into each closet (on opposite ends of the track) and putting a loop on there to turn back around. Unfortunately, I don't think I have enough room in the closets to put the type of radius that an HO scale would need.

Good point about not being able to see the N scale though.. now I'm not sure what to do.. any ideas?
 
PartsMan said:
That's pretty common. I have seen larger (O?) guage train run entirely on suspended track.
You could still put a shelf there. You just have to be creative about mounting it. :)
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Ok you've peaked my interest. I suppose I could still put a shelf there.. hmmm.. my wife is going to kill me. :)

Maybe I'll use the little bit of HO scale I have for my daughters room and put an N scale table in my basement. My grandfather is 100% HO (he curses the size of the N scale) but I'm intrigued by the N scale sizes.. My "train space" is so limited in my basement I'm looking at a 4x8 table.. It seems like I can do so much more with N scale.
 
crichard6069 said:
Ok you've peaked my interest. I suppose I could still put a shelf there.. hmmm.. my wife is going to kill me. :)

Maybe I'll use the little bit of HO scale I have for my daughters room and put an N scale table in my basement. My grandfather is 100% HO (he curses the size of the N scale) but I'm intrigued by the N scale sizes.. My "train space" is so limited in my basement I'm looking at a 4x8 table.. It seems like I can do so much more with N scale.
Click to expand...

I love Nscale. It is a little more tedious being that it is so small and you can't really detail as much as you could on HO. But for the size it makes a pretty impressive layout without taking up an entire basement. For your childs room you could place the entire thing about 4' off the floor and that should be out of reach for the time being. You could always raise it later.
 
Exactly how much room do you have in the closets. If you are running four axle diesel power or a small steam engine, like a 2-6-0, you can make a 15" radius curve in about 32 inches of space if you want to go HO. I have two concerns about N scale, The first is that four feet off the ground isn't all that far but far enough to make N scale seem pretty small compared to the height. The second is that your daughter is so young. If a car or engine derails (and it will) and falls to where she reach it, N scale rolling stock is small enough to present a significant choking hazard. HO scale equipment is big enough that a derailment will be a nuisance but not dangerous. If there's any way to go with HO, I would, and save N scale for your layout.
 
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