Hi. Having done some OO modelling etc I was hoping to try N gauge as a small portable project. Some help would be greatly appreciated.
Is it still a problem with 1st radius curves being suitable for some not all locos like in OO? Or can the be used to create a hidden loop for returning?
Peco SL 300 was going to be my choice of flexitrack, the points, shoild they be insulfrog or live frog if using DCC, can you et point clips to convert like in OO ?
I was hoping to make a spiral to give the loco a longer "hidden" journey, what would be an acceptable gradient for this given an average say of 4 carriages or 10 wagons and would it be best in radius 2 or 3 avoiding radius 1 climbing?
Thanks for now.
Starting out with N
Starting out with N
Enjoying the ride playing trains like never before. Building a model railway but not too specialised.
Re: Starting out with N
Welcome to N gauge, please eNjoy your stay. 
Some locos do struggle on 1st radius curves however I have only encountered this with large steam engines. Smaller engines and diesels seem to be fine with 1st radius. The only loco I have which refuses to go around 1st radius at all is a Dapol A4 pacific. I have a Hall which struggles slightly but will usually get around. I would personally stick to 2nd radius (or even larger) as a minimum regardless.
As for gradient, it can vary. 4 coaches or 10 wagons is not a big load and most locos will handle that without any problem. The exceptions are some of the early Dapol tank engines which had rather high gearing and low weight which gave them poor haulage characteristics. Mosts locos onsale now are much better. 1:40 is normally recommended as the maximum gradient in N gauge. With short trains, you may be able to get away with a bit steeper but curves will definitely affect it too. Try to aim for about 1:40 and avoid 1st radius curves and you should be OK.
The best advice I can give though is to try out your proposed arrangement. This can be done cheaply and easily with some set-track pinned to a bit of foamboard or scrap plywood. Then you can test it with the stock that you will be using. It is much better to test than to build a layout which you hope will work but turns out not to.
Some locos do struggle on 1st radius curves however I have only encountered this with large steam engines. Smaller engines and diesels seem to be fine with 1st radius. The only loco I have which refuses to go around 1st radius at all is a Dapol A4 pacific. I have a Hall which struggles slightly but will usually get around. I would personally stick to 2nd radius (or even larger) as a minimum regardless.
As for gradient, it can vary. 4 coaches or 10 wagons is not a big load and most locos will handle that without any problem. The exceptions are some of the early Dapol tank engines which had rather high gearing and low weight which gave them poor haulage characteristics. Mosts locos onsale now are much better. 1:40 is normally recommended as the maximum gradient in N gauge. With short trains, you may be able to get away with a bit steeper but curves will definitely affect it too. Try to aim for about 1:40 and avoid 1st radius curves and you should be OK.
The best advice I can give though is to try out your proposed arrangement. This can be done cheaply and easily with some set-track pinned to a bit of foamboard or scrap plywood. Then you can test it with the stock that you will be using. It is much better to test than to build a layout which you hope will work but turns out not to.
To an optimist, a glass is half-full.
To a pessimist, a glass is half-empty.
To an engineer, the glass is twice as big as necessary.
To a pessimist, a glass is half-empty.
To an engineer, the glass is twice as big as necessary.
Re: Starting out with N
Thanks K for taking time to reply, I will be buying some locos which I hope will be dcc ready or fitted, and probably fairly new.
I am researching ideas at the moment but being a cabinetmaker am keen to test more skills in creating something new and different in terms of storage and layout, will see if that transpires.
I am researching ideas at the moment but being a cabinetmaker am keen to test more skills in creating something new and different in terms of storage and layout, will see if that transpires.
Enjoying the ride playing trains like never before. Building a model railway but not too specialised.
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LittleReggie
- Posts: 150
- Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2010 8:43 pm
Re: Starting out with N
Hi,
Re the points - I don't think anyone makes dcc point clips for n scale, if they do I'd like to know. I guess they would just be too small to work effectively. As far as I know you can use insulfrog or electrofrog points with dcc. You can improve performance of both types with some modifications, but it isn't essential, even with electrofrog. There is lots of info on the web about this and plenty people on here will know more.
Regards.
Re the points - I don't think anyone makes dcc point clips for n scale, if they do I'd like to know. I guess they would just be too small to work effectively. As far as I know you can use insulfrog or electrofrog points with dcc. You can improve performance of both types with some modifications, but it isn't essential, even with electrofrog. There is lots of info on the web about this and plenty people on here will know more.
Regards.
Re: Starting out with N
Hi, I was going to run a power bus with droppers just to ensure even distribution of power, if I put the droppers on the sidings this should remove the need for pointvclips shouldn't it?
Enjoying the ride playing trains like never before. Building a model railway but not too specialised.
Re: Starting out with N
There is absolutely no need to modify Peco points in N gauge such as cutting and bonding rails - don't bother to try as you will only wreck them - and they will work fine even with DCC trains. However, it's always best to power any electro-frog from motor switching rather than rely on the blade contact, but that can easily be done from an accessory switch on the motor. The control of the motor can be either traditional passing contact AC switching or even through DCC.
G.
G.
Re: Starting out with N
Hi there
I too am new to N Gauge, just laid the track to my layout, still needs tidying up and so on before i move onto the point motors. I've just used stanadrd set track points, cross overs and flexi track. ! thing to bear in mind for curves is if you intend to run something as long as a voyager, they need quite a large radius, I couldn't say whether radius 1,2,3 or 4, as my curves are 'freehand'
Here's the current state of my layout
I too am new to N Gauge, just laid the track to my layout, still needs tidying up and so on before i move onto the point motors. I've just used stanadrd set track points, cross overs and flexi track. ! thing to bear in mind for curves is if you intend to run something as long as a voyager, they need quite a large radius, I couldn't say whether radius 1,2,3 or 4, as my curves are 'freehand'
Here's the current state of my layout
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Re: Starting out with N
Hi, layout is looking good, keep posting so we can follow progress. As I have a OO gauge I at least have something to "play" with but I am thinking along the lines of 2m x 0.6m raised to eye level with a hidden return loop along the rear with ultimately some spiral to lower hidden level and fiddle yard.
Enjoying the ride playing trains like never before. Building a model railway but not too specialised.
Re: Starting out with N
More questions .. sorry
According to Peco there are 4 radii track curves they make, ignoring radius 1 they state 2 is 263.5mm, 3 is 298.5mm, 4 is 333.4mm, that is fine but where is the radius actually measured?
Is it the inner rail, the outer rail, the centre of the track or sleeper dimensions inner or outer? Sorry probably obvious to those who know but not to me trying to design a layout.
Finally .. at least for now, anyone use Tracksetta and are they any good, means I could use flexitrack and have less joins and possible problems in tunnels.
Thansk for that.
According to Peco there are 4 radii track curves they make, ignoring radius 1 they state 2 is 263.5mm, 3 is 298.5mm, 4 is 333.4mm, that is fine but where is the radius actually measured?
Is it the inner rail, the outer rail, the centre of the track or sleeper dimensions inner or outer? Sorry probably obvious to those who know but not to me trying to design a layout.
Finally .. at least for now, anyone use Tracksetta and are they any good, means I could use flexitrack and have less joins and possible problems in tunnels.
Thansk for that.
Enjoying the ride playing trains like never before. Building a model railway but not too specialised.
Re: Starting out with N
Had to go and measure some 9" setrack, it's radius is to the centre of the track!
I use Tracksettas and they are very good, but if you are doing tighter curves (below 12") you are better using setrack as even a slight kink in the curve at small radii can make a big difference to running qualities...
The use of tight curves is all down to how the modeler himself feels about it, for many, me included, an A4 or Duchess or Mk3 coach going round anything below 12" in N looks rather silly, personally I'd stick to stock with small overhangs if I were to model standard gauge with tight curves, but that's just my point of view... You may be able to live with it!
One advantage of modelling narrow gauge as they had tight curves on the real thing, though even then not as tight as some modelers make them!
I use Tracksettas and they are very good, but if you are doing tighter curves (below 12") you are better using setrack as even a slight kink in the curve at small radii can make a big difference to running qualities...
The use of tight curves is all down to how the modeler himself feels about it, for many, me included, an A4 or Duchess or Mk3 coach going round anything below 12" in N looks rather silly, personally I'd stick to stock with small overhangs if I were to model standard gauge with tight curves, but that's just my point of view... You may be able to live with it!
One advantage of modelling narrow gauge as they had tight curves on the real thing, though even then not as tight as some modelers make them!
Re: Starting out with N
Thanks that is very helpful. may have to buy some 2nd radius then, and tracksetta for bigger radii.
Enjoying the ride playing trains like never before. Building a model railway but not too specialised.