Video: Susquehanna 4004 at Passaic Junction in 1998

We were looking through Susquehanna railroad videos on YouTube and what popped up? A home video someone shot of a Morristown & Erie engine pushing what looks like an excursion train at Passaic Junction in 1998. But the second engine is the Susquehanna 4004! There are plenty of photos online of this engine, but this is the first time I've seen a video. 

It looks like the train is crossing over Midland Ave. and into the Passaic Junction yard. 

Shelf layout progress: Tunnel hill, final track configuration, No. 4 switches

Slow and steady goes the shelf layout. The foam board is now on. Track is set with one portion glued down. And I'm starting to build up the one section where a tunnel will go through a hill. Using Kato Unitrack has been a revelation, even if I'm probably not utilizing it to its fullest potential by mapping out the exact pieces ahead of time. This has been a trial-and-error endeavor, which has taught me a bunch about using space and other things I can't get without just doing it. 

The future tunnel hill. 

The Tunnel Hill section is something I was debating as an option for the northwestern portion of the layout, as I didn't want to just have a loop that you can see all the way around. Not very realistic that way. So I'm going to use the tunnel and hill to create at least a minor illusion that the railroad doesn't just loop around. I'm using the leftover pieces of foam board to build the skeleton. On top of this I'll use plaster sheets, then the scenery. I picked up a set of tunnel portals at the recent train show down in Edison (more on that in a later post) so all the parts are ready. Just need to block off a few hours to dive in. 

Crossover for switching and passing, along with the industrial yard.

As this layout will be a fictionalized North Jersey, I'm going to try to cram in as much to represent the area as possible. And what would a New Jersey layout be without some industry. The southeast section will have the crossover that will allow trains to both pass on the siding, and switch into the industrial yard area. I'm not sure what I'm going to do here to hide the outer loop. But the middle of it will have a factory of some kind and the outer edge of the scenery will be made to look like something in the Meadowlands. 

All the wiring is fed through the benchwork. The initial incarnation of this layout will be DC, but I'm also adding some things like dead feeder connections throughout so a transition to DCC later will be possible. Speaking of wiring... 

Kato No. 4 switches. Lots of them. But..!

All this progress wouldn't be possible without one of the best eBay finds yet. This lot of six Kato No. 4 switches for less than $100 has allowed me to really shrink the space needed to get some interesting track configurations, something the standard No. 6 switches did not. The problem with No. 4 switches is you have to file a groove into the rails so the points can push in further and be much more flush with the rail. This was a very simple process and the switches are nearly flawless. Even the Atlas 4-4-0s ran over them dozens of times with only one or two derailments. I used Mike Fifer's excellent how-to video. Go subscribe to his youtube channel if you haven't already. 

My own 'Transition Era' with new diesels and cars

 It's been a long few months since tearing up the old 2018 layout--yes, I went through with it. Part of the reasoning was that we got new Unitrack for our 6-year-old and new trains to go with it, and needed the table. So in the interest of catching up on half a year's worth of stuff, I'll start with the new purchases. 

For Christmas we got the 6-year-old this fine Atlas Susquehanna #4004 Dash 8-40B, along with a bunch of freight cars, to go with his new Unitrack. 

Here's a quick video run-by I finally got around to uploading. It runs very nicely, especially for a used engine.  Then again, I'm not used to running diesels, or any locomotives that have so many points of contact on the track. It's so nice to not worry about choppy power supply to the motor. 

The other new engine that we got was for the 6-year-old's birthday this spring. He's been wanting a passenger locomotive for a while, since we have the 25-year-old Amtrak double-deckers. The old Amtrak EMD F40PH was beyond repair--at least for me and time--so I got him a new one from KATO. It's easily the best engine I've ever run. We took it outside in March on a warm sunny day. 

That's about it for the modern additions to our collection. I also found a big, cheap lot of freight cars for the Susquehanna engine, and added another switch and more track to the tabletop layout. 

The next update will be back to Civil War era trains, as I've worked on some new cars, figures, and buildings. Stay tuned. Hopefully it won't be another five months until then. 

Testing Unitrack, First New Track in 25 Years

Got to keep this on the DL. I don't want the 5-year-old to find out ;). But I bought him a Kato Unitrack pack for Christmas. It's tough for him to run trains on the layout, since he has to be so careful and the track is pretty spotty. I've heard only good things about Unitrack, especially how easy it is for younger children to get trains up and running with it. MSRP on the Master 2 pack is $210, but I found a NIB set for less than $170 including shipping on eBay. 

Since I haven't purchased any new track in about 25 years, my curiosity got the best of me. I had to try it out. There's also the fear that something may have gotten damaged in transit. I didn't set up the whole thing. Just did a visual once-over of the contents. But I did get the feeder track, one straight section, and the power pack set up. My first test was with the Penn Central E9. It ran smoother than I can ever remember. Of course, I ran downstairs to get one of the Atlas 4-4-0's to really see how much difference this track would make. Well, you can see for yourself... 

Video: Scout pulls 27 cars like a champ

Here's a short video showing the results of my recent trial with Bullfrog Snot. The Atlas 4-4-0's have gained a great reputation as strong pullers. But I wanted more. So when my younger son's 4-6-0 needed new tires, I figured this was my chance to try out BFS on the Civil War locomotives. The Scout was the trial run, and wow! It's previous record was somewhere around 17 cars pulled before any wheel slip. Now she's pulling 27 cars and could have probably hit 30 had it not been for the double curve. Check it out. Be sure to like the video and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Video update: Weathered boxcars, supply wagons, new army depot scene

It's been a while since my last post. So I wanted to prove I didn't give up on this thing. I finally got around to making a new video tour of the layout. Not much has changed since I posted it (you should subscribe), but I'll tell you a few upcoming things after the video.



Things you'll notice...

• The Micro-Trains Civil War era boxcars have been given road numbers and weathering. It's makes such a difference. Also, they're all fitted with metal wheels. 
• The tender load is tungsten putty covered in firewood I cut from leftover laser kits. 
• Soldiers! I finished the Union Army supply wagons. They look great and add much-needed life to the layout. They were a breeze to paint, even if my eyes were screaming at me for trying to focus so small. I haven't gotten to adding more miniatures, but painting has started slowly. I'll have two more wagons (these from Good Ground Minis) soon.
• The freight station and other scenic changes were covered in the last post. 

Things in the works... 

• I found one of Mark Watson's ventilated boxcars. It's based on a post-war prototype from the Virginia and Truckee, meaning it won't be historically accurate on a Civil War layout. However, it's a good way to add variety to the rolling stock for now. 
• More wagons and miniatures. 
• If I'm adventurous enough, I'm going to paint over the Pennsylvania Railroad markings on the PRR 1510. It'll be a little scary since I really don't want to disturb any of the other ornamentation. But as long as the black paint matches up well enough, it'll be very cool to finally use the U.S.M.R.R. locomotive decals that have been sitting on a shelf. 

Introducing the B&O twins

Here are the latest additions to the roster: a pair of Atlas 4-4-0 Baltimore & Ohio No. 25's. Until I can reletter them, I'll refer to them as The Twins. The decoder addresses are Nos. 5 & 25, but you can't tell from just eyeballing it.

Doubling the size of my roster for a great price?
Yes, please!

Over at the Streamlined Backshop, they're running an inventory clearance sale on a bunch of stuff. So if you're looking to add to your stock, go check them out. I picked up these beauties for a fantastic price, and Steve was able to get the decoders installed super fast. Maybe someday I'll be adventurous and do these installations myself, but right now I'm in no position to ruin engines.

I'll have to figure out some ways other than just relettering or giving them nameplates on the boilers. I'm not going to disassemble, strip and paint either of them. My initial thoughts are using different color cowcatchers, smokestacks, and giving one of the cab roofs a coat of black. We'll see.

The best part is seeing them run together for the first time. One (I forget which at the moment) has a hitch going in reverse, but other than that, they're great.

DCC++ and an eBay score

eBay score

Finding N scale Civil War engines and rolling stock is difficult enough. Finding structures, especially the Micro-Trains Line laser kits, are downright impossible. Well, that's what I thought. Out of the blue I saw several Civil War era pieces for sale on eBay, including the MTL Civil War Era Loco Shed and, an awesome bonus, two packs of Sibley Tents!

Other items for sale that day were what looked to be 3D printed passenger cars, but I wasn't going to spend that kind of money to win those at the moment. What I definitely was going to do: win the shed and tents. They arrived and I couldn't be happier. I'm about 1/3 of the way through the shed, and I punched the tents and firewood out of the frames. I'll post an update on this when I'm done. Frankly, I don't know where I will fit the engine shed, as I didn't set up any kind of siding or yard to accommodate it. The Sibley Tents should fit nicely almost anywhere.

 

DCC++

About three months ago, I read about DCC++ and it piqued my interest. For about $50 I could make my own DCC system? Yes, please. I've been itching to get familiar with DCC so that in a few months, I can start actually building a new layout with DCC from the start. This would be an awesome way to get the ball rolling.

So I got to work on ordering supplies and carving out some time to work on it. The two best tutorials I found were by DIY & Digital Railroad and Cobo in HO.

After some false starts, I got the thing to power the Gen. Haupt. But the program track was makeshift and poorly connected. So I got to work building a nice program track that would offer stability and connectivity.

I used a piece of composite wood, some code 80 Atlas flex track, and two siding bumpers. But what I was really anxious about was soldering for the first time. Yes, I've never soldered before.

Fast forward about an hour. The tracks are cut to size, cleaned, and fitted with new rail joiners.

Things worked out well, even if the soldering job wasn't very aesthetic. I cleaned it up a little with a file after it was done. The wires ran through the board. The track caulked down tight. And the locomotives wouldn't run off the end of the earth. Testing out the DCC++ system was made much better using this later that day.

 

I get the engine running, but can't seem to read or do anything to the decoder. For three days, I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong. It has to be something, right? The engine runs ok, even if a little rough. But JMRI keeps giving me an error message: "No acknowledge from locomotive (308)"

Turns out the answer was right in front of me the whole time... the wires! I had them in the main and not the program. How stupid of me. Once I did that, restarted the locomotive entry in DecoderPro and hit the read button, holy moly it worked.

But there's another problem. The Haupt is running very poorly, considering how wonderful everyone says DCC can be for slow speeds. It starts out running at what appears to be in the 15mph zone, and when it does run, it has a  bad lurching gait to it. I'm hopeful that it's just a matter of adjusting the settings in the decoder, and not a bad engine.

Update: After consulting with decoder guru Steve Fields, I've made some adjustments to the CVs and, well, just look at how beautifully it runs!

Balloon stacks for the Atlas 4-4-0!

Cue the Hallelujah Chorus, folks!

Presenting the biggest event in N Scale Civil War trains since the original Atlas/MTL run. Eric Cox of Panamint Models has posted his 3D printed Smokestacks and Cowcatchers for Civil War era locomotives.

This all came from me asking him if he would work up some designs. Turned out he had some already but never put them out because the print quality back then wasn't what it was now. I got to order the first public printing, and I got to tell you, they're friggin' incredible!

It completely changes the look and feel of the Atlas engines, which suffered from the blatant "this 1870s engine is good enough for Civil War modeling." Now, not only with the variety of balloon stacks from Eric, but the horizontal cowcatchers, these locomotives scream "1860." You can check out each of them below. In general, they're based on Rogers smokestacks, but will look great as Mason or Cooke engines, too.

I noticed they sit a little high on the post rising from the Atlas engine body. So what I did for the Rogers style stack is file out the inside of the base a little. That allows it to "hug" around the post a little more, lowering the distance between the bottom of the balloon base and the boiler body. I'm still working on it. Eric thinks they're a little too big still, and if he took them down another 5-10%, I'd be okay with that. Only the two bigger stacks should be taken down, if at all. The smaller one looks good as it is.

Catching up with rolling stock, layout and more

Much of what you read in this post is a condensed version of what I posted over on Trainboard.com. I've decided to move things over here from there, since I'm less in the discussion phase and more in the narrative phase of the project.

June 2018

Dropped $70 on an Atlas PRR 1610 from eBay. Not sure how I managed to find that one, but it's a steal and I'm super happy about it. I also ordered an Atlas Gen. Haupt from Streamlined Backshop with a DCC install that looks great. One hangup on that one, though... I don't have a DCC layout. But figured I'd get it installed now. I just can't really use it on the layout. The final item in this batch is a set of four Bachmann W&ARR boxcars. The boys were naturally excited about those since they're "from the movie."

The Arnold Coaches episode was a short one, but a learning experience. In need of passenger cars, I saw a set of old W&ARR coaches on eBay. I got them for something like $75. It felt like a bit much, but it was early in my education about all this and I was getting anxious. After some testing, I figured out why they weren't worth the time, effort, or money. 

From the time: 

There was a bit of trouble, I think due to the plastic wheels. But I haven’t investigated thoroughly yet. They don’t spin as freely as I’d like. Would love to replace them with new ones. But they are attached using pins that are molded into the bed, not the normal kingpins I’m used to. Hmm... 
Otherwise they’re in great condition. Almost no visible wear. And they’re *heavy*, which I was a little worried about. But both the Bachmann’s pulled all three with only minor slipping. 

Fast forward a few days... 

I'm returning the Arnold passenger cars. Too much work to retrofit them. Will look into Bachmann or another maker for passenger cars. There are many on eBay. 

Mid-month, I ran out of money, so I started messing around with layout software for what I imagined to be my "dream layout":

Work on the actual locomotives has been slow, as I only have about an hour at night available.

I cleaned up the wheels of the Gen. Haupt, and its pickup is already improved. But I think much of the pickup issues has to do with the track being 20+ yrs old. Some of the track is actually 30-40 yrs old. Still, considering, I've had only one or two stalls during a complete runaround of the 3'x3' layout I'm using right now. I also didn't solder anything or take any of the care I'm supposed to while laying track. I used fine sandpaper on top of the rails and cleaned them with alcohol, which cleared up 80% of the issues. I'm going to add more weight to them in the cabs and front of the tenders. I'll need to cover up the decoder anyway, so it should work out nicely.   

In the meantime, I got antsy and way ahead of myself, so I did a draft layout for the room I'm going to use. It'll be a shelf layout and the room structure already accommodates that. You'll see when I get photos posted. But for now, here's what will eventually become a Civil War single-track railroad, loosely based on the W&ARR. I plan to use Peco C55, which I know is a little expensive, but I want to be able to run my old pizza cutters on it, too. Plus, I read the switches are better. I'm going to build this in DCC, so I'll also need the auto-reversers for the reverse loops. All of this is months, if not a year away, so I don't expect to update anything about the layout for a good long while. 

Yeah, it'll be more than a year away. No chance that I'll get something like that done by this June.

Finally got smart and tracked down some Micro-Trains Civil War era cars. Added five more freight cars. Found them cheap. To be honest, I was shocked to find them at all. But one thing I still can’t seem to find more of is the regular boxcar. The converted house cars will do just fine for now.  

I also wanted to see how well the Atlas engines pulled. 

So I coupled up an 11-car train, which included the four heavier Bachmann W&ARR boxcars. And aside from a little hesitation for a moment, the two Atlas had no problems.

Here's the PRR No. 1510 pulling 11 freight cars. I blame the moment of hesitation on bad track/pickup. This engine was running on pulse setting using a Throttlepack 501 N, but I hope the Tech 7 I ordered will help with the slow speed control. The U.S.M.R.R. Gen. Haupt (which has a decoder installed, the PRR doesn't) doesn't react to the pulse setting at all, which is bothersome since the Atlas engines on the full setting start moving at about 40 mph. Not realistic at all. The Bachmann engines, surprisingly, have much better slow speed reaction with the 501. Not sure if that's a motor thing. 

I got an order of MTL wood frame trucks and the simulated link-and-pin couplers. The plan was to convert all the Bachmann CWE cars, with enough leftover trucks/couplers in case I ever need more. 

I recall seeing the trucks and couplers advertised as being compatible with the Bachmann cars, but maybe I misread it. When I tried to simply swap out the trucks, they didn't fit over the existing frame. 

Instead of drilling out the MTL trucks--which would thin them out and harm the structural integrity--I took a hand file to shave down the screw holes on one of my old cars as a test. I went all the way down to the base, but as you can see in the second photo, it still wasn't enough! The car still rides high compared to the stock Bachmann car and the MTL car. 

Before I proceed with a dremel tool to get these down to the right height, let me ask: Is there another way? Or is this normal kind of stuff when adapting stock items to my needs?  
The first pic is of the old Bachmann frame that I filed (top) and the stock/new Bachmann frame (bottom) to compare. 

July 2018

So I guess by the end of June it was too much to just keep running trains on the wood table. I needed something more. Here's the update with a few photos. It was *really* hot out during the days I was building this thing. I had to do it outside because the boys wanted to be outside in the sprinkler and pool. 

Couple updates. While I’m not nearly ready to build the big one, I’ve been antsy to get something done that can run trains. So I got some foam boards, plaster cloth, cork, and a small wood kit depot the other day, and started a 3x3 layout. Nothing specific. Rural overall and generic era so we can run both the 19th and 20th century trains. 
Please don’t have too much fun at my expense. I’m aware of all the mistakes I made. The gap between rails in the last two pics is pretty glaring. 

But even with the poor pickup on those engines, the gaps didn’t cause a problem. I cleaned up all the old track—30-yr old code 80–and bought new rail joiners. It’s surprisingly solid. I actually forgot to take a wide pic of the whole thing as it stands now. Will do that later. I just need to start working on the landscaping and a few more buildings. The reason I went with the large rolls of cork is because I don’t want the track raised too high above the surrounding terrain. I want that “old track” look.  

   

Late-July 2018

Once my 3-year-old moved into the same room as the 7-year-old, it freed us to move out of the basement bedroom. 

That means we have a play/rec room down there now. 

Moved around some rooms in the house, meaning I finally have a room for the layout!  

So I got paint and scenery, and went to work. I’m further along than the final photo shows, but I’ll have another update soon. I tell ya, seeing the ground cover going down really boosts the morale. 

I also picked up a bunch of 1860 passenger cars and another engine for super cheap. 

They need some work, and I ordered all new trucks from shapeways. Getting them fitted with the new trucks and link and pin will look great.

 

The ballast didn’t turn out how I wanted. I’m going to make the rest of it look more like a dirt/ballast mix, as ballasting back then isn’t what we think of now. 

August 2018

Update and video time! 

The Atlas 4-4-0 P.R.R. 1610 pulling a load of 13 freight cars, a mix of U.S. Military R.R., Manassas Gap R.R., and Pennsylvania R.R. (latest editions! Should have a Georgia R.R. arriving today). The key to a smoother run is weight. I recently added about 1.5 oz of tungsten putty to places like the pilot truck, cab, and tender under the wood load. There's only one or two spots it hesitates, but that's probably because I didn't clean the track in over a week. The layout is progressing along nicely, albeit slowly. I'm only showing the parts of the layout that have (at least some) scenery, and all of it will be improving on a continuous basis. This accounts for about 3 months of work.

October 2018

Geez, time really got away from me. School and football started up and suddenly it’s October. Anyway, here’s a quick landscape update. One more corner done. A little grove and a bunch of ground cover. Need more trees though. Pines would be good. 

And I managed to get my hands on eight (!) of those undecorated MTL boxcars. I painted four so far w a rust color. Hand painting, not spraying. I figure the real things weren’t sprayed so this would work out. The first coat looks so good I may not do a second. Will need to order decals. 

Also, I’m debating what color to do the second set of four. I think the slate gray is generic enough for this period that it could work with almost any line.


The blue-gray color looks pretty nice on the boxcars. Adds some needed variety to the roster. The rust color on the other boxcars almost looks like the iron boxcars used by the B&O during this era. Now I just need to find some stock cars or other kind of ventilated boxcars. I haven't ordered decals yet, so they remain plain. I forgot to paint and install the brake wheels to each of the new boxcars. Have to get around to that, too. 

But the biggest news on the scenery front is that I finally got around to the water. It was scary going in, since I've never done anything like this before. But now I'm really happy with how it turned out. Used rocks from the back yard to make the banks and shore line. Once I finally break down and buy some dam trees (they really add up $$) the whole center of the layout will be pretty impressive. 

Now the story continues on the main feed of this blog. Thanks for reading...