COMME-N-TARY: Progress Report on my N Scale PRR Layout Modeling in the hobby’s most eNgaging scale
About our N-scale columnist
Reader Feedback (click here)
Building PRR’s Horseshoe Curve in N scale ...
John Drye is our N scale editor and columnist. Click here to learn more about John.
L
ast year, I related the thought process that led up to the construction of an N Scale version of Horseshoe Curve in my basement. A year later, considerable progress has been made, with a lot of help from some pretty good model railroaders.
Figure 1: Horseshoe Curve on Oct. 12, 1934. Used under the GNU free documentation licencse. (where helpers, called snappers on the PRR, are removed), on to Cresson where several coal branches radiate from the main line, and finally down the West Slope towards Pittsburgh and points west.
room. One of the key lessons gleaned from the model railroading operations community is that you can never have too much room for staging. So, the staging yard will accomodate at least 16 trains.
The layout fits in a 15 x 21 finished basement, plus ten, 12’ to 15’ staging tracks in an adjacent 8’ x 15’ utility
About three-fourths of the track is laid and work is beginning on scenery in some locations. Some “testing” has already taken place; also known as running trains back and forth.
Construction
Introduction The layout represents a mid1950s version of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The main line trackage begins in downtown Altoona at the base of the hill, runs out of town and up to Horseshoe Curve, past MG tower (at “mid-grade”), to the three tunnels at the top of the hill Page 141 • Issue 7 • May/Jun 2010 • Comme-N-tary Column, page 1
Figure 2: The Horseshoe Curve on the author’s underconstruction N Scale layout.
The benchwork is open L-girder with plywood sub-roadbed for most of the main line. This construction was pretty straightforward. An interesting aspect was building several spiral curves, including Horseshoe Curve. Using several carpenter’s levels and measuring carefully created a smooth grade up the mountain.
Tell a friend ...
Contents
Index