N Scale Hi Rail - Retro Hollow Core Door Layout

[wm3798]

Worked on the highway bridge.  The trick was getting it to end at the fascia without the benefit of an abutment...


The canal will pass under the clipped span.



Today I took delivery of a Lifelike Baldwin Station, which is based on the B&O prototype at Sykesville, a bunch of LED platform lights, another bag o' trees, and this big Johnson...



Literally the first Conrail power I've purchased since the early 90s.
More news as the weekend progresses!

Lee

[wm3798]

I've been wanting to do this since I was about 14 years old.


Scratch it off the list.



The PC paint isn't original... as I recall Arnold had the worms all wrong, but whoever did this up did a really professional job. 

[OldEastRR]

What did you want to when you were sixteen?

[wm3798]

What did you want to when you were sixteen?

Well, the drinking age was still 18 back then, so there was that!
Lee

[Doug G.]

Yeah, the original Arnold GG's had the worms way too squarish..



Doug

[wm3798]

Old Life Like Baldwin Station kit is coming around to stand in for Paw Paw.  Not the same as the prototype, but it's unmistakably a B&O station, a kit that's somewhat retro, so it fits in the general principle of the layout...

Not being one to settle for stock out of the box, I carefully added mortar to the brick walls, and tidied up the chunky window castings as well as reasonably possible, then added the inevitable lighting....











A little weathering on the roof and we can call it Christmas.



The stage is now set to start work on the platforms.

Lee

[wm3798]

Tonight on Retro Showcase, we present...


The ancient and venerable Bachmann 0-4-0 dockside.

I picked up this example from the @DKS collection, and it is a true classic of the early days of N scale.  Despite the inherent flaws of plastic running gear, minimal weight, and hardly any track power pick up, I had fun running this old dog around the upper loop for most of the afternoon.
That includes two turnouts with insulated frogs!

For the first half hour or so, she ran at a fairly brisk clip, but once warmed up, she purred along at a reasonable speed pulling a half dozen 40' gons and a caboose.

It was not unreasonably loud, and rolled effortlessly through the Atlas #4 switches with nary a pause.

In the perfect world, it would be working cobblestone street trackage in a warehouse district in Baltimore, Philly or Staten Island, it would take some mighty finicky track work to make that happen, though.  Despite her short wheelbase, she likes to crawl off the rails on tight radius turns, because she's light and needs to run a little bit faster than would be practical in an urban setting.

But for our purposes, I'm pleased to have her toodling along around the layout.  Always wanted to have one, and I'm not disappointed now that I do!

Lee

[nkalanaga]

I wonder if there's any way to put track wipers between those drivers?  Maybe a pair of phosphor-bronze wires, one on each side, soldered to whatever collects current from the wheels?

[peteski]

I wonder if there's any way to put track wipers between those drivers?  Maybe a pair of phosphor-bronze wires, one on each side, soldered to whatever collects current from the wheels?

As I see it, the problem is its short wheelbase. No matter how many extra pickups you put between the wheels, if you get it on a long plastic frog, it will lose contact. And with no flywheel and high-friction mechanism there is no coasting past the dead spot.

Better way would be to permanently couple a box car which would pick up power from the track. That would lengthen its electric pickup wheelbase.

[wm3798]

A permanently coupled boxcar would negate the core purpose of the engine, which is switching duties in tight quarters. 
The only way around the pick up issue is thru live frogs in every turnout.
A lower friction plastic drive train, better gear ratios for improved performance at slower creeping speeds, and a die cast metal shell for maximum heft would optimize the locomotive itself.
Add-ons like working lights, a decoder or sound would be the stuff of nanotechnology.
Lee

[MK]

You can't change out that HO size front coupler?     But, that will partially destroy the retroness. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Baltimore. These things, I believe, were intentionally rebuilt from tender engines specifically for use along Pratt Street. That includes nosing boxcars into your old office!

Somewhere in this house is a B&O HS article all about the operation. Somewhere...

Also, check your email for some tips on potential improvements.

[davefoxx]

You can't change out that HO size front coupler?     But, that will partially destroy the retroness. 

Yeah, but MTL (then Kadee) knuckle couplers have been offered in N scale since the early 1970s, so . . .

DFF

[Doug G.]

Kadee couplers were introduced in the spring/summer of 1968.

Doug

[nkalanaga]

Peteski:  You're right that the short wheelbase is a major problem, and the wipers wouldn't help that.  It really does need live frogs.  The wipers would help the problems of light weight and only four wheels, but plastic frogs would still be a problem.