Introductions

[peteski]

Welcome to the Railwire Beemerfield, and Dan, and nice to have you back Banarama!
I suspect that you all are already at least somewhat familiar with what TRW is all about.
@dkerber123 @Beemerfield @Banarama

New members: check out the FAQ section for new member info: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?board=41.0
It would really be helpful for a positive new-member experience if new members were sent some sort of information email describing all of the new member limits, or if the FAQ section was somewhere easily found.  But that is not happening.

Anyway, welcome and keep posting - soon you will have full member privileges. I also recommend using the photo gallery feature instead of attaching photos to the posts.  It is slightly more inconvenient but in the long run the gallery is much better place for photos.  A photo-tutorial is also in the FAQ section.

[dkerber123]

Thanks! Somehow I have been a member here for just over 6 years and hadn’t posted yet…. This is a great resource for N scalers!

[Laughlin Jones]

Hello,

A quick run down/intro to the railwire community.

I am a 1:1 railroader that has fortunately or unfortunately been able to work on and around a lot of the United States, with a great deal of time all across the northeast.

For quite some time now I have been coming across and checking in on some of the builds here on RW.  A few that stand out is a Erie Railroad Mahoning Div layout that always really sparked my interest. Dave V,  I think I gave the door layout a try many years ago after following his build. Ed K, a modeler that I share many of the same interests with. Not to forget Lee W, missed out on getting a Laurel Valley hopper..... So with that I figured it was probably just time to join.

What am I modeling/plan to model.

I have been an N scale collector for yikes pushing 20yrs now. A few layouts came and went that failed to get past a plywood and mock up buildings. I have concentrated on Conrail 1976 to the early 1980s. Along with CR I have been collecting a good deal of steel mill related items and equipment for one of my home roads the Union Railroad.

With all that said as I get closer to being able to start a layout I find myself with the same issues many face, analysis paralysis, too much of a collection to pin down one thing. Wanting to model the entire northeast etc etc etc lol.

Glad to be onboard here,

Laughlin

[peteski]

Thanks for the introduction Laughlin, and welcome to the ranks of active members of the Railwire. Also, as a  railroader in "real" life you will likely be able to offer us all some advice for more accurate modeling.

[Jesse6669]

Hello,

A quick run down/intro to the railwire community.

I am a 1:1 railroader that has fortunately or unfortunately been able to work on and around a lot of the United States, with a great deal of time all across the northeast.
(snip)..one of my home roads the Union Railroad.
Laughlin

Welcome!   I wonder if I saw you working at some point as a teenage resident of da 'Burgh during the 70s-80s.  You'll probably recognize these and the location.  A buddy of mine knew the Shop Foreman there so we had permission, and even so I remember one mechanic was not pleased to see "fans" on the property, with a hearty "get the F*** outa here!" until he knew the situation.  - Jesse
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[Laughlin Jones]

@ Pete... Never opposed to giving my 2 cents worth, but in this day and age 2 cents isn't going to get you very much


@ Jesse... Well depending on how you look at it, either I was lucking or unlucky too be born too late to experience North Bessemer when it was a major terminal for the BLE.  Granted I have worked in that yard a good number of times just to wonder what it was like pre 1987 when the BLE was supplying dozens of blast furnaces in the mon valley.

My start with the railroads came in the early 2000s. I got in just in time to see the good times go away for good...

[Trainscription]

Hi!
I'm Tim from Texas (but you can just call me Tim!).

Looking forward to being a part of the conversation. I've been an N-scaler for about 50 years, started out with a MiniTrix set as a birthday present around 1975. I'm on my fourth layout - the Whitehurst & Pine Ridge Railroad - which is a fully operational, DC. Call me old school! I do have a separate, small DCC switching layout when I want to hear bells and whistles. I've entertained transitioning the W&PRR but it's not a priority right now. Maybe some day.

Tim

[N Scale Train Boy]

Welcome to the Railwire Tim! Looking forward to seeing the W&PRR! What era is it set in?

[Trainscription]

Hi N Scale Train Boy,

Apologies for the late reply.

The W&PRR is Class II short line set in the late 1980s to early 1990s in western Arkansas along a protolance Union Pacific route from Kansas City to Dallas during the merger era. In addition to the namesake short line you'll see UP plus MKT, MP, SP and other acquisition equipment running on the the layout .

It is a large DC operating layout. Been around since November 2019; operations began in 2023 using MRC Tech 4 350 walk-around control and RailOp car forwarding. Until recently, it hasn't had its own identity and used hand-me-down UP power for switching Whitehurst, Pine Ridge and Van Buren. The W&PRR now has its own paint scheme and joins the legion of freelance railroads.

I'm not a forum guy but I've heard a lot of good things about Railwire. Looking forward to being a part of the community.

Tim

[N Scale Train Boy]

@Trainscription sounds awesome! I'm always impressed by large DC layouts, they really are electrical master classes, and as a fellow freelancer, happy to have you among our ranks!    Glad to have you in the community, and looking forward to seeing you around whenever you are on the forums! If you ever want a IPD boxcar from a northeastern freelance road, I'd be happy to send decals or a car if you ever want one!

[KSTXFLID]

The W&PRR is Class II short line set in the late 1980s to early 1990s in western Arkansas along a protolance Union Pacific route from Kansas City to Dallas during the merger era. In addition to the namesake short line you'll see UP plus MKT, MP, SP and other acquisition equipment running on the the layout .

Welcome to the forum. I'm hoping you post pics, love the era and the subject!

[PanAmShay]

Hi there, I'm Andrew from Seattle and have been lurking here the past 7 months.  Just got into n-scale and model railroading in earnest in January when our 12 yr old son joined an nTrak modular group and got his first n scale train.  Since then we've built the track work for our show module (but need to do scenery), built a 3 module plywood prairie for our home use, graduated from a Digitrax Zephyr hand me down to ESU Mobile Control Pro throttles and Cab control.  We're exclusively ESU Loksound 5, with the exception of 2 Zimo sound decoders.

We've done DCC Sound installs on an Atlas Shay, a pair of Intermountain FP9, and Kato TGV Lyria, plus the typical Kato and Atlas modern diesel.  We've benefited from the expertise found here as well as many others who have helped us out to accomplish this.   

My grandfather was a flight engineer for Pan Am Airlines for his entire career and had a medium sized O scale layout in his house, with pre and post-war Lionel around the Christmas tree every year.  In the mid 80's he got an HO set that we ran a lot, but never built a layout for it.  I model Pam Am Railways in his honor, and still have his O scale trains.  I also model PNW Logging Railroads where the standard gauge Shay was common.  Our son models Canadian Pacific freight with Amtrak passenger service and the occasional French express passenger train.

[peteski]

Welcome to the Railwire Andrew.  Judging by what you wrote in your introduction, you advanced quite quickly for someone who just started in the hobby seven months ago.  The Shay sound decoder install is something that even many seasoned modelers would not even attempt.

I also think you made good move to move up to ESU and ZIMO DCC equipment.

It will be good to see some of your modeling once you get to 25 posts (when you can start uploading photos here).

Pan Am was a true world class airline and I miss seeing those aircraft (and also their name on the sky scraper in NYC). It is now a bygone era when air travel was considered a luxury, and passengers were treated like VIPs, not cattle.

[PanAmShay]

Thanks Peteski!

I'll post some photos once I get over the threshold.  On the Shay DCC Sound install, I read and re-read through every install I could find and watch every YouTube.  The install itself wasn't that hard once I learned all the different ways people had done it.  No frame milling or anything was required.  I used a Zimo MS500 decoder in the cab with some 3d printed opaque windows to hide it and a 3d printed speaker enclosure next to the worm gear.  It was a 2nd generation model with the smaller motor.