Discouraged and sick of it

I'm dropping the engine off at the local hobby shop tomorrow to have them fix the wires. Radio Shack didn't have terminals small enough. I think I'll stay British for now. Keep my tender loco once it's up and running, add a tank engine for shunting/freight work, then focus on scenery. There's a nice GWR Castle class locomotive coming out in the future that I'd like to get my hands on, and once I'm done with scenery it might finally be released.

 

That's the only sentence I'd have to disagree with you on. Because the only Santa Fe steam loco you can get it the dubious quality Bachmann 4-8-4 I look to British and Japanese transition era modelling for my steam fix so I, and other club members, have several Graham Farish and Dapol steamers and they all run very well. I think Bachmann put much more effort into their British Graham Farish steam range, both in terms of quantity and quality, than their U.S. range. I haven't even mentioned my excellent running Japanese steam fleet that out numbers by a comfortable margin my American and British fleets.

 

Maybe I have unrealistic expectations for an N gauge steam locomotive. The Dapol Hall took a long time to break in and still had other issues (gear noise, needs lots of power to move) before the electrical connection problem I caused. I don't see that Spookshow has done a review yet for Dapol and Graham Farish items, but I feel justified in saying that a Kato Mikado or a Bachmann heavy Mountain would wipe the floor with it. That's where I was coming from with that previous comment.

 

I must agree with Challenger Robert. There is a large amount of N scale steam available that runs well, or can be made to run well with a minimum of work. I run steam on the opposite end of the spectrum from what Robert runs; I run small to average sized steam. I run many nineteenth century steam locomotives. These are small things that do require careful handling. They also require better trackwork, as their footprint is small, so maximum contact must be maintained.

I run small and average sized steam on the 1950s pike, as well. As with any model, you must handle them a bit more carefully and be mindful of the details. Steam does not have a monopoly on delicate details. How many on this forum have a diseasel that is missing a horn? How many have a tank car, flat car, or even a boxcar that is missing a brake wheel?

I can only echo what the others have said. Put down the thing and come back to it later. When you do return, look it over carefully, analyse the work required and set to it slowly and methodically.

There is NYCS steam out there. One of the things that you did not mention was the Con-Cor Hudson. They are still out there, and they are based on the J-3a. Model Power sold a USRA light mikado, which the NYCS ran. Walthers/Life-Like sold a USRA 0-8-0, which NYCS also ran. The Kato mikado that you mention was unique to the P&LE, class H-9. Rarely did P&LE freight power operate on the rest of the NYCS. B-mann sells a USRA 0-6-0, which NYCS also had. The Bachmann Standard Line
2-6-0 is based on an ALCo. NYCS used ALCo almost to the exclusion of the others, as it was on line in Schenectady. The Model Power 2-6-0 comes with an ALCo type cab, which can be used to make it look like some of NYCS' 2-6-0s.

So, you do have some NYCS possibilities in N steam. I run all of the steam that I have above named, as well as some others.

 

Specific information like this is INVALUABLE! Even though I don't model the NYCS, I am sure there are those who do and who appreciate this info!

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

 

It's not that the Kato model was based on a P&LE prototype, but rather that the P&LE (and the PM&Y) were the only parts of the NYC system that had 2-8-2 locos based on the original USRA heavy mikado design.

 

I have experienced some similar frustrations with the total loss of a treasured locomotives. I owe a Rowa 2-8-8-2 that has a smoke generator. It was totally ruined by a person to whom I sent it for repair. I purchased this locomotive in the mid-1970s for the same amount of money that my wife and I paid for one month's rent.
Currently I have no home layout, only a loop of Unitrack and the turntable much like you posted, but mine in on a table in my home office.
Lots of enjoyment from staying with the hobby, so none of the set backs have caused me to leave it. I find some different aspect to work on and move forward.

 

N Scale is often a love-hate thing. I have two recent Bachmann steam engines (Mountains), both with factory DCC and both ran very nicely out of the box. Surprisingly so since my last steam engine was a Bachmann bought about 35 years ago which was HORRIBLE. I only bought these two because they were cheap and I thought they might be a fun change.

About 10 years ago I finally drove the golden spike in an L-shaped 15' x 25' layout. I used the new Atlas code 55 track which really looked nice but I kept having derailment problems with some #7 and #5 turnouts. I replaced them, tweaked them but still they drove me to the point of pilling all the N track and using the bench work for an HO switching layout. HO sound was hitting with the early tsunamis and it caught me. I had been in N since 1979 but I was done. I wrote notes on scenery storage boxes "no more N" to remind me.

However, N is neat and has lots of attractions as we all know. I still have N, buy N, and run N and might even start to build a layout again. I have taken to making my own turnouts in N which had a bot of a learning curve but it's N and a lot of things other scales take for granted are just harder in N. I also have HO switching around.

I can't help yu on that British steam engine but I wish you luck...