Hi, I'm new to n scale, and this board! I bought a Bachman Santa Fe highballer set recently and am having a blast with it! I've already bought a couple of cars and will be starting the infamous layout planning and such soon. I have a couple of q's. What kind of track do most people prefer? Right now I have that bachman ez track, I know it won't look very good on a serious layout, but for now it works. Second, I think I'm having a problem related to that track. The train has gotten jerky once or twice. It seems to me like power is being interupted to it very quickly, and it causes the train to jerk. This only happens when the throttle is pretty low, if I crank it up no problems. Could it be the track? I cleaned it and it seemed to help a bit, but it still did it again once or twice. Any help would be appreciated.
Hi Jsieglinger. Welsome to trainboard. I can make a few reccomendations but will probable be over ruled by other members. For track There is Atlas flex track, Peco flex track. Both also have switches although peco is a little more expensive. The most popular is Atlas flex track in code 80 and code 55. Code 55 is pretty new and some of the older engines and cars will not run on them because of the flange difference. I have heard the Bachman e z track is popular with that trouble. Usually caused by dirty track. How did you clean them. Also can be cause by the connection between track sections. Jerking at slow speed sound like dirty track as the faster speed just runs right over the bac spot. Anyway, Welcome again. If you are planning a layout, there are 2 basic types. The modual which is sections bolted together for easy removal and moving and then the permanent type that if you plan on moving you are stuck with tearing down the whole layout. There are several internet train stores where you can buy the stuff at reduced prices. I get mine at Standard Hobbys and Internet trains. Standard Hobbys is much cheaper. [ 05. November 2002, 23:17: Message edited by: Telegrapher ]
Welcome to trainboard and the (most of the time) wonderful world of N scale. The first thought that went through my mind was the power pack when you mentioned jerkiness at slow speed. I don't know what kind you have, but the cheap ones are notorious for poor performance. Track: Peco and Atlas 80 and 55 are the two most popular. Atlas 55 has some bottoming out problems with overly large flanges. If you are just starting out, this isn't a bad thing, it is bad if you own lots of stuff that needs to be converted over to new wheels. DCC: Since you are new considering going dcc early in your layout career. Don't hesitate to post any questions you may have in the DCC forum. No matter how dumb you may feel they are, lots of lurkers who never post will read it and learn as they will have the same question as well. The first post can be as basic as - "what is dcc?" Layout: The layout design forum is a good place to ask for help for design ideas, and critique with what you have to come up with. Other forums: Are a good place to ask about laying track, wiring your layout, building mountains, making trees, etc. You will also find the trainboard to be international in scope with folks participating from Sweden, Australia, England, etc. Railimages: If you are handy with a camera, this is a great place to store your images for others to see. Have a question about how to take photos of your layout, then go to the forum on photography. Welcome Aboard!
Thanks for the welcome guys! The power supply I'm sure is a cheap one. I know sets are pretty notorious for being lower quality, but it was a very attactive price for getting started. I cleaned the track using some of my Lionel track cleaner and the little eraser bar (i have my old childhood O gauge train and still run it) It did seem to help. I'm sure its a combo of dirty track(it was dirty!) and a poor power supply. So far, that little engine seems to be running nice though. Its a Bachman EMD F9 Santa Fe warbonnet. I like it. Alot of people here seem to recommend code 80 or 55 track. From what I understand the higher the code, the taller the rails, correct? I don't understand why it would be better to run shorter rails, wouldn't you run the risk of finding rolling stock with flanges to deep to run? It would seem to me that code 100 would be able to handle any type of car. Maybe I'm not understanding something right. If anyone could clarify I'd appreciate it. I have seen alot of Atlas track at the local hobby shop, I'll probably start picking some up soon. What I have planned as far as layout, is getting a sheet of plywood cut into 2 4x4 pieces. I have a smallish apt with enough space to work on that for now. I'll start on one 4x4 and expand to the other when I need to. I have a couple folding tables 6x3 that I'm going to set the boards on. That way I can move them out of the way if I need the room for other things. Someday when I have a house, I'll build the tables and go large, but for now that will do. Thanks for the great welcome guys!
You are correct that the higher the number of the rail, the higher the rail. Code 80 will handle everything. This is difficult to describe but Peco 55 is really Code 80, but with some of the rail embedded, to give greater stability and more resistance to kinking, visually it looks like code 55 and is code 55. Atlas is new with its track and ran into production problems which meant that some engines (older) and Micro Train cars have flange problems on the Atlas 55. Atlas offers bulk packages of wheel sets to change out the Micro Train wheels for theirs. Atlas 55 is a good way to go as long as you are aware of the problem - don't get older engines (not that big a deal - older ones generally are crappier ones in N scale) - and be aware that when you buy a Micro Train car you will have to exchange wheels. Since you are just starting out, this isn't big deal. But understand the poor guy who had 300 MT cars - for him it might be a big deal. Check this link out, you might find a layout you like. Also check out his HO section, you might find something in HO that you can modify for N. http://www.naisp.net/users/mfischer/m_train2.htm
I gotcha now. I'll probably go with Atlas, as my local hobby shop has a ton of it. One Q I do still have, is does Atlas make 2 diff kinds of track? I was looking on Internet Hobbies, and my shop carries the same line of Atlas track products as they have. Atlas track Would this be ok to use? As for the layout design, I'm beating out something to try on my own. After I get the board, I'm going to start buying some track and see if I can translate my ideas to real life. From the area I grew up, we have a lot of coal and steel indutries. What I'd like to have is a small town with a coal mine, and then a larger city with a steel mill. I plan on having a passenger line to service both towns, and a frieght line, giving me two main lines. I also plan to have some local frieght served by a switching engine to go back and forth between the coal mine and steel mill, any possibly a little old 0-4-0 steamer to haul shorty ore cars in and out of the mine. I'm also planning on adding a yard to service the trains from the mainline and also the local engines and cars. I'll get the planned worked up on the computer soon and present it for some critisim. Thanks for all the help so far!
The link you referred me too doesn't say what code it is, so I am guessing code 80. Here is a link to Atlas Catalogue for code 55: https://secure.atlasrr.com/mod1/Amazing/items.asp?CartId=8836094E-ACCWARE-SWKC847&Cc=N900 Here is a link to Atlas's free track planning software. Note, you will want to strangle some one as you learn it, but if you get over the learning hump curve, you will be glad you did. This is the only CAD track planning that is free: http://www.atlasrr.com/software/welcome.asp You will note that you can add the new code 55 track to their library of track used in the Right Track CAD. [ 06. November 2002, 01:11: Message edited by: rsn48 ]
The ATLAS track in the link you provided is definately code 80. There is nothing wrong with using this track. In fact I would reccomend it for a beginner.(Heck alot of oldtimers still use it)
