I'm trying to build a list loosely based on the Ox & Bucks at Pegasus Bridge, but expanding it out to the full 100 points. I worry that I don't have the Royal Engineers represented, and that the 16pdrs are a bit overkill.
How can I make this closer to the inspiration and both still be competitive and get to 100 points? Also, is this a legal list?
I've been learning how clumsy I am dealing with N Scale with this 30" x 30" layout which happens to fit perfectly on my Work From Home desk. Given its size, I obviously went with a roundy round. It's eventually going to be a fictional 1920s Virginia branch line that I'm calling "Piedmont Junction," with the red clay soil. I realize that means the passenger coaches are anachronistic as they're in 1950 livery so I need to find green and gold Chesapeake and Ohio Coaches eventually. I'm putting together the Blair Line General Store kit, and will eventually be hiding most of the back third of the loop in conifers to represent Loblolly pine canopies, I'm also needing to figure out the positioning of the station and water tower as they feel unbalanced here.
Once I have the general store in place, I have an N scale Model T roadster to place, and some Woodland Scenics fine iron ore ballast that I'm hoping to use to represent a dirt road for the Model T to park on, and also possibly ballast/weather the track so the Kato Unitrack roadbed isn't quite so visible. It's soothing to watch the 0-6-0 pulling those coaches while I work.
Was putting together a fun little N scale workdesk loop with an 0-6-0 hauling a couple of passenger coaches, and unfortunately, I wasn't able to intervene before my cat, Goblin took a swipe, knocking my only current locomotive off the table...
The tender promptly detached itself from the switcher and that little broken metal ring tells me that this isn't an easy repair for a newbie...
How screwed am I?
Not sure if this is the right flair for this, so apologies if I've screwed that up.
I've been vaguely interested in model trains for a while, initially as an adjunct to using a lot of model railroad terrain guides for my Warhammer habit, but I enjoyed seeing some of the folks display layouts and had the itch to try, but kept putting it off due to various life situations. I eventually realized that if I keep putting things off, I'll never get it done, so I bit the bullet this week, and my very first purchase arrived:
Yes, I decided on N scale, and reading around Kato Unitrack seemed the way to go. Of course, as is typical, the locomotive I ordered at the same time (a Bachmann USRA 0-6-0 in unlettered black) was delayed and won't be arriving until Monday.
It's also not going to fit in my planned layout theme, so it's basically going to be a test mule as I get used to everything (I ordered it as I was impatient and didn't want to wait for an import.)
After a bit of noodling around, I hit on a layout theme, it's going to be a freelance based on how I remember the Isle of Man Steam Railway preserved line from when I used to go on holiday there in the mid-to-late-80s as a kid. It's going to be based on how I remember Ramsey station and harbour rather than how they actually are. It's going to be a super long term plan based around for 2' x 4' modules that will eventually link up into a 4' x 8' layout. First module will be Ramsey station and harbour, and will be designed as a terminus with a quay spur. This is almost all theoretical at this point, but I am sketching out a layout with the traditional station run-round loop, and a potential hidden loop from the quay spar to a future module's fiddle yard.
Ideally, I wanted to have a "hero" engine pulling a 3 coach passenger rake and a "maintenance" engine with a plank wagon and brake van rake. I wanted a Terrier or Jinty for the "hero" engine but they don't seem to be available in N scale at the moment, so I'm importing a 6412 GWR 'Shirtbutton' Preserved to be the hero engine, and it'll be reassigned to the maintenance engine role if a Terrier becomes available. (Despite being British, I've lived in Richmond, Virginia for the past 20+ years, so it looks like most of the British steam, especially at N scale is going to have to be imports) I've probably bitten off far more than I can chew, and while plywood and XPS foam sheets are in my future, I wanted to set the track up on the floor so I'm not just staring at my new toy in a box, so I did that, and then quickly reboxed it before my cat could get at it.
I also grabbed a few things at HobbyTown just because I wanted it to feel like the start of a project and not just a quick track, I figure these are pretty generic scenery items that can fit almost anywhere in a layout:
So, do any of the veterans here have any tips for an overly-ambitious beginner?