Tag Archives: layout design

Why N gauge?

Posted on April 1, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

I seemed to have wandered away from N gauge modelling in recent posts.  So with my 100th post on the blog, it’s back to my roots (for now) and to ask the question, why model in N gauge. A little … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, Jon's layout ramblings, Layout design, N Club International, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Remote Controlled Locos Signs

Posted on March 9, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

A great idea from Eric Bergh and the Model Railroad Hobbyist blog.  The blogger saved the pictures, resized them in Paint and printed them out in Word (for HO in his case). The signs below ought to be printable for use … Continue reading →

Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Weird and wonderful | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Off my trolley – interurban branchlines 3 – the Sacramento Northern

Posted on February 27, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

Despite the fact that the Sacramento Northern boasted 183 miles of track around San Francisco it was really just a long, glorified branch line.  Even in 1940, long after most other interurbans had degenerated into poorly-maintained shadows of their pre-WWI … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, Layout design, Traction | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

ESNG modular systems

Posted on February 16, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

The ESNG works to two N-gauge modular systems.  With our show coming up, perhaps a quick reminder of the standards is in order.  The first is N-mod.  This is an adaptation of the USA N-Track system, the main difference being … Continue reading →

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Off my trolley – branchlines 2 – North Hollywood

Posted on February 4, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

One of my many diversions away from railways is reading (almost anything).  This includes crime fiction.  One of my favourite authors is Michael Connelly and his Harry Bosch police procedurals – set in Los Angeles, and especially in the Hollywood area.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Layout design, Traction | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Off my trolley – interurban branchlines – 1

Posted on January 29, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

A good, if rather conventional, place to start with interurban layouts, is the conventional branch line.  Some electric railroads were no more than a branch line in total.  Others, like the Pacific Electric, had twigs off the branches off the … Continue reading →

Posted in Layout design, Traction | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Off my trolley – interurbans

Posted on January 18, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

WARNING – if you are from North America, please look away.  This is a confirmed UK resident writing about US railroads, so total accuracy is unlikely!  But I hope in this post to give some idea of the breadth of … Continue reading →

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How long to keep an old layout?

Posted on January 14, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

For the author, this would have been a academic question 15 years ago.  At that time I hadn’t actually ‘finished’ a layout.  This has only happened after joining ESNG and going ‘N’ gauge (after forays in OO, EM, OO9 and … Continue reading →

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Off my trolley – streetcars and trolley layouts

Posted on January 9, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

Again we need a cultural translation here: trolley = streetcar = tram.  Streetcars tended to be smaller that the big interurbans running between towns.  But you could find an interurban winding its way through the city traffic on its way to … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, Jon's layout ramblings, Layout design, Traction | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Layout design – different voices – simple layout, complex operation

Posted on January 7, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

Another interesting voice in the layout design world is Lance Mindheim, who most originally posts at http://www.lancemindheim.com/. He has built a number of very interesting layouts.  The first was a 20×20 foot N gauge layout of the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, Jon's layout ramblings, Layout design | Tagged , | 2 Comments