Hi --
I am converting from Marklin three-rail to DCC two-rail model railroading - mainly because I want to change over to model American railroads, but also partly for reasons of cost - Marklin is fairly expensive stuff.
For the Marklin I have I have just run a pretty basic double track main line shelf layout around the room, with a liftout section in fron of the door. No operations stuff - just running two rains around the room side by side - but it has been good enough to keep my two boys (age 7 and 4) happy.
I have been reading some inspiring stuff, like John Armstrong's "Track planning for Realistic Operations", Ian Rice's "Small, Smart and Practical Track Plans", and a bunch of other stuff from Kalmbach - Model Railroader Magazine, Great Model Railroads
2004, 2005 and 2006, Trains Magazine, John Pryke's "Building City Scenery", Mike Danneman's "Scenery for your railroad", the "Guide to Industries Along the Tracks" and a bunch of other books and web sites.I have also on impulse bought *some* stuff for my new DCC two-rail layout, but I am still stymied about the most impor- tant question: *what* am I going to model on my new layout ?
This is what I know (or *think* I know - I am open to argu- ments which may cause me to change my mind :-) :
1) I like H0 as a scale - I want to stay there. I know I could fit in more track and more train with N scale, but for some reason N scale just seems too small for me. 2) My available space for the layout is not huge - I have a storage/workshop basement room 8 feet by 11 feet, with a 2 1/2 foot wide door (opening out of the room) about 2 feet from the end of one of my long walls. 3) I am thinking a walk-in layout. No duckunders, no liftouts in front of the door. I will need to be able to get into the room to get tools on a fairly frequent basis,4) I am thinking diesel engines and local freigh handling - setouts/pickups or interchange on a regional, shortline or branch line, running a max of 2-5 locos at a time, train lengths not to exceed 10 cars, max two operators at a time, but possible to operate with just one operator.
5) I am thinking maybe locating the setting in the American East or Mid-West in the early 1970s (for the option of adding a pre- Amtrak passenger service at some later stage), but concentrating on local freight handling in an industrial/port/city type of setting. Perhaps a small branch line of a class 1 ?Or perhaps setting the scene to a 1990s era regional or shortline operation in the Midwest ?
6) In addition to freight handling/switching, I am going to need to have a continuous loop for the kids to run a train (where they just adjust speed/start/stop).7) I *admire* the look e.g Malcolm Furlow's "Carbondale Central" or John Fultz's "Central City adn River Route RR", but I have no illusions about being able to superdetail city scenery to such amazing results myself.
8) Also, since I really would prefer to not tempt my dear wife into smothering me with a pillow in my sleep, I do need to keep the cost of this hobby down - I need to look for engines and cars that are "reasonably" priced for someone who is *not* a train affectionado :-)Now, I do already have *some* stuff that can be used or re- used in a DCC setup;
a) I've got about 15 yards of Peco Code 75 flextrack and four turnouts plus motors for the turnouts. Should be used if at all possible.
b) I got a MRC Prodigy DCC Command station with a tethered control and a Viessman power supply/transformer that can deliver 16 V AC, 3.25 Amps
c) I got a couple of Marklin transformers that can power lights and motors for turnouts. Or for that matter run a Marklin train on Marklin track alongside the tworail track.
d) I got a German engine with a DCC decoder installed and a couple of cars with insulated wheel sets (the cars for the Marklin track have metal axels) for testing track and command control.
e) I got an Marklin third-rail F7A-B and plenty of Marklin track plus trafos for Marklins. Mmm - maybe I could reuse some of the Marklin track and trains - running a separate passenger line on Marklin track/trains/trafos. I could probably pick up some prototypical passenger cars somewhere. Mmmm - would anyone in the East or Mid-west still run F7s on passenger trains by the early 1970s ?
and f) I got quite a bit a bit of scenery materials and lumber/ building supplies, but not much in the way of model RR struc- tures/buildings.
Now, *finally* to my questions:
1) Would you recommend setting the era to early 1970s or mid- 1990s ? Or something else altogether ? Why ?2) Anyone able to recommend a prototype railroad given the parameters I have listed ? Say Midwestern early 1970s or mid 1990s - branchline/regional/shortline mainly local switching industrial/port/city ?
3) What kind of industries/layout design elements should such a railroad have to be reasonably realistic and still provide a lot of switching work ?4) What kinds of freight locos and cars would such a railroad typically have in the early 1970 and in the mid-1990s ? Any engines and carriages that you would recommend in particular for being both time typical and inexpensive ?
5) What kind of passenger engines and cars would such a railroad have in the early 1970s.Smile, Stein R, Sorumsand, Norway steinjr online.no