Erie Canal Branch Mini Layout N scale

[Chris333]

Next shiny object. 

After getting N scale Boxcabs 3D printed I went looking for my last mini layout I had copied from a DKS plan. The curves were so sharp that the hand laid turnouts on those curves buckled over time. I had already bought all the Kato Unitrack to make an exact copy of the DKS plan, but I never did anything with it.. Looking for ideas I opened Anyrail that I hadn't used in a long time. Up popped the last project using Tomix Fine Track. So I played around and:


Then printed it out full size to play around some more.


Quickly this happened.


I ordered all the track from here https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/rail/ and the same day ordered some structure kits from MBK. The order from Japan is here (DHL) still waiting for MBK.

The Tomix Fine Track isn't the best, but hopefully I won't run into track problems. A few of the pieces were altered to fit. The turnouts use a magnet with 2 metal plates to hold the points. It is a little flimsy so I will gut all that crap and use slide switches from the underside. Also ordered some Atlas code 80 rail joiners to replace the Tomix joiners that go all the way up the rail web. Just hoping the Atlas Joiners look better. I will be soldering and smoothing all the joints and I have already filled in all the nail holes with styrene rod. When up and running I will paint all the track tie color and add ballast    People ballast Unitrack and this Tomix track has much deeper slots between the ties, should be slow, but OK.

More later, but I have worked up a few 3D printed buildings already. And the name "Canal branch" was a name of a line that paralleled the Erie main in the Youngstown area. The Mahoning River was once the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_and_Ohio_Canal
This quick map shows the Erie main in yellow and the canal branch in green.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1nKnU8fekYovhxhSO5yGrBdAL9b4Zttlg&ll=41.12227652831732%2C-80.67462568194543&z=13

Will be freelancing, but that is where the name came from. More as it happens. The layout is 16.5" x 36".

[chuck geiger]

Can't wait to follow this!

[SAH]

" The Mahoning River was once the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal "

I did not know that.  Thanks for the link.

[Chris333]

" The Mahoning River was once the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal "

I did not know that.  Thanks for the link.

In Warren the B&O built right on top of the canal and by the Erie depot were a set of locks to drop down to the river. And in Newton Falls the canal went over the river on an aqueduct. The abutments are still there.

[High Hood]

This is looking hot.

[OldEastRR]

So is this narrow guage HO?

[conrad]

Chris,

Quote: "I ordered all the track from here https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/rail/ and the same day ordered some structure kits from MBK. The order from Japan is here (DHL) still waiting for MBK."

Looks like a great project.  Question: How easy is it to get the trains stuff from Japan?

Conrad

[Chris333]

It's N scale, I changed the title.


Ordering from Japan is easy and takes less than a week. Ordering from China can take 3 months.

In both cases the key is to find a person or site that speaks English.

[conrad]

Thanks

[Chris333]

Yesterday I got all the joiners swapped out, gutted all the turnouts, soldered all the joints together, and glued the track down. Looks the same so no need for a photo. But this shows the old joiners in the front and new in the back. Just one more thing to not stand out about the crappy track.



Oh and they did the turnout parts just like Atlas c55. The parts are copper that was chrome plated. When you clean the rails they wear off and turn back to copper color. This sucks    but oh well. Maybe when the whole thing is done I will look for silver conductive paint to touch up the turnouts.

The slide switches just came in the mail so I can install those now.

Also the 3D printer has been running non stop for about 4 days now printing building! 

[wazzou]

I've never used KATO Unitrack but it looks like this Tomix product has some depth below the tops of the ties that should make ballasting less finicky.

[garethashenden]

Is there a reason other than time you didn't handlay the track? It seems to me that that would have given a better end result, and if you need to do a lot of repairs right away then I'm not sure how much time you're saving...

[Chris333]

Is there a reason other than time you didn't handlay the track? It seems to me that that would have given a better end result, and if you need to do a lot of repairs right away then I'm not sure how much time you're saving...

Because the last time I handlaid this sharp a curve:


That is the whole point of this layout. I could have just finished the old one:

[davefoxx]

Because the last time I handlaid this sharp a curve:

Get back in there, cut an expansion gap, insert a rail joiner (if necessary) and resolder that rail.

DFF

[Chris333]

Get back in there, cut an expansion gap, insert a rail joiner (if necessary) and resolder that rail.

DFF

I got the t-shirt