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barkshin

barkshin

New Member
Hi all. I should introduce myself. I'm Bill from Oregon's Willamette Valley and new to model railroading. I've dived into the deep end going with n-scale modelling mostly because of space limitations, and find, notwithstanding my nearly 70-year-old hands and eyes, I can tackle most tasks at that scale. Replacing couplers may be the exception. There are also a few things, such as placing decals, I haven't tried yet that may present a challenge.

I find I particularly enjoy passenger trains and attempt to assemble train sets I've ridden over the years. Working on a Southwest Chief ca. 2007 now. I wish someone made a Talgo Series 8 set, a train I ride occasionally just for the sake of riding. My kids live in the Portland area, so I always have an excuse.

This is my current layout.



About 50 feet of Kato Unitrack. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, it's set up on a couple of bare doors on sawhorses. No scenery, but it's fun to just run trains as I learn the ins and outs of DCC, JMRI, switching operations, etc. It's behind me as I sit at my desk, and I find I enjoy just hearing the trains run.

I enjoy trainspotting, too. Mostly in the virtual sense right now, but I hope to get out and start doing it for real soon. I expect the Portland area and the Columbia River Gorge will present some good opportunities.

Thanks for having me. I hope I'll be able to make some contributions as time goes on.

Bill
 
Welcome, Bill! I think you'll find that there are a lot of helpful and friendly people here. I model in HO scale, so I don't know that much about N scale, but there are plenty of people on here who do.
 


Welcome to the group Bill.

I did N scale for many years before switching to Ho scale several years ago.
N scale is tiny but not undoable. A good optivisor is your best friend for tiny
tasks like couplers and detailing.

Glad you found us!
 
Well, shoot. I thought I'd inserted a graphic of my layout, but it isn't showing up. Here's another try:

Screenshot 2025-06-04 104917.jpg
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2025-06-04 104917.jpg
    Screenshot 2025-06-04 104917.jpg
    301.3 KB · Views: 179
Nuts. Now it seems to be showing up, but there's an attachment, too. What am I doing wrong, folks?

Bill
 


barkshin said:
Hi all. I should introduce myself. I'm Bill from Oregon's Willamette Valley and new to model railroading. I've dived into the deep end going with n-scale modelling mostly because of space limitations, and find, notwithstanding my nearly 70-year-old hands and eyes, I can tackle most tasks at that scale. Replacing couplers may be the exception. There are also a few things, such as placing decals, I haven't tried yet that may present a challenge.

I find I particularly enjoy passenger trains and attempt to assemble train sets I've ridden over the years. Working on a Southwest Chief ca. 2007 now. I wish someone made a Talgo Series 8 set, a train I ride occasionally just for the sake of riding. My kids live in the Portland area, so I always have an excuse.

This is my current layout.



About 50 feet of Kato Unitrack. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, it's set up on a couple of bare doors on sawhorses. No scenery, but it's fun to just run trains as I learn the ins and outs of DCC, JMRI, switching operations, etc. It's behind me as I sit at my desk, and I find I enjoy just hearing the trains run.

I enjoy trainspotting, too. Mostly in the virtual sense right now, but I hope to get out and start doing it for real soon. I expect the Portland area and the Columbia River Gorge will present some good opportunities.

Thanks for having me. I hope I'll be able to make some contributions as time goes on.

Bill
Click to expand...
Welcome Bill! Great group of guys/gals here with lots of information you can pick up.

As to the Columbia River Gorge - If you have not spent any time on it grab a couple of picnic baskets and head out. Suggest you start in Vancouver at the Amtrak Station. Usually a bunch of movements there going N/S and E. Then head East ( SR14 ) along the BNSF. You can follow the line almost all the way to Pasco on Wa side of which another major yard and station to hang around. To stay with the tracks, go S on I82 ( Umatilla ) then E/N toward Wallula on Or730. Lots of river industry and grain.

About in the middle of the Wa side you will find Wishram which is a smaller yard/crew change location. You can drive right down to the tracks and there is parking. BNSF goes S over the river to connect with UP and Oregon Trunk. You can't get over the river there but it is another sit and watch place.

Figure out where you wish to cross to the Or side and you have the UP main from Hinkle to Portland. Last time I was in Hinkle checking out the hump yard, the UP chased me out of their parking lot! That has been quite a few years though. There are not as many UP movements as BNSF but there is good scenery and you can get some great long shots of BNSF from across the river if you so desire.

As to river crossing, Bridge of the Gods is fun once. Little tourist trap on the Or side. On either side there are many places to get completely off either SR14 ( Wa ) or I84 ( Or ) to get pix.

That should keep you busy for a day or two!

L8r
 
Last edited:
barkshin said:
Well, shoot. I thought I'd inserted a graphic of my layout, but it isn't showing up. Here's another try:

View attachment 221242
Click to expand...
Wow, that looks so familiar to one of my first n-scale layouts. I only had a single crossover on mine. I too started with passenger trains in n-scale. I told my parents that if I didn't start with passenger train set I would probably never get one. I had had HO for years and was never able to get past the freight. They came through with an E8 unit and 3 passenger cars.
 
Welcome! I am also new to this group and it has been fun! Great group of folks!

I also just enjoy the sound of the clacking all day. I run both HO and N right now.

What size is your layout?
 
ctclibby said:
Welcome Bill! Great group of guys/gals here with lots of information you can pick up.

As to the Columbia River Gorge - If you have not spent any time on it grab a couple of picnic baskets and head out. Suggest you start in Vancouver at the Amtrak Station. Usually a bunch of movements there going N/S and E. Then head East ( SR14 ) along the BNSF. You can follow the line almost all the way to Pasco on Wa side of which another major yard and station to hang around. To stay with the tracks, go S on I82 ( Umatilla ) then E/N toward Wallula on Or730. Lots of river industry and grain.

About in the middle of the Wa side you will find Wishram which is a smaller yard/crew change location. You can drive right down to the tracks and there is parking. BNSF goes S over the river to connect with UP and Oregon Trunk. You can't get over the river there but it is another sit and watch place.

Figure out where you wish to cross to the Or side and you have the UP main from Hinkle to Portland. Last time I was in Hinkle checking out the hump yard, the UP chased me out of their parking lot! That has been quite a few years though. There are not as many UP movements as BNSF but there is good scenery and you can get some great long shots of BNSF from across the river if you so desire.

As to river crossing, Bridge of the Gods is fun once. Little tourist trap on the Or side. On either side there are many places to get completely off either SR14 ( Wa ) or I84 ( Or ) to get pix.

That should keep you busy for a day or two!

L8r
Click to expand...
This is great, Thank you. I can't wait to get out there.
 
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