PRR/Conrail Juniata Division Engineering Report

[Dave V]

Frustrated with the layout or just ready for something new?

Maybe some of both.  I used to be deep into HOn3 Colorado stuff when I lived back east...  Now that I'm in the middle of narrow gauge country, it's very hard to resist.  I've since driven (or ridden) almost the entirety of the D&RGW narrow gauge circle as well as much of the Denver, South Park and Pacific, Colorado & Southern Clear Creek lines, and the Colorado Midland (an honorary narrow gauge, LOL).

[glakedylan]

Dave, I would hate to see the Juniata Division come to an end, along with your modelling in N scale. You bring so much to your work and this scale that not having you in it would be totally weird. With that said, if you do in fact switch gears and head into another scale and get rid of your n scale stuff, I know there would lots of interested buyers, myself certainly near the top of that list. Yet, you sticking with the Juniata Division just seems like a good thing from where I stand. all my best with thanks for what you bring to this forum.

sincerely...

[pjm20]

It's your garden railway there to relieve your temptations? Take a deep breath and remember that this:


looks much better outside than cramped up inside.

[wcfn100]

That's a tough one Dave.  You should really go up the the CRM and ride the Goose a few times while you think about it.   


Jason

[Dave V]

That's a tough one Dave.  You should really go up the the CRM and ride the Goose a few times while you think about it.   


Jason

LOL...  Yeah, it's been about a year since I was last up there and in Goose #7...

The only thing that's really staying my hand right now is the cost of structure kits.  I can deal with the crazy expensive price on Blackstone equipment, since I could liquidate a roster of over 40 locomotives in N scale for 3 or so in HO.  But the kits for prototypical structures for the Colorado narrow gauge are crazy.  Imagine if I want to model Rico as an LDE...  The Pro Patria Mill costs almost $500 and would take a lifetime to build...



Then I thought, Chili Line.  That could be done.  Put a Spanish tile roof on the Walthers Pella depot and boom, you have the D&RGW Santa Fe depot.  Espanola's depot would be easy to scratch, although the rock-covered depot at Embudo would be an interesting challenge.

Blackstone is coming out with a K-28 very soon, and then I would need to hunt down a brass T-12 4-6-0.  Blackstone even makes the Chili Line bay-window coaches.

Hmm...

[VonRyan]

Just get one of the Con-Cor galloping geese. you can run it around on the JD whenever you don't want to go outside.

Or try Nn3 

[pjm20]

I have a solution to include the best of both worlds.  :

[packers#1]

Honestly, if the Juniata Division is no longer holding your interest, then I would swap to the modeling subject you're more interested in; at the end of the day, the Juniata Division has been finished for some time, and with the extension, you aren't changing that much on the original door, just building a new town

[davefoxx]

Fighting one hell of an awful temptation to liquidate all of my N and start the new year in HOn3 doing the Rio Grande Southern or the D&RGW Chili Line...  Must...  resist...

Heh, this isn't the first time that you've struggled with this.  I say stick with the Class 1 railroading in N scale and scratch your itch for narrow gauge modeling in the backyard.

DFF

[C855B]

Heh, this isn't the first time that you've struggled with this.  I say stick with the Class 1 railroading in N scale and scratch your itch for narrow gauge modeling in the backyard.

DFF

Wise counsel.

I think one of the contributing factors to your frustration is moving the layout, and moving it a long distance between climate extremes. Yes, you provided for that in size and scope, and it is certainly a necessary evil in your business, but moving layouts built of standard MRR construction materials (i.e., home construction products, esp. wood) like this is a cardinal sin. You will pay penance repeatedly, as there will be problems. And I think the burst pipe just hammered it, going from 0% to 100% humidity in under 60 seconds, and then slowly back to 0% humidity again. Your poor layout should be on Xanax, it's been stressed so badly.

20/20 hindsight, the JD could have been handed off to a nearby a$$hat who could let it bask in its past glories, and the opportunity taken to start fresh in the new environment. But this time with base materials less sensitive to ambient conditions - pink foam, for example - that will be a little more tolerant of the next big move.

[wcfn100]

I think if Dave knew he was gong to stay here, the keeper N scale stuff would get put in a case on the wall and the rest sold off. 

What you guys are missing is that if you have any interest in narrow gauge, Southern Colorado is nothing but a constant reminder of that interest.  It's almost like being able to go back in time like I'm sure many have dreamed about for their own RR.

Honestly Dave, if you're really prepared to make a decision, I think you need to get a Blackstone locomotive and loop of track.  The trains will tell you what you should do.


Jason

[bbussey]

The HO urge will pass.  I would recommend against trading up in scale size whatever the circumstances, unless you've procured at least four-times the space of what currently is allocated for the N scale layout and even then I would hesitate.  Because inevitably, "buyer's remorse" will set in once the Pennsy equipment has been dispatched.

[Dave V]

I'm thinking...  The BLI M1s are almost here, and if they're half as good as the HO ones, I'll be back in Pennsy heaven.

Maybe the answer isn't so much switching scales but building a new Pennsy altogether.  Starting the JD again from scratch, this time with code 55 done right.  Still based on Lewistown, but more prototypical.

Dunno...  Every time I steel myself for the extension, the re-tracking of the existing layout scares me off.  I'm worried I can't get a nice, reliable flat surface for the roadbed once I dig up the code 80.

EDIT:  I just need to freaking commit.  After this weekend's open house.  Hopefully I'll be able to temporarily fix the tunnel track problem.  But after that, the only way to make sure something happens is to start prying up track.  Then I'll have to do something.  Ever wonder why--when I do work, I work so fast?  It's my German "alles in Ordnung" gene...  I can't leave the layout unfinished for long.

[bbussey]

That's different than changing scales and railroads.

Were I in your position, I would look at expanding what you have rather than scrapping it.  Similar to what David Popp did with his New Haven layout, with the initial HCD-type section expanded twice.  If the track is the only thing you are unhappy with, you can replace it while leaving the framework and scenery intact.

You have the luxury of mimicking the actions of a real railroad by replacing sections at a time without disrupting the entire layout.  Similar to what you did in repairing the curved section with Unitrack, with one main operational while the other was out of service.  As functional as the Juniata is currently, I don't see the logic in scrapping it outright and then investing additional time/materials/expense in rebuilding it.  Unless you've changed your mind regarding space allocation and significantly increased it.

Not to mention, there is a ton of Pennsy stuff coming in 2015 with the promise of more.  Seems to be a good time to be an N scale Pennsy modeler.

[Jeff AKA St0rm]

I think it will be harder to retrack the existing layout then it would be to just redo the whole layout. It is true that it will be tough to get it to run right. If you were to sell the current layout and start over i think could be the best plan.