By andGreetings From WNY. Between Buffalo and Erie Pa. 36" wide

Hello everybody. What a great forum with awesome people! The most fun I've had online in a long time. I went to an estate sale a few weeks ago, and right there before me was an N Scale train new in boxes. It had obviously never been assembled. I immediately thought of my neighbor boy. Needless to say, since the price was $10, I took it home. Luckily, I landed here first, and discovered what fine people You all are.
I found that the track was about a two foot circle. When a few of Your members heard of the project I was taking on for Nolan, they offered to help me with track, locomotive power (since the two locomotives that I had were, uh JUNK. One was the Reader's Digest Southern Pacific with no power, and a LifeLike Yugoslav 0-6-0 T that is a switcher with one speed. 50 mph.)
Anyway, with track, locomotive power, and a caboose in New York Central paint, and some coupler parts and trucks on the way from my new AWESOME friends, this project is looking real. Great to be here!

 

Hi Daryl, Welcome. Glad to hear your enthusiasm, and that you found help here on TB. Happy we were able to provide some good advice.

 

Thanks for the welcome Hytec. I was WAY in HO cars in the 60's. All of the neighborhood kids had Aurora Model Motoring. We combined all of our tracks and had a "mini LeMans", with a few Monza bank curves and some long straights heading into them. It was Illinois, so baseball all Spring & Summer, football in the Fall, and HO motoring all Winter. Doing this for Nolan is bringing back a lot of great memories. After I get him set up, i think it will be a set for the old man. First things first though. Nolan is smart, and a Wiz at Legos, so I think that he will jump in headfirst. Great to meet You!

 

I don't have my track anymore, but I kept my "Hop Up Kit" box with my favorite cars. I have some silver commutators and those brass frame things that went below the frame to lower the center of gravity on the fast ones. Every time I take them out, I can hear Art Garfunkle singing "Bridge Over Troubled Water". Those were the Daisy Spittin' Image 1894 BB guns and nickle pack of baseball card days. Tha All Star Game was Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Harm Killebrew, Ernie Banks, Bob Gibson and Brooks Robinson. Everything just seemed bigger back then. Everybody says Yadda Yadda Yadda. But, if they'd been there, they'd miss it too.

 

I think He will love it and stay with it. Nolan and his Mom brought a cake over last week, so I gave him the Southern Pacific that doesn't run.
He loved just that piece of plastic! He said," Mom. If I had some railroad cars I could hook them up right there!" And He pointed to the rear coupler. It's hard to believe that He's just 6. I can tell just by his reaction to that locomotive that He's going to be wildly excited when we plug his train in. I'll just get his Dad, we'll carry the door over, and plug it in. He won't be bored watching me take all of the time to nail the track down and everything. I have a lumber mill, and a big barn with silo put together, and there's a chicken coop, and a church and a few trees. I'll let him put all of that stuff down for himself.

I really think that I'm as excited as He will be. He's a really special kid, and He deserves every bit of it. I think that He may end up getting into it in a big way. His Dad and Mom are both teachers, and His Dad was an Eagle Scout, so I think that He's going to be just the kind of guy to build a big layourt.

 

Welcome aboard, Daryl, and that's a wonderful thing you are doing for your neighbor boy. Good for you.

 

Thanks for the welcome everyone. There are a lot of great people here. I got interested in N Scale completely by accident. I remember how much fun we had with our HO tracks when I was a kid, and Nolan will have a lot of fun I'm sure. If it wasn't for all of You, these trains never would have progressed like they did. I hope within the next year to get him a locomotive with sound, and enough going on with his track that he can use all of the things that my friends on this forum are helping me with. I'm going to build two 2 by 4 stands at the same time so that we can just add another door and double his track as he progresses. I'm sure that we'll be making some trips down the road to see the trains go by. I'm sure that Nolan's Dad will jump right in too. As of right now, He doesn't have a clue what's coming, but luckily they have a big house!

 

Hello. I,live in the country near Westfield. I'm acually 30 miles closer to Erie than I am Buffalo, so I put Erie to more accurately describe my location. If I lived 30 miles from Buffalo, I would put my location as Buffalo. I wish I lived closer to either city so that I could find a hobby shop. I'm not originally from New York. I could explain how I ended up here, but it's a long story.
I can assure You that I am setting a train up for my neighbor boy. If You would like to contact his Dad, send me an email and I will give You his phone number. It would ruin the surprise, but if it's a matter of clearing up any doubt, he would keep it from Nolan. I always say that my location is Erie so that they have a better idea of my location.
When Nolan has his train set, I will post pictures on this forum. I also intend to help Nolan set up a username on this forum so that He can ask questions of the experts here. He is an awesome kid, which is why I'm taking on this project. I'm sure that You will all love hearing from him. I would never use this great kid's name for personal profit. I will get so much joy out of doing this for him, and no amount of money could make me as happy as doing something nice for such an awesome young man. I'm sure that You can understand that. Nolan is the closest thing to a Grandson that I will ever have, and to me, that is a pretty sacred relationship. I have nieces and nephews that I will never have as much fun spending time with as I do with Nolan. He is one awesome kid.

 

I'm so happy. I was blessed the day that I went to the estate sale. I live near a town of maybe 4000 people, if that. I just found out that there's a tiny park by the track just for train spotters. They have picnic tables, barbecue pits, a scanner playing the two railroad channels through a speaker, and a guy who lives next door yelling at everyone to stay off of his grass. Even the grouch neighbor provides entertainment in between trains! I'm sure that the train spotters leave a big mess when they leave! I'll post some pictures sometime this week. I'll try and get a picture of the grouch too! Billy Goat's Gruff I guess!

 

Have You been to the train spotting area? I was wondering how they arranged the radio so that it could be heard.
The tracks around Westfield are strange. Every few years someone gets killed walking the tracks. I think about a year ago three kids were walking the high bridge over Chautauqua Gorge, and their timing could not have been worse. I think only one of them made it.

 

Here's my first layout, made for my neighbor kid. Nothing fancy, but He has locomotives with headlights, reverse lights, and even cab interior lights on two of them. He has a lighted barn and lumber mill, and I think for a 7 year old, He will have a load of fun with it. I also ordered him a Woodland Scenics Curved Tunnel, and I'll show his Dad the Woodland website, so I think it will be much more scenic very soon, and for now He can switch tracks, disappear into the tunnel, and whiz around some of his Leggos no doubt. All in all, for my first track since my brother's Lionel in the 60's, it will bring a lot of fun to a kid with no neighbor kids to play with, and it's Christmas in June! And the best part, it's a complete surprise to him.

 

Nolan took delivery of his railroad today. His smile says it all!