Irish Nn3

VonRyan May 3, 2014

  1. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Is it at all possible to use the same method as for applying ballast? Wetting agent, diluted white glue? Or is your material simply too light weight/fine ?
     
  2. VonRyan

    VonRyan TrainBoard Member

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    The material is a light-tan finely ground limestone. I'm mainly concerned about the color darkening or otherwise changing from the natural color. I'd also like to avoid using paint.
     
  3. VonRyan

    VonRyan TrainBoard Member

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    No photos of this yet because I'd rather wait till it's finished.

    The first rendition of my wooden tram-engine body for the Märklin 0-6-0 is now in the trash can.
    I was too dissatisfied with my scribing and the thickness of the wood I had used.
    So I emptied my change bowl and bought some 1/32nd basswood to try scribing it with a fine dental "explorer" and see how that goes. I also picked up an 89¢ strip of .016" brass for the sideplates.

    A gent over on nscale.net mailed an 0-6-0 off to me yesterday, so it should be here tomorrow afternoon.
    He and I worked out a deal, so the upside is that I can have the layout running at the show this weekend.
    And, hopefully I can make a proper video of the layout in operation. Of course, that also means getting my two wagons converted to three-link couplings.
     
  4. VonRyan

    VonRyan TrainBoard Member

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    Working on getting a proper video put together. Didn't have time over the weekend, plus what with the recent loco failure and the subsequent pinch replacement 3-pole 0-6-0, I had to find a way to make it more Nn3 as opposed to Z. I was going to make it a wood-bodied tram, but I nixed the idea due to the fact that the wheelbase and arrangement of the motor would have made it too awkward looking. Working on fudging together something else from an idea I had. No promises that it'll look good.

    Meanwhile, here are some photos I took with my DSLR in some natural sunlight that came through a window during the show:

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    FriscoCharlie and thx712517 like this.
  5. thx712517

    thx712517 TrainBoard Member

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    Beautiful
     
  6. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I don't recall- Have you talked about the switch setup? I see what appears to be a throw lever?
     
  7. VonRyan

    VonRyan TrainBoard Member

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    The turnouts are cosmetic, and the point levers are just decorative (and are buggers to assemble).
     
  8. VonRyan

    VonRyan TrainBoard Member

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    I made a proper video of the layout in operation. I also go into detail about various aspects of the layout such as the prototype influnence, the DC throttle, and a few others subjects.




    Pardon my voice. I am ill and it has taken a slight toll on my voice.
     
    JoeTodd likes this.
  9. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Well, your voice isn't bad at all. I'll be interested to see how you finish the stream bed.

    Also, a question- Does your throttle have a reversing capability? I did not spot a switch when you were holding it up.
     
  10. VonRyan

    VonRyan TrainBoard Member

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    I'm still up in the air about how I'm going to finish the riverbed, of course right now my focus is getting a proper locomotive sorted out, and making more progress on the dirt road.

    And to answer your question, the throttle does not yet have a direction switch. To reverse the direction of travel I either rearrange the two track-feed wires, or do the easier task of just flipping the magnet harness inside the 0-6-0.

    I keep thinking about adding in a direction switch, but there isn't a lot of room inside the throttle, so I keep putting the idea on the back burner.
     
  11. VonRyan

    VonRyan TrainBoard Member

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    I ended up installing a small toggle switch on the bottom of the throttle so that I can run trains in the opposite direction if I so desire.

    I have a PowerMax chassis on order, and am working on a possible body for it, and I also have worked out a trade deal with a fellow over in the UK to trade some Z-scale track and MT rolling-stock for three Nn3 locomotives (Märklin 3-pole mechanisms with Peco N6.5 whitemetal body kits) and a few pieces of rolling stock.

    I also ordered a cheap Nm chassis off of shapeways to test out under a Peco N6.5 wagon kit to see if it works any better than the stock Peco chassis parts.
     
  12. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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    Can't wait to see what you got
     
  13. MarkInLA

    MarkInLA Permanently dispatched

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    Sorry, am I missing some info ? What is this project for ? Why only a squiggly oval and with switches not real ? Why can't it be larger and include a switch-back that most narrow gauge RRs had ? I realize it's a micro layout. Where is it going to be kept ? And who will be watching it in future ? I sound like I'm tweezing you but I am just being curious about it all. Why not have at least one stub switch lead to an inclining track which could merely end at a mine or mill having crossed over lower with a trestle and into center or so ? Just being curious...Your track work and scenic abilities look great though..I guess micro layouts are sort of active dioramas. Is this what I'm witnessing ?
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2015
  14. velotrain

    velotrain TrainBoard Member

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    Those are the only two contenders?
     
  15. velotrain

    velotrain TrainBoard Member

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    Mark - do you have data from somewhere to support that claim?

    Or - perhaps qualify it. Many US NG logging railways used switchbacks, but are you really familiar with worldwide NG railways?
    Switchbacks are a product of the terrain traversed, and SG railways generally avoided building in those areas that would have required them.
    Outside of specialized "industrial" situations (as mentioned above), NG railways avoided switchbacks as well.
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2015
  16. velotrain

    velotrain TrainBoard Member

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    Cody - since you're going to have a cattle dock, have you considered scratchbuilding one of the distinctive Irish cattle vans? A search will turn up many photos (add "railway" so you don't get a bunch of lorries in your results). One feature I particularly like is that the door hinges down to become a loading ramp. Also, many of the vans were left uncovered. Since it will be a static model, you can take many liberties, as the proto builders did.
    Years ago I found a bunch of Irish NG modeling sites, although they were all to larger scales - 5.5 mil is popular.
     
  17. MarkInLA

    MarkInLA Permanently dispatched

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    Well, I don't, as far as Ireland's RRs /NGRRs . But I always thought that narrow gauge is what it is because of smaller or at least lower engines and cars which are thus able to negotiate sharp curves and employ very light rail to save money while exhausting a certain area's resources via mining or for felling trees for building lumber. And since many of these resources are up steep hills, switchbacks allow the trains to traverse the terrain by zig zagging their way up and down. I'll naturally assume you do know what at least American NG RRs did. Sounds like you're stating Irish railroading never did this kind of track laying. Is Ireland mainly flat, or at least has very shallow hills only ?
     
  18. velotrain

    velotrain TrainBoard Member

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    I'm only stating that there were - and are - very diverse narrow gauge railroads all over the world, and would guess that only a minority of them used switchbacks. Not all NG railways are industrial - some were major railroads with SG freight interchange and passenger schedules, and that is still true in Europe. I'm no expert on Irish railways and won't claim to be one, so you'd have to research that yourself. I do know that the Welsh slate mining railways generally used inclines to handle their elevation differences.

    I was mostly suggesting that you do a little research before making incorrect generalizations.
     
  19. velotrain

    velotrain TrainBoard Member

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    Based on initial investigation, it seems there may not have been any railway switchbacks in Ireland. The railways that were built were designed for passenger and agrarian-based freight traffic, and tended to run in the valleys where the population centers were. There are definitely mountainous, but apparently they had no or little natural resources to exploit. One of the last surviving 3-foot railways was the Cavan and Leitrim, and this was only because it hauled coal from a mine at Arigna. I don't find much info on mining in Ireland in general, perhaps suggesting that there wasn't much. I also don't think there are many trees - certainly not enough to justify large-scale logging, probably because they were all / mostly cut down many centuries earlier.
     
  20. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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    I love this little display layout and I can't wait to see what you do next. Ever thought about a red loco?
     

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