Large Scale Central

Condo Life

I was ruminating before dinner this evening that I have 3 different railroads on order. Such is living when you are in a condo with no garden.

The first, smallest, is a HOe or 009 (n gauge, 3.5 or 4mm scale) “park railroad”, otherwise known as a a “ride-on”. Jerry (Naptowneng) has a garden with the SC&M RR and it incorporates several garden features, including a vineyard and an RV park. He has a collection of N scale trains (and a layout upstairs for rainy days,) so we suggested a park railroad next to the vineyard to amuse the visitors and allow him to use some N scale equipment outside.
So I ordered the 009 track from the UK, as they do HO narrow gauge on 9mm track. Then we discovered that Bachmann has a whole range of Thomas’ gear in that scale, including this delightful loco:

It’s actually very small as you’d expect. Bachmann calls it HOn30, just to be consistent with the On30, I guess.

Second railroad is O gauge, or SM32 as it is known in the UK. I have several live steam locos from Regner and Roundhouse which are outside frame regaugable between 32mm and 45mm. I also acquired a bunch of Faller eTrain curves which are 32mm gauge and 30" diameter! In our new MD condo we have a long deck along the side, and wife suggested I install a railroad. The wheels started churning, and I noted a bunch of Peco SM32 straight track and switches for sale which complemented my curves. So they are on the way too. Here’s the curve on my kitchen counter.

Finally, I live in a 9th floor condo in FL with a long lanai as they are known in that part of the world, (long enough for a railroad, but that’s another story.) Below me, on the roof of the garage, are 4 flower beds approx 14’ x 40’. Hmm I says to myself - a good size for a train. And someone offered a box of new Aristo 12.5’ diameter curves which I snapped up. And now there’s a case of Aristo 4’ 6" straights available that I am negotiating on (shipping being the problem.) Here’s the “garden”.

How did I get myself into 3 new railroads?

Hi Pete,

Though I hear some from Jerry, it’s neat hearing more specifics about your “dilemma!”

I think it’s really great how you enjoy the large scale hobby, without a large scale layout. You don’t merely collect (as a lot of folks do, I understand), but also take your excellent trains to friends’ layouts (like Jer’s) for running. And because you’re an avid operator, you upgrade your locos with RC, investigate and resolve 180 servo issues, etc.

It’s also cool that you can enjoy various scales, origins, and deployments of your trains. Go for it! Just have fun, and let things be as neat or messy as they need to be!

Final thought. Between you and Jer (who also travels a lot, often taking his trains with him, as you well know), and other’s of your combined ilk, I’ll bet a nice book is begging to be written. Something along the lines of “The Portable Railroader” or “A Vagabond’s Layout.” It could include topics such as…

  • Mix it up! (intro about not being bound by scale and motif and real estate)
  • Your collection at home (and showing it off to best advantage)
  • Taking your trains to other’s layouts (and photo ops therein)
  • Tiny deck layouts (and how to protect them)
  • Suitcase & briefcase layouts (for severe junkies)
  • Modular projects (and travelling shelf layouts)
  • Tiny G layouts (Gnatterbox types, Gn15)
  • Running trains by (very) remote control
  • Weird combinations of all the above
  • Blending it all with 1:1 visits of all sorts

Not what you asked for, but at least you got me thinking, haha! (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

Back to what you wrote…

Ninth floor condo, and you’re looking at the roof of a garage… how many floors below? And how would you get there?

CJ

Pete, lately I have been getting kinda deep into HO, along with the large scale stuff that I have been into for years. It was kinda bothering me that I was becoming kinda fragmented between the 2 scales. Thank you for your post, it made me feel better about myself.

I added a couple of photos to illustrate my little essay. Cliff - you may be on to something. As I’m spending the next 10 weeks on a boat with no trains, perhaps I need to write that book.

How did I get myself into 3 new railroads?

That was a rhetorical question, in case you wondered. I am of sound mind, I think. Besides, the park layout is Jerry’s fault (actually his wife has been bugging us to get on with it,) and my wife keeps pointing out all the neat places I could put a RR.

Ninth floor condo, and you’re looking at the roof of a garage…

Well, it’s behind me, 8 1/2 floors down, on the street side. We look west over the beach towards the sunsets.

David Maynard said:

Pete, lately I have been getting kinda deep into HO, along with the large scale stuff that I have been into for years. It was kinda bothering me that I was becoming kinda fragmented between the 2 scales. Thank you for your post, it made me feel better about myself.

Hey, they are all Trains!

That’s awesome! I had to get imaginative when it came setting up a railroad.