Naugatuck Valley for Sale

[eric220]

For a mere $10,000 and pickup, you can own David Popp's Naugatuck Valley Railroad. Comes with everything, including DCC, locos, and rolling stock.

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/clt/4667047098.html

Maybe Ian can buy it and finally finish a layout. 

[Dave V]

Um...   

Dave was an HO scale guy who began "dabbling" in N scale...and then over the next decade became one of the most influential N scalers today.  I wonder if he's headed back to HO?

Honestly 10 grand for the layout plus trains (15 locos, 100 cars) is a very reasonable price.

[bbussey]

Tempting, if I hadn't started my own already.  But if I were to acquire a layout of that caliber that is so faithful to the prototype setting, I would sell off the rolling stock equipment and replace them with more prototypical versions.  All of the motive power is acceptable, from what I remember.

[muktown128]

He's just down the road from me.  If I only had an extra $10k laying around...

[C855B]

It is giving me pause; I also live close enough to make the trip trivial. Heck - I already have the truck to haul it with. It would make a great second layout in the attic space in our building, or a near-RTR layout for our history museum, which needs a nice layout rather than the cobbled Lionel POS I try to keep running. Problem is that the "fall in New England" setting doesn't work for representing anywhere else. I'd have to scrape it off and re-scenic it all. Too bad.

[peteski]

I hope that David Popp stays with N scale (or maybe even scales down to Z scale) - there are just too many H0 layouts out there. 

[eric220]

I hope that David Popp stays with N scale... there are just too many H0 layouts out there. 

+1

I am looking forward to seeing what he does.

[CrazyLynx]

Beautiful layout for sure.  It would however be sad to buy a finished (or 95% finished) layout, in some ways, unless you only want to run trains, and don't want to build anything first.

I hope Dave continues his n-scale work - outstanding.

[Denver Road Doug]

That's one of the good ones.   Not feasible for me to get it, but if things were different I'd buy it in a second.

I'm hoping it's making room for another project layout.   Have we had one built using Atlas C55 yet?   I would like to see a truly high-end layout built to show what n-scale is about these days. 

[Scottl]

I think layouts are like a lot of things: they are only as valuable as someone is willing to pay.  We'll see if anyone has a shine for this particular layout.  Rolling stock aside, I would have tossed out $1K as a starting number.  But $10K, even with the rolling stock (and it is not that many cars and locos at that), seems over priced to me.

Personally, for me buying a turnkey layout defeats the purpose anyway.

[Chris333]

Wonder how much of the layout was free, like from product reviews and such 

[jpwisc]

David mentioned to some layout visitors last year he is starting a new N Scale layout to provide more article ideas for MR. I'm curious to see what route he goes with it.

[nkalanaga]

CrazyLynx:  Even if you like to build things, buying a finished layout may not be a bad deal, if you like running trains and building MODELS, not layouts.  You would get a "complete", operable layout, and could build anything that struck your fancy to replace what was already there.  No "Plywood Pacific", no messy train room, but still room to change things.

Off topic:  "Plywood Pacific" has been around as long as model railroaders have used plywood, but this time I started wondering if anyone has modeled a plywood mill and actually named their railroad the Plywood Pacific?  For an industrial shortline it would be appropriate.

[Chris333]

Plus David had it set up to operate. Sometimes operators just wanna operate 

[OldEastRR]

This layout can also be a start for an expanded plan. In Model Railroad Planning 2011 Popp presents a plan for his expanded layout back-dated to 1947. I was hoping he was going to do that as his next project.
I liked the NV because the series on building it was "a layout that grows" how-to. Popp built one of those small layout projects MR does every year, then kept on adding parts to it. Scenes moved around and re-arranged as he worked on each new addition. I wish the book Kalmbach published on it had followed that format but they reduced it to the same old same old of every other layout planning book. I think having a small running layout then adding on section after section, new track, etc, is a great way to advance one's skills without having to trash completely the whole old layout. And thinking of a layout in sections is useful in considering how older or cruder parts can be replaced without losing the better parts done with more experience and skill.