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1940’s 1950’s Layout
A reader wants your advice:
“I’m planning a N scale layout based during the late 40s to late 50s. I will be including a Switcher/Yard engine for my small branch line’s yard. My layout is a simple D.C. arrangement that will be up-graded to D.C.C. at a later time. Thanks for what advice I can get.”
7 Responses to 1940’s 1950’s Layout
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FWIW, I would suggest you first choose a railroad and a locale which pique your interest, or bring back fond memories, then GOOGLE, GOOGLE, GOOGLE!! Find out as much info as you can while in the planning stages, and make your purchases accordingly. This will save money in the long run, and keep your interest and momentum up until you can start to actually build the dream. Just my 2 cents. Best of luck!
Since the layout that I have in mind will be constructed on a door, what I have planned for is a simple main-line that serves a fictitious independent branch-line separated by a small passenger station located near the outskirts of a moderate sized fictitious community situated in the northern area of central California. The branch-line will service a couple of companies and a freight warehouse. The small train yard is planned to have three to five tracks for switching cars on. I was thinking of using a small steam engine for switching with, but am now considering of using a small diesel switcher instead, like the 44ton switcher from GE, (if I can find an inexpensive one).
p.s. I would also strongly suggest you spend the time and effort to learn to use a track planning software. I’ve used XTrakCad for years, and it’s been a godsend. It’s free, but does require a bit of effort to learn the tricks. The help files are a great way to find out all the little cool ways to get things done quickly and correctly, and it won’t put tracks where they just wouldn’t fit!
James Helvey’s 2 cents is worth a mint! Do as much research as possible, because you’ll be . modeling steam locomotives as well as the first diesel roadsters. See which railroads were around in that time period, what they used for slogans, and mainly what they carried. See what the buildings were like and plan accordingly. Doing all the required research will pay benefits eventually, and let you bring back fond memories with a great layout.
Good Googling and Good Modeling!
My railroad is in HO scale DCC and I model the Virginia and Truckee line around 1936 As I wanted a mountain railroad and i spent a year researching all that I could find. Being in New Zealand I could not go to Nevada at the drop of a hat so found the internet great and I also found vidoes on u tube that helped.. After a lot of planning, drawing and pulling of hair I have just completed the layout with track, The line runs point to point on three levels in a room 3.3 meters wide by 4.2 meters long. I have just started the scenery with plaster shell hills so everything is a bit messy at the moment. I have already painted the sky and clouds over the ceiling and down the walls to a level just below the horizion line. As the horizion will be mostly mountains I painted the distant mountains and then added the closer mountains in plaster over a cardboard lattice type construction. One thing dont rush in to anything until your research is complete you could save yourself a lot of heartache and money.
A other “yeah!” Fr James Helvey’s suggestion to use computer software to plan your layout. Especially when dealing with space limitations it is important to know what works and what doesn’t before blading. I also found that many good ideas came out of seeing the layout and making changes during the planning process. I havea Maerklin digital AC layout here in Bamberg, Germany. I used Blummert’s “Winrail 10” program for planning. It was incredibly accurate which was reassuring given the space limitations I was was working against.
Best of luck with your planning. Don’t rush anything and simply enjoy “the ride”!
I model what I like to see. No specific exact railroad in mind. I chose 2 mainline railroad names for my mainline runs, and have 2 ficticious local lines servicing what’s inside. The scenery is basically my impression of what I want to model. One side is the Rocky Mountains in the US, the other is the east coast US. I call it “Selective Super Compression”. I’m not tying myself to any boundaries of specific track configurations or specific industries. I’m doing a locale “in general”. I enjoy building models most, so in my case I don’t care about the railroad-specific minutae. In N-scale, on a door, you have a lot of leeway as to what you decide. HAVE FUN!!