Large Scale Central

The its too dam hot to work outside HOn30 microlayout

Indoor and Micro
#1

This summer has been a real bummer, we have had one hellova hot summer here including many days straight of 105-107 degree heat and 80+ at night, makes it too dam hot to do pretty much anything outside, that includes work in the garage or in the side-yard planned for the Angry Beaver layout. So out of frustration as much as boredom I started messing around with my collection of old XTS battery powered toy trains, these are N gauge, and have ultra compact little track modules. So I took an old wooden letter in-box, some leftover 2" pink foam and started building a small little mess of a layout. The train loco is an old AHM steam loco shell set over the XTS mechanism. I have since added two old Egger Bahn passenger car shells for this engine to haul and have moved it over to my Furlows Corner micro layout, as the Egger cars foul the tunnels on this layout. I am working on two other trains for us on this layout.

Currently working on three Woodland Scenics white metal buildings and a station shed. The scenery paint looks alot better in person than my indoor pictures on my phone can take, also the only cheap small cans of latex paint I can buy is eggshell finish so I will have to give the whole shabang a matte medium spray over. So far, so good.

#2

Vic, I think you pack in the most Fsf (fun / square foot) than anyone I’ve known. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

#3

Is the eggshell finish a sort of satin sheen type of thing? It is a name I do not recall encountering.

Something about this brings to mind a certain animated canid and avian.

#4

“Egger” was the name of a company that made narrow gauge trains in 1:87 / H0 scale.

#5

Forrest, Yes, its basically a semi-gloss, the trouble is that I can only get the smaller 1/2 quart cans in eggshell, I dont want to have to pay for a full quart can just to get a flat paint finish when I can spray the whole thing with a flat matte.

Korm, yep and I lusted after them as a boy, along with the old AHM Minitrains, Roco, and Jouef HOe trains. BTW I just won an old Jouef HOe set on Ebay. We’ll see what that entails when it arrives.

RE: HOe & HOn30, I’ve had narrow gauge fever for a very very very very very very long time. The first layout that I saw that really lite my fire was in RMC April 1970, I was 7 or 8, it was a small HOn30 microlayout by Frary & Hayden, perhaps the first published to seriously make a real scale HO model railroad using N track and mechanisms. I saw it and was immediately charmed and that influence has never really ever left me. In fact last year I was able to track down a copy of that RMC so I have it again. almost 50 years later, dam… I’m getting old!

#6

RMC was a great resource, I think it was through them I learned to use an HO GE center cab for On3 critters … carefully prying the wheels outward a tad on each axle and setting with glue I had cheap reliable runners until I could save up for a brass loco… I got the loco and Psycho Kitty sent me out side and my first monsoon erased the thought of Fine Scale in the dirt!

Oh G(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)

John

#7

The Minitrains are back in production, and I have 2 sets of them. But my HO/HOn30 module has been fighting me so much, its about to be shelved.

#8

I have long said HOn30 is a path to MADNESS, it can drive you nuts, even high quality stuff can be a massive PITA to get running right. That’s kinda what I like about this XTS stuff, it’s stupid simple.

#9

#10

Okay trains, here is a little something on the XTS conversion. Foreground shows the original model, something-something turbotrain, ostensibly N scale. I had a second one that I bashed. This type of XTS has the motor in the middle car, pushing the ‘engine’. I bashed an old AHM Minitrains gas critter onto the lead chassis, repurposed a bashed boxcar shell for the power car, and scratched up the gondola on the trailing car. So far, so insane.

Just the new bash train

#11

Back to the layout, here are the building placed, they are Woodland Scenics white metal building kits.

#12

I just sent you a note today and I find this!

Are you operating in gn15 or On30?

#13

Hi Doug, this is HOn30, HO scale models using N gauge track.