PRR/Conrail Juniata Division Engineering Report

[Mike C]

 Those M1's look like their getting a good workout !  Now that you've lived with them for a while , how do you like the sound ?  I've got one of each , and while I really like the whistle and the speaker , the chuff and cylinder cocks just don't sound right to me .  I'm used to Soundtraxx decoders and these just aren't quite right IMO .  Thinking about switching them out .....

[Dave V]

They sound fine to me.  I turned the master volume down by half, but otherwise I have no issues with the sound.

[Mike C]

 Yea , I turned down just about everything LOL . And a few things I turned completely off .

[Dave V]

Since @OldEastRR expressed concern that I was no longer modeling Pennsy in favor of Colorado railroads...   

[eric220]

Hawt.

[OldEastRR]

Dave you can always do what eric220 did and have the PRR buy up the CM and then run Pennsy trains cross-country
I'm not going to read thru the whole JD thread but was an around the wall sectional layout in the running? Considering you are mostly into running trains around it seems like a natural choice because it's a long run with the trains always visible from one spot. I'm talking about narrow sections bolted to the wall with angle irons -- which seems to be the method Mindheim is going to show in the next MR. The concept is to think of this kind of layout as a set of narrow N-trak modules that attach to the wall instead of stand on legs. This leaves lots of clear area under the layout. For doorways the answer is an actual stand-on-4 legs-section that is placed only when trains are running, and left off the rest of the time, thus leaving the doorway(s) clear. And the wall-bolted parts come down easily when moving or if the layout needs to be dismantled.
No criticism of the layout on a door, just curious.

[Dave V]

My interest in the two railroads is separate and I prefer to keep it that way.  Two different eras and two different themes.  I rather like the "old west" vibe for the Midland...something that in my mind I could not reconcile with a 1950s PRR.  I'm as anxious as you to see how @eric220 pulls it off!

[delamaize]

My interest in the two railroads is separate and I prefer to keep it that way.  Two different eras and two different themes.  I rather like the "old west" vibe for the Midland...something that in my mind I could not reconcile with a 1950s PRR.  I'm as anxious as you to see how @eric220 pulls it off!

I'm also interested in two different railroads, modeling the transition era NP, but also "Modeling" German railroads also. Where things are different for me, is the scenery in the area of Germany I like, is very similar to the area I model with the NP. My old layout, which is now has been dismantled, was just generic. The next one, that is in the planning stages will also be mostly just scenery, and one town, with that town being kinda mix of US and and German looking, something like Leavenworth Wa.

[Dave V]

I ran trains on the Juniata Division briefly this weekend but for now the JD is frozen in stasis.

I'm feeling a very, very strong pull toward On30 (or On3) so I daresay my future in PRR N scale is not as certain as it once was.  For whatever it's worth I haven't run Conrail in two years so I plan to start selling it off.  The recent shot in the arm for Pennsy steam has all but obviated any need for another era.

I've been diagnosed with a very painful neurological condition that's notoriously difficult to treat.  The medications and the condition collude to make my vision and my motor skills worse than they used to be.  I'm still in N scale for now, but it's much harder for me than it used to be.

[wcfn100]

If you end up staying in CO, I don't see why you don't go to On3 or HOn3.  There are nice clubs for each in the area.  Or maybe go back to modeling the Colorado Midland in HO (wasn't that something you said you did long ago?).

I'm actually looking at selling off some N to finance a start into O (standard) modeling the Waterloo Railroad.  Everybody's eyes and hands go on them at some point.


Jason

[Dave V]

Jason, on point as usual!  Get out of my head!

Yeah, the HO Colorado Midland thing has crossed my mind more than once.  However, I love doing the train show thing so the idea of having a Colorado Midland layout I can fit in my Honda Pilot is very appealing, so at the very least I'm going to try to stick out the challenges to finish the Midland in N.

I was at the show this weekend down at Hotel Elegante and found myself drooling again at the On3 modular layout.  I've seen it before and frankly, it's not anything special in its own right, but the scale, the scenery, and the feel all work very well.  I love watching those On3 2-8-0s and 2-8-2 trundle by with their throaty chuff and 3000-series boxcars with skyward-reaching brakewheels following obediently behind.

[wcfn100]

I was at the show this weekend down at Hotel Elegante and found myself drooling again at the On3 modular layout.  I've seen it before and frankly, it's not anything special in its own right, but the scale, the scenery, and the feel all work very well.  I love watching those On3 2-8-0s and 2-8-2 trundle by with their throaty chuff and 3000-series boxcars with skyward-reaching brakewheels following obediently behind.

How was that show?  Would have checked it out Sunday but the Vikes were on as the early game and a have to enjoy this run while it lasts!

I couldn't agree more about the On3 layout.

Jason

[Dave V]

How was that show?  Would have checked it out Sunday but the Vikes were on as the early game and a have to enjoy this run while it lasts!

I couldn't agree more about the On3 layout.

Jason

It was okay.  Lots of cool railroadiana, but not much in either of my scale (N and G).  I picked up Dan Abbott's new book on the Colorado Central.  He was signing them.  I also bought a spike from the Midland from near Buena Vista.

[jpec]

I was at the show this weekend down at Hotel Elegante and found myself drooling again at the On3 modular layout.  I've seen it before and frankly, it's not anything special in its own right, but the scale, the scenery, and the feel all work very well.  I love watching those On3 2-8-0s and 2-8-2 trundle by with their throaty chuff and 3000-series boxcars with skyward-reaching brakewheels following obediently behind.

Man...those layouts are like crack. There are 3 guys around here who come to Timonium with modular narrow gauge - The Warrior Run group, Kevin of Berrett Hill Trains and Joey Ricard of Trackside Scenery www.tracksidescenery.com


Joey's is a total immersion into WV narrow gauge country - the low level ambient sound and the beautiful scenery coupled with the sharp and bass tones of the locomotives have me reconsidering N Scale every time...

Jeff

[Dave V]

Picked up a BLI Alco PA/B set from Factory Direct Trains on clearance.  I'm hopelessly addicted to sound thanks to the K4 and M1.  I know they weren't normal power for the 1949 Broadway (usually a pair of E8s) but they sure look and sound good. 

I've been giving thought to the JD's future and bouncing ideas off @Ed Kapuscinski and I think I know now where I want to go.  My wife and I will hear about some employment-related things over the next few months and am hoping it all keep us here in Colorado Springs for a few more years.  If all of the chips fall such that we do stay here (we should know everything by March) then I think the JD is coming down.  That's if I'm farther along on the Colorado Midland, which is coming along nicely.

Anyway, a JD 2.0 would be a racetrack, cockpit-style.  3 or 4 running tracks, run-through staging behind a low backdrop, and a small extension large enough to host a turntable and roundhouse.  It would be something a bit like this great 3-rail O scale PRR trackplan by Norm Charbonneau, except with hidden staging across the top.  Per usual it would be Middle-Division themed.  I'm a roundy-rounder and I'm okay with that.


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d8uwS75PPw8/Ton8XaHZYuI/AAAAAAAAAcU/OuxxFB2s2Us/s1600/greenbrook_mod_7-2.jpg


Post brain-surgery and with different (and fewer medications) my hands are much steadier so I think I'd be good to go with proper code 55 track.  However, wherever possible I would use ME #6 in place of Atlas turnouts.  I'm just not a fan of the Atlas turnouts.  I've had issues with gauge, durability, etc.  I have some ME #6s on hand, fortunately.  Staging tracks where hidden would be code 80, probably with Unitrack turnouts.

So no major work on the JD (other than rolling stock projects) will be forthcoming until I know for sure whether I'm staying here with this basement.  As the JD shares the room with the CM, I'm looking at a 9.5' x 9.5' max layout size.  I think I can do a lot in that space with a cockpit design.