That is so cool. I wish I had thought of it when I was a kid and had a lot of Model Motoring stuff. My innovation was to use all of my straight tracks to create a drag strip across our basement floor.
The track layout depicted in George's "1961" post was the one my set built despite the elongated figure 8 illustrated on the box cover. Before the Thunderjet 500 cars, the Aurora cars had a vibrating mechanism which turned a thick rear axle to get them to move. I vaguely remember seeing one run once and they were noisy. They buzzed The December, 1966 issue of MR was the one in which MR began the first N scale project layout - The Enfield & Ohio. It was fairly conventional grid type construction, not L girder, and used Peco flex track and some Peco switches but the majority of the switches were Rapido. Doug
Here something from europe, but you may recall the brand.... the guy with the moustache, (his fictional name was "Beppe", short for Joseph) dressed like a railways conductor, was actually working on the local police of Vicenza (the town where Lima had the factory). I did not have that box, but all the pieces in the box were (the loco still is) part of my collection when i was a kid. You can access the Lima "memory" website (in italian) here: http://www.rivarossi-memory.it/LIMA/Index_LIMA.htm plenty of ads under "pubblicita'", Beppe's picture, also one with Superman
It was a multi-part series, starting in the December 1966 issue of MR and continuing through the May 1967 issue. The last installment describes the expansion that brings the E&O to the "End up with this" stage.
I sure wish MRR would feature more layouts like this that didn't take up a whole room (let alone a whole garage or basement). Of course, they'd need to cover more N scale projects then If they want to attract new entrants to this hobby, they need to start out with some layouts that are more doable in less space, and less demanding, especially for those just dipping their toes into the water. Let 'em swallow the bait & hook, then you got 'em!
That's a good point @BigJake. As a kid, I found the expansive layout articles somewhat depressing. I had room in the basement, but no money. As an adult, I have no basement and no money.
I still have the Aurora road/rail crossing (with brass rails!). It is part of a very large collection of Aurora Model Motoring track (roadway pieces), supplemented by a smaller amount of Aurora AFX track and adapters to connect the two. The AFX roadway pieces did not need the pins and u-shaped connectors, but its built-in tooth-shaped plastic joiners tended to break, and do not always align perfectly, so I actually favor the older "Model Motoring" roadway pieces. But the AFX track included banked turns, which is the main reason I included use of some AFX track and the adapter tracks in the setups I put together.
Yes and I have that issue of MR. I believe I got it via an eBay auction. I would like to get the ensuing issues, too. It was this layout that, later on, caused MR to admit that total space didn't scale down very well and so, an N scale version of a small (2' X 4') layout didn't have the impact that the equivalent HO scale layout had. This is what started the trend to build N scale layouts in the same space as HO layouts instead of making them "table top". BTW, my favorite N scale project layout they ever did was the "New York and Quebec" in 1968 - 1969 where they wrote the series (or, at least, started it) in a style which made it seem like real RR men were designing/building a prototype railroad. Doug
Aurora even had a tow truck for the Thunderjet 500 series, you know, to clean up after those messy collisions out on the track. Doug
I just noticed that the guy on the cover has a walkaround throttle. I didn't know these existed back then. I wonder if it was this one?
Got some more, this time from Rivarossi, the ultimate brand in Italy when i was a kid. some also from the US that had been the biggest market for the brand for a long time. These came from the following website http://www.rivarossi-memory.it/index.htm The first two were actually in MRR, the last one is the same ad (in italian) where you can see on the left italian models, while on the right, US models.
