Hi folks, The N Scale Database recently crossed 10,000 items and this is great! But, by our estimate, somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 total items have been produced since 1960. Maybe more once you count European and Japanese models. I read somewhere that N Scale is more popular than HO in Japan. We have a long way to go to be complete.... So in order to get more data added we will be giving away N Scale items to our contributors. We will be handing out the good stuff. The give-aways will include rolling stock from MTL (weathered) and Atlas, engines from Kato and (we hope) an A-A centipede set from Broadway Limited. So dig out your old N Scale catalogs and sharpen your Googling skills if you would like to list your favorite models and earn a free (yes, shipping is also free as long as you are in the USA) N Scale item. Complete rules to follow soon. If you have not yet visited the database, check it out here: http://www.trovestar.com/generic/group.php?Collection=4 George admin@trovestar.com
Looks like a good start. Just missing the recebt Kato F7 B units that go with the Blue Bonnets, and the latest F7 Cigar band F7's
Happy to add them. Let me know which body styles you would like. To create a new body style, you need to specify: Vendor (Aurora) Class (Box Car, Rolling Stock, Vehicle, Container) Type (Box Car, Flat Car, Passenger) SubType (typically the length, but can be other categories such as the number of bays on a hopper) Variety (specifics on the mold such as door count, plug/sliding, number of domes on a tank car or capacity on a hopper) If you post the various body styles you would like to see, I will put them into the database shortly. After you have created a few entries, you are welcome to add your own. George
I found a low res scan of an early aurora catalog here: http://www.guidetozscale.com/html/1969_postage_stamp_trains.html It shows about 20 different body styles. Unfortunately, it is too low quality for me to make out the details and I can't find a copy on eBay. If anyone can provide a list of the body styles detailing each style, or can scan the catalog for me to do it, that would be great. George
The Kato F7B's are listed separately. Check this link: Kato F7B List This has both of the new B-units. We haven't yet populated all of the older B-units, which is why we are running this promotion
Which ones are you missing. I did a screen scrape from the Kato site for each release and added it to my own mfg database.
For the F-7A we only have the 2016 release plus one ATSF (304) from 2013 and one ATSF (300) from 2006. I suspect that we are missing 50 or so. For the B-Units, we also have the 2016 releases plus one from 2013 and one from 2006. Again, I suspect we need dozens more. For Kato, I didn't run a screen scrape because so much of their data organization is wonky. It was one of those cases where writing the scaper would have taken more time than entering the data by hand (at least for me).
Wanted to let folks know that the official launch of our TroveStar Rewards Program for N-scale Trains is Thursday, March 31, 2016. That's when we will post Program details and instructions on how to add a train entry to our n-scale database. Participate and earn free trains/train sets! Stay tuned. bit.ly/1LFklpB
I added three new body styles for Minitrix engines. In my opinion there should just be one "Manufacturer" for Trix/Aurora/ATI/Whatever even if the vendor changed from year to year. These seem to be just the same tooling with different packaging. I will next add a couple of rolling stock body styles (with one listing for each) as examples.
Will users be able to add new manufacturers to the database? I'm an n scale building enthusiast and I keep a list of many obscure companies. I would love to add them to the database.
Yes. You simply fill in the vendor field of your entry with anything you like. Just try to avoid duplicates.
The program rewards just arrived from TopHobbyTrains. Arlette gave me a hand selecting things that people would really like. Thanks Arlette! We also have requested some of the latest Weathered BPRR box cars for this rewards promotion, but we will wait til we have them in hand before allowing people to request them. A few notes: The two big rewards: the A-B Santa Fe set and the Centipede set will require you to first qualify for one of the smaller prizes. We need to avoid tying up expensive items for 20 days for people who lose interest half way through. Once you finish qualifying for a smaller reward, you may "trade-in" your entries to go as credit for a larger item, provided nobody else is already requested it. We really want to avoid anyone keying in a few hundred entries only to find out "sorry that item is already gone...." That would lead to bad feelings. Effort involved: even the Atlas Box Cars will require 100 entries. Given that some of the recent Athearn and Trainworx releases have contained 100+ variations, this is not a ton of work, but it isn't push-three-buttons and get a free box car either. In the case of 3-packs, 12-packs or whatever, each item counts. A single 12 pack can therefore count as 13 entries, but you must create an entry for each item with the correct road number. You must also make sure that ll 13 items (each car and the multipack) all share the same multipack product code so they get linked together for search purposes. Entries with a mistake here and there will still count. Downright sloppy entries will not. If you fix errors in someone else's entry that WILL count, so if you simply wish to watch other people create stuff and you can be the "fixer" that would be very much valued. It is certainly possible for two or more people to all get credit for the same item if each person adds more value to the entry by adding critical details. At the bare minimum you will need to specify the manufacturer product code, road name, road number, paint scheme, vendor, body style info and approximate date of issue. This sounds like a lot of data, but often times when you are creating a bunch of items in a multipack, you can use the 'copy item' function that will duplicate everything and allow you to simply change the road number and the product code which takes about 10 seconds to do. The body style, road name/number, vendor and paint scheme will likely be identical for all entries. If you do create entries like this, you must provide the accurate road numbers for each item in the pack. You cannot simply list them as Car A, Car B, etc. Micro-Trains multipacks contain a separate product code for each item in the package. Other vendors do not. We recommend for other vendors you use the product code for the multipack entry itself and then put a -A, -B, -C for each of the components. For example I own a Broadway Limited 6-pack of coal hoppers. If the product code is 3110, then the entry for the multipack should be 3110. For the first car in the pack, the product code should be called 3110-A. The second 3110-B etc. Photo Uploads. If you own one of whatever it is you are creating, we will provide double credit if you snap a picture and upload the photo somewhere and then link it to your entry. Photobucket accounts are free! The system will automatically copy the photo over to the server so you don't get into trouble with bandwidth issues. We will get the full official rules posted on the site by the time we start.
Dug out my old Walthers catalogs and even an old Concor 'Source Book Vol 1' (appears to be from 1982) this weekend. I'm all ready to go.
The latest weathered issue from MTL (BPRR) is now on the way along with some of the MTL weathered UP drop-bottom gondolas. Thanks again to TopHobby Trains for their help.
It's official. Earlier this morning, we launched our TroveStar Rewards Program for N-scale Trains. You can now view Rules & Notes and learn how to earn free trains / trains sets while making history helping to build the ultimate n-scale db! http://www.trovestar.com/special/ntrains/rewards_rules.php
If you do not complete your entries by the deadline, you do not lose your credit. We do require you to re-express your interest in completing a reward to keep the item reserved. Your entries never expire. However, if someone else wishes to earn the exact same item, and we do not have multiple copies, then you might not get the item you wanted. For example, you are working on a MTL weathered car for 150 entries. You finish 100 and your time is up. Simply email us and ask for an extension. As long as nobody else was in queue for the same item your extension will be granted. If somebody else was in queue, and we have no more of that particular item, then your entries may apply to any other item in our program.
I looked at the database and didn't see AHM's N Scale line. I see it on two pages in my 1971/1972 JMC International catalog. Problem is that the catalog pages show (bad) pictures and few catalog numbers. George, do you want to see something like this? Found a short listing of Fleischmann European locomotives too and a few pages of MRC offerings.
