[Godawgz360]

Hello all! My name is Steve and I'm thinking about getting back into N scale. I tried once about 10 or 11 yrs ago and my track laying and soldering skills were horrendous and it was a big failure. Upon moving to a new house I started an HO layout in a spare bedroom. Got all the benchwork installed and then had a leak in the wash room by bedroom and ended up having to tear down the benchwork and replace the floor. Life happened and I never picked it up. Started painting miniatures and tried to get into other hobbies like Warhammer but just never really got into it more than the painting and scenery aspect.
Lately I've been thinking about how much I used to enjoy building, painting and detailing structures so I thought I might try to get into model railroading again. I'd love to do HO, but I live in a small apartment so I'm really thinking back to N scale.
This time I'm thinking Kato Unitrack to make the track work easier. I just haven't found a small plan yet to fit what I want out of a layout. I also want it to be dcc. I know both cost a little more, but I want ease and reliability.
Anyways, thanks for having me and look forward to all the info on the site and any help or advise on this new venture!

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Hello all! My name is Steve and I'm thinking about getting back into N scale. I tried once about 10 or 11 yrs ago and my track laying and soldering skills were horrendous and it was a big failure. Upon moving to a new house I started an HO layout in a spare bedroom. Got all the benchwork installed and then had a leak in the wash room by bedroom and ended up having to tear down the benchwork and replace the floor. Life happened and I never picked it up. Started painting miniatures and tried to get into other hobbies like Warhammer but just never really got into it more than the painting and scenery aspect.
Lately I've been thinking about how much I used to enjoy building, painting and detailing structures so I thought I might try to get into model railroading again. I'd love to do HO, but I live in a small apartment so I'm really thinking back to N scale.
This time I'm thinking Kato Unitrack to make the track work easier. I just haven't found a small plan yet to fit what I want out of a layout. I also want it to be dcc. I know both cost a little more, but I want ease and reliability.
Anyways, thanks for having me and look forward to all the info on the site and any help or advise on this new venture!

welcome back. I hope it goes better for you this time. There is a track plan section in the forum index that should be some help with the track plan. I can’t be much help with Kato track or dcc because I use old school Atlas track and straight Dc. Good luck! Hope to see some pics of the progress soon!

 

[Godawgz360]

welcome back. I hope it goes better for you this time. There is a track plan section in the forum index that should be some help with the track plan. I can’t be much help with Kato track or dcc because I use old school Atlas track and straight Dc. Good luck! Hope to see some pics of the progress soon!

Thanks! I was looking through the track plan section last night and might have found one to fit what I want with a little modification. Tomorrow we are planning a trip to Crossville TN to check out some hobby shops as there are none in the Chattanooga area that carry model railroad supplies.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

welcome back. I hope it goes better for you this time. There is a track plan section in the forum index that should be some help with the track plan. I can’t be much help with Kato track or dcc because I use old school Atlas track and straight Dc. Good luck! Hope to see some pics of the progress soon!

Nice if you don’t find what you need you can try

Thanks! I was looking through the track plan section last night and might have found one to fit what I want with a little modification. Tomorrow we are planning a trip to Crossville TN to check out some hobby shops as there are none in the Chattanooga area that carry model railroad supplies.

Nice that’s a good start. If you don’t find anything local there are some good online stores to order from also. I have the same problem where I live there are two stores close but both only really have O gauge stuff. I have to buy online or go to train shows when I can.

 

[Fire21]

Welcome to the forum. I also have no experience with Kato Unitrack, but from what I've read from members here who use it, it's practically flawless. I agree with your decision on DCC...it just allows so many more functions from your layout. You sound like you're more into the scenery and structures than the trains themselves. It makes no difference, really, because there are so many aspects to this hobby, and so many levels to each aspect. Enjoy the fun, and good luck! :smilie_daumenpos:

 

[Godawgz360]

I think it's because structures and scenery were always easier for me than the electrical and mechanical aspects. I can work on a wooden building all day long but trying to adjust a coupler gives me fits...lol I mostly enjoy building the wooden kits. I still have 3 of my favorites from my old HO stuff. Sadly from what I've seen online the past couple of days is there's not a lot of wooden N scale kits. The ones I've seen are the same ones that have been around for the past 10 years or kits that are too large for a small layout. Anxious to get to some shops tomorrow and see what else is out there.

 

[Fire21]

I googled "N scale wooden structure kits" and saw a number of sites. Many are plastic, but the wooden ones I saw were really cool.

 

[QueenoftheGN]

I googled "N scale wooden structure kits" and saw a number of sites. Many are plastic, but the wooden ones I saw were really cool.

i agree

 

[Godawgz360]

Went to Crossville to see the model railroads they have set up in the outlet mall yesterday. Pretty cool place. Layouts from G scale all the way down to Z. Finally got to show my girlfriend a layout in person and she seemed pretty interested so that’s always a plus. The local hobby shop was closed so we drove to Knoxville to Dan’s Trains. Not realizing the time, we arrived right at 5pm when they are supposed to close, but Randy (the owner I assume) was nice enough to tell us to come on in and spent the next 30 mins talking to me about the area I plan to model, different products out now and model railroading in general. Although I have nothing to run on it or a power pack, I bought a Kato starter pack of track from him for taking the time for us after a long drive. I will definitely go back and get there well before 5 next time. If you’re in the Knoxville area, stop and check out Dan’s Trains and strike up a conversation with Randy and check out his great little shop.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[traction fan]

Welcome aboard!

Hello all! My name is Steve and I'm thinking about getting back into N scale. I tried once about 10 or 11 yrs ago and my track laying and soldering skills were horrendous and it was a big failure. Upon moving to a new house I started an HO layout in a spare bedroom. Got all the benchwork installed and then had a leak in the wash room by bedroom and ended up having to tear down the benchwork and replace the floor. Life happened and I never picked it up. Started painting miniatures and tried to get into other hobbies like Warhammer but just never really got into it more than the painting and scenery aspect.
Lately I've been thinking about how much I used to enjoy building, painting and detailing structures so I thought I might try to get into model railroading again. I'd love to do HO, but I live in a small apartment so I'm really thinking back to N scale.
This time I'm thinking Kato Unitrack to make the track work easier. I just haven't found a small plan yet to fit what I want out of a layout. I also want it to be dcc. I know both cost a little more, but I want ease and reliability.
Anyways, thanks for having me and look forward to all the info on the site and any help or advise on this new venture!

Godogz360;


Welcome back to the world's greatest hobby!

I'm a 40 yr+ N-scaler and a retired service tech for electrical equipment. That means the things you had trouble with soldering, adjusting couplers, etc. are easier for me than they may be for you. However, I really get the most satisfaction from scratchbuilding, or kitbashing, structures, so we do have that in common.

There are some N-scale wood structure kits, mostly of the laser cut type. The third photo down shows a Laserkit wooden station that I added some interior detail to. There seem to be fewer of the old craftsman wooden kits available than there used to be in HO-scale too. That's where scratchbuilding comes in. Whether you work with basswood, or styrene, You can scratchbuild whatever you want, in any scale. There is a good selection of N-scale windows & doors and scribed bass and plastic sheet stock, along with plenty of beams and other structural shapes.
The photos below show some of the N-scale structures that I've scratchbuilt, or kitbashed.
The pdf files have lots of general information on model railroading. Some/most/all? of the info may be "old news" to you, because of your previous experience. Skim through them if you like. You may find something you can use.

Again Welcome Back!

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:


View attachment WHERE DO I START rev 4.pdf

View attachment Tips for handling small parts.pdf

View attachment Paintbrush Pine Trees.pdf

View attachment N-scale houses.pdf

View attachment 1 How to build a better first layout.pdf

View attachment 2 How to build a better first layout.pdf

View attachment 3 & 4 How to build a better first layout.pdf

View attachment 5 How to build a better first layout.pdf

View attachment 6 How to build a better first layout.pdf

View attachment All AboutTurnouts rev 5.pdf

View attachment A lot about couplers.pdf

View attachment MODEL RAILROADING ON A BUDGET.pdf

View attachment Model Railroad Terminology 3.pdf

 

[fall2fast]

I really like that covered bridge I am new also, in fact this is my first post on here. N scale, not much experience with scenery , but I can figure out the writing. I moved into a bigger house, and want to create a layout. I'm in forums on other subjects where I know quite a bit, and I see many of the early questions asked over and and over again, here I am going to search for answers first, but I do have a few specific problems that I may need direct help with. My layout area is going to have a couple tables for N and do a shelf setup for my HO trains. mostly just so I can take them out of the boxes.

 

[Godawgz360]

I’ve only scratchbuilt a couple of things. I just prefer the wooden kits to plastic ones. I tend to only use plastic for brick buildings and big warehouses or city structures. I’ve went looking at some of the places that produced HO kits I bought but they don’t make them in n scale.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Godawgz360]

Here’s a scratch build I did for a buddy. He doesn’t model railroad but he saw pics of some stuff I did and wanted me to make him something. It’s a bar and grill with a smoke shop upstairs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[traction fan]

Very nice work!

Here’s a scratch build I did for a buddy. He doesn’t model railroad but he saw pics of some stuff I did and wanted me to make him something. It’s a bar and grill with a smoke shop upstairs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Godawgz360;

That Bar, and smoke shop model of yours is a very nice scratchbuilt structure. :appl: If you can build that, you won't have any trouble making whatever you want. it's obvious that you have the tallent.
Thanks for the compliment on my covered bridge. It's loosely based on the Allentown bridge that used to stand south of Seattle. That bridge, the little train order station at Black river, the water tower, the wooden truss bridge, and the coal unloading trestle are all scratchbuilt from basswood. The lighthouse and keeper's cottage were made from real stones and plaster. The big steel trestle is a kitbash of several N-scale deck girder bridge kits, and a much modified HO-scale "Tall steel viaduct" kit. All these kits are from Micro Engineering, and are plastic. The large city station is a 90% of N-scale size model of Seattle union station. The two long sides are kitbashed Design Preservation Models kits. The shorter end walls and the entire interior are scratchbuilt from styrene.

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:

 

[prrfan]

Went to Crossville to see the model railroads they have set up in the outlet mall yesterday. Pretty cool place. Layouts from G scale all the way down to Z. Finally got to show my girlfriend a layout in person and she seemed pretty interested so that’s always a plus. The local hobby shop was closed so we drove to Knoxville to Dan’s Trains. Not realizing the time, we arrived right at 5pm when they are supposed to close, but Randy (the owner I assume) was nice enough to tell us to come on in and spent the next 30 mins talking to me about the area I plan to model, different products out now and model railroading in general. Although I have nothing to run on it or a power pack, I bought a Kato starter pack of track from him for taking the time for us after a long drive. I will definitely go back and get there well before 5 next time. If you’re in the Knoxville area, stop and check out Dan’s Trains and strike up a conversation with Randy and check out his great little shop.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Steve:
Welcome to the forum. I’m glad to see that you found Dan’s Trains and met Randy. He is a great guy and very helpful in all areas of the hobby.

There is also Hobby Town in Farragut, at the Turkey Creek center. I don’t know if they still sell train stuff. Haven’t been there in years. Don’t like the traffic out there. I moved back here from being on Long Island for 9 years and had enough of it lol. Dan’s is only a short drive from me.

Very nice scratch built building! You will have a great looking layout in no time, I’m sure.
If you get time, visit the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge. They also have layouts in all scales and a Garden RR as well.
Keep us posted on your progress.
Dan

 

[Godawgz360]

Thanks guys! I was going to post another shot but it would only allow one pic from my phone.
I did go to the HobbyTown that day also. It was late and the guy said the Oak Ridge guys were down that day with an N scale layout but they had left by the time we got there. He also said they had some clearance engines earlier but those were gone as well. They didn't have much N scale stuff there. It'd be a place I'd stop in on the way to Dan's Trains again just to see if they had any deals. I did pick up that N Scale magazine there.

 

[prrfan]

Glad to hear Hobbytown still handles trains. I’ll stop in there in a week or so. They all need to be supported. Have fun building your layout.

 

[Godawgz360]

Glad to hear Hobbytown still handles trains. I’ll stop in there in a week or so. They all need to be supported. Have fun building your layout.

Thanks PRR! Yeah there used to be one in Chattanooga and they had a small selection of train items but they closed about a year ago. Now the closest ones are in Knoxville or Atlanta.