I should add that while N Scale is my main focus, I have joined a newly formed G Scale club that is going to be building a public display in a 100X300 ft area at Noccaulla Park in Gadsden AL. While equipment will be club owned and operated by the city, the club, which will be building the display through the landscaping with the city doing the wiring, walkway paving, etc, will have several days throughout the year to have shows and use members equipment and invite other G Scale clubs to join in. I have some G Scale equipment now, and am sure I will have some track down in my own yard at some point too.
------------------- There are still mine load outs in the Appalachian coal fields.Also don't overlook small truck to rail load outs that may load 4-5 cars every other day..
Wow, I can't remember the last time I've seen individual-car loadouts in coal county up here. Even direct-tipple loadouts are rare with almost all of the operations going to a short-distance truck haul. What's really surprised me is the tendency to even get away from switching car sets - used to be you 'picked up a cut' and 'swapped out a cut', even if it was a BIG CUT, anymore the entire coal train left intact, with power, and loaded back out. Up here the trucks will run and build a pile big enough to call in the unit train, and here she comes. It's big enough to fill the entire train in one shot, not 3 cars every day for a month with the crew swapping cars every day with the local. Mind you I'm not saying that individual carloads are dead. I am saying that they are a increasingly small minority compared to the typical model railroad operating scheme that places individual cars at individual single-car sidings as the "HO" style operating plan from 1955. You'll still see high-value stuff that isn't easily trucked go that way - like chemicals. But even the LITTLE guys up here like the hardwood sawmills on shortlines are loading 2-3 boxcars at a time, with a 2 or 3 day a week local. The class 1's feed this heavily by lower negotiated contract rates by the trainload - rather than by the carload - making it increasingly uncompetitive to price commodities by quantities that could be moved via truck. I'm just saying if you want to simulate what's really going on in modern railroading today, N scale is the way to go. More units, much longer trains, bigger cuts, bigger cars, larger industries.
I agree with your observations.. Think of this tidbit... NS handled 20,627 boxcars vs. 6,924 Intermodal cars during the week ending 06/18/10.. Another tidbit to ponder.. During the same week NS handled 97,149 Privately owned cars.. That tells us as modern modelers we need to have several privately owned cars in our freight car fleet since that's a whopping 49.6% !!! What was that old line about "Modern railroads are easy to model?"
Sounds surprising, but I can believe that. But here's the thing: A boxcar is a boxcar is a boxcar...but is a 5-unit Intermodal well car 5 cars, or one? And even if it did count as 5 cars, its very stackable nature means that each well can handle a greater density of freight than a single boxcar. Similarly, articulated Auto Racks - statistically two cars or one? Even a single TOFC flatcar, which I assume also fall under the Intermodal category, due to its length, can carry 2-3 trailers per car, which in effect is the equivalent of 2-3 boxcars.
Metro Red Line wrote:Sounds surprising, but I can believe that. But here's the thing: A boxcar is a boxcar is a boxcar...but is a 5-unit Intermodal well car 5 cars, or one? And even if it did count as 5 cars, its very stackable nature means that each well can handle a greater density of freight than a single boxcar. ----------------------------------- A 5 unit well car counts as one car since they are permanently coupler by drawbar... --------------------------------- Similarly, articulated Auto Racks - statistically two cars or one? --------------------------------- One car since they both units is permanently connected. ---------------------------------- Even a single TOFC flatcar, which I assume also fall under the Intermodal category, due to its length, can carry 2-3 trailers per car, which in effect is the equivalent of 2-3 boxcars. --------------------------------- Actually the opposite is true..A boxcar can carry 2 1/2 trailers worth of freight.. Here's the kicker. The trailer gives rubber to rail to rubber door to door service.
Thanks for all the info. Are we posting in the correct section? N modelers are so involved here that many posts go under the N section even if it is about something other than N. Painting, scenery, benchwork etc... So this could be why there seams to be so many threads in N. I thank these people for there direction, skills and know how. Because of the N scalers this is a very active site and I like many love it. Nothing worse than a site with only a few posts per day. Not here!!!! I got back into the hobby in the early 1980's. I had some HO and N was floundering. My LHS was getting big in N and suggested that route. They looked more like toys and there wasn't much to choose from. I continued to collect HO for my 1960's layout. A few years later I had to store everything and just as of late rejoined the hobby. During this layoff I continued to collect by way of the garage sales. Lots of pieces for scratch building and redecoration. Now with the state of the industry, N has come a long way but the investment in HO has fixed my place. Besides I sold my large home and moved to an apartment with a big basement that the wife says I may use for my hobby. That shoots my plan to convince her I needed to move toward N. So sometimes an investment in a scale is why you are where you are. Well! At 62 it is time to build that layout I have always wanted. Maybe I could convince her that ---well, I guess we won't go there. Thanks for the involvement of our N brothers, we have a great place for information.
Well let's look again..This time BNSF same week as NS ending 06/18/10 . Boxcars 11,567 Intermodal 14,496 As we can see it depends on the railroad. However.. One would expect the UP to handle far more Intermodal then boxcars.. Not so according to the weekly report.Again week ending 06/18/10. Boxcar 24,849 Intermodal 12,166..
Visual Aesthetics Folks have been beating around the bush on this one. There is a lot of discussion about being more prototype. Ok, yes, I agree that for many being close to prototype is very important and indirectly I support this even though I personally don't care about it. It seems that one of the aspects of N's draw is the perception of running a train with lots of cars that is prototypically correct. Me? I run "grain trains" of 20 cars, two locos on point and one in the middle because of Aesthetics. I don't care if it is right or wrong. Which brings me to the point of the title: Many of us like the Aesthetics of running perceptively long trains of colorful cars whether or not it is accurate. We just like to run long unit trains of what ever is available. I have noticed this in the requirement for "continuous running" when listed with "givens and druthers"
I've sounded off here before as to why I choose N Scale. Here is the Reader's Digest condensed version. I got so tired of operating HO trains with 18" radius curves. Way to tight. The longer full sized freight and passenger cars looked bad making the curves. Then along came the six axle diesels and there was no way they were going to stay on the track. Let alone, keep the train cars that are coupled to them...on the tracks. The longer SD 45's - SD70M diesels with the body mounted couplers will pull the freight or passenger cars, in tow off the track. N Scale, I still use 18" radius curves pushing out to 24" radius curves and my trains not only look good they run smooth. The bonus or benefit of switching over to N Scale...I can have a considerable amount of railroad in a relatively small space. I can have the layout I couldn't have with HO. The problem with HO is they started with the smaller radius curves and inadvertently set the standard. Model makers are required to build to those standards and the quality and performance is diminshed considerably. We suffer from the same 9" curve (9 3/4 inch) mentality and the consequences are the same. As long as we buy, purchase, install and play with the tight radius curves, the minimum curve mentality, problems will persist. Many hobby shops and train shows like to show off small, tight radius curved layouts, to promote N Scale. They dishonor their customers and themselves. Here is the opportuntiy to develop satisfied customers with the potential of building awesome layouts. Not misleading them...when the potential for having those wide sweeping curves is the best promotion for N Scale. With the opportunities N Scale affords us, we would be cheating ourselves to operate with tight radius curves.
There is a certain appeal and novelty to extreme miniatures, this fascination has been around along time, Fabrege eggs held an enclosed miniature and they were held in high esteem. I think the ability to recreate in extreme miniature is the key that will drive N scale to the forefront of model railroading, "C" word or not, LOL ! fatalxsunrider43
I like this view point of being able to operate in N scale with the same radius curve. Not everyone has room fr big radius curves. In G scale curves are rated by feet of a diameter circle it would make. Example a 5ft diameter curve would make a 5ft diamter circle and so forth, the biggest curve in G scale is a 20ft diameter circle. USA Trains and Aristocraft use this rating. I can only run 8ft diameter curves max and certain places I was able to fit 10ft diameter curves.
I'm shocked to the amount of private and leased cars out thier compared to what the railroads own. I like modern frieght myself, but G scale has it's limitations.
That sounds great about your G scale, when you get some trains running in the club I would love to see pictures in the G scale section.
Soooooooooo..the modelers with 24 or 32 or even 36 inch wide layouts, or those who live in apartments and can only make shelf layouts....should do what exactly? Get out of the hobby??:tb-ooh: Not everyone has the expanse for those "Wide Sweeping Curves" :tb-wacky: Just sayin !:tb-frown: .
The reason I got into N scale was space I never had much so HO or bigger was out of the question. And when we moved into our house I had more space but I wanted a layout where I could do a lot more with more space and N scale lets you do just that. Plus with a lot of progress from manufactures in detail and quality I think a lot of people are jumping the band wagon. And that's why N scale is catching up also the cost factor I mean look at Z scale way to pricy for my taste and I'm sure a lot of other people feel the same way. I can build a huge empire on a smaller scale. That's the beauty of N scale...
