Model Railroader and the Modern N Scaler...

[wm3798]

So this month's (May 2011) Model Railroader is chock a block with N scale features.  David Popp's delightful New Haven is the foundation of a fun article about switching operations, there's an N scale layout feature, a How-To for installing a decoder in an older vintage Kato SD45 by Mike Polsgrove, and of course, Jim Kelly's commentary.  It appears that they really are stepping up their game.

I'm interested in hearing some feedback from the crowd here.  After a cursory glance last night, I noted the following:
The decoder article looks a lot more complex than it has to be... he uses a Z-2 wired decoder and cuts a chunk out of the fuel tank instead of using a CN-GP to replace the light boards...
Kelly re-hashes the c55 track wars, then talks about re-gauging his locomotive wheels to overcome derailments at the frogs of Atlas 55 turnouts... but really, 30 minutes per unit to regauge wheels?

Popp's article is more generic about switching, but the track plans presented for the switching puzzles are clearly more fun to work in the available space owing to the scale and of course, the illustrations of his modeling are outstanding as usual.  The layout feature looks pretty nice, I'll be reading that in more depth tonight.  It's about upgrading a "roundy round" into a more operations based layout... an interesting juxtaposition to the work Eric is currently undertaking on his Nickel Plate.

Anyway, it was worth dropping the discounted cover price when I saw it at Walmart yesterday.  If you've had a chance to look at it, what do you think?
Lee

[Philip H]

I think it was a good n scale issue - heck even a guy with sectional track had a layout feature (ya missed that one in your run down).

[Mark5]

Kelly re-hashes the c55 track wars, then talks about re-gauging his locomotive wheels to overcome derailments at the frogs of Atlas 55 turnouts... but really, 30 minutes per unit to regauge wheels?

30 minutes per unit lmao! ;D

Will take a look at the library sometime ...

Mark

[noblerot]

I'm interested in hearing some feedback from the crowd here.  After a cursory glance last night, I noted the following:
The decoder article looks a lot more complex than it has to be... he uses a Z-2 wired decoder and cuts a chunk out of the fuel tank instead of using a CN-GP to replace the light boards...
Kelly re-hashes the c55 track wars, then talks about re-gauging his locomotive wheels to overcome derailments at the frogs of Atlas 55 turnouts... but really, 30 minutes per unit to regauge wheels?

I was disappointed in the decoder install as well. Not only were there 2 better options (CN or CN-GP mentioned above and Ron Bearden shows, on TCS's site, installing a Z2 under the front light board) but Mr. Polsgrove said it took 3 nights to do? I hope he meant he only worked a 1/2 hour a night on it, but he made it seem like a monumental task. I think this misrepresents DCC in N scale to potential newcomers. To be fair TCS's website also shows using an Aztec milled frame on an install but Mike didn't mention there are 2 much easier options.

I did enjoy David Popps article.

[Brakie]

I agree there was lots of  N in the May's issue..Combine with NSR and NSM that was a lot of  N Scale reading. ;D

Maybe they are realizing  N Scale is indeed(as the old fur ball would say) the Normal scale.. ;D


I wasn't to please with Kelly's commentary..Sounded like  N Scale needed a lot of work..

[Philip H]

With all due respect to the Wizard oif Cambridge it would probably take me an hour per axle to do that sort of regague since I'd overshoot my intended gauge about a dozen times.
I'll also weigh in on the install - I think Mr. Polsgrove is an HO guy so he may not be aware of those other options and thus he may have gone either with what he had or what he could gt. Sure there are alternatives but really - we got a bunch of the sort of articles we've been bashing MR for NOT having and we still tear them apart. Really?

[wm3798]

Not tearing apart...  Just looking quizzically.

I agree with Brakie's assessment of Kelly's article.  I mean cripes, I take a little screw driver and bip bop bip, I'm back on the road in less than a minute.  Sure, there's lots of elements to N scale that are, shall we say, a bit more challenging, but he makes it sound like you need a degree or something.

And the decoder article is akin to watching a cooking demonstration that begins with starting the fire with a flint...

Lee

[noblerot]

With all due respect to the Wizard oif Cambridge it would probably take me an hour per axle to do that sort of regague since I'd overshoot my intended gauge about a dozen times.
I'll also weigh in on the install - I think Mr. Polsgrove is an HO guy so he may not be aware of those other options and thus he may have gone either with what he had or what he could gt. Sure there are alternatives but really - we got a bunch of the sort of articles we've been bashing MR for NOT having and we still tear them apart. Really?

I think Mike has done a good job covering N scale decoder installs over the years for the most part. He has done board replacement's, sound decoder installs and has covered TCS's above mentioned CN and CN-GP split board installs for older locomotives. This is why it was odd to see how he went about the install on the Kato SD45. If he had gone with what he had or just wanted to try the fuel tank install, he had ample room to say so in the 2 page article. Instead he states "I soon discovered that about the only place for a decoder was inside the fuel tank".

[inkaneer]

Let's not go Ga Ga over one issue.  One issue does not make a trend.  Maybe they just didn't have any HO to go with and so reluctantly went with N Scale stuff to get the issue out the door.  Subsequent issues will tell us more.  Here is a thought, maybe MR is using this issue as a test to gauge the N Scale market.  If they sell more issues than normal they can attribute this to N scalers buying the mag.  Interesting I think.  We shall see.

[wm3798]

Let's not go Ga Ga over one issue.  One issue does not make a trend.  Maybe they just didn't have any HO to go with and so reluctantly went with N Scale stuff to get the issue out the door.  Subsequent issues will tell us more.  Here is a thought, maybe MR is using this issue as a test to gauge the N Scale market.  If they sell more issues than normal they can attribute this to N scalers buying the mag.  Interesting I think.  We shall see.

...and just like Walthers, they'll approach N scale all wrong, then wring their hands when nobody bites... 

But still, it's nice that they throw us a bone here, and it will be interesting to see what kind of feedback they get.
Lee

[MichaelWinicki]

I thought it was a top-notch issue.

Yeah, I agree with the critique on the decoder article, but at least they had the article.

On Kelly's article I also raised an eyebrow concerning the 30 minutes needed to regauge a loco BUT I appreciated the he brought up the point that many N-scale locos are too narrow, which does cause a lot of the problems with Atlas code 55 track.  Many, especially on the Atlas forum, blame Atlas code 55 for bad performance, when it's actually under-gauged locos and rolling stock.  

[Bsklarski]

Pardon my ignorance. Whats with the 30 mins per loco to re-gauge? I never had to re-gauge a N loco. For some reason I have no issues with any of mine on C55 track. So is 30 mins to long or to short for this sort of project?

Brian

[SirTainly]

Too long, and if you made a gauge up in styrene, it would take seconds.

I'm wondering if the SD45 article was pulled from the backlog to fill space and was frome before the TCS decoders were about. When did the deocder he used come out?

[sirenwerks]

Let's not go Ga Ga over one issue.  One issue does not make a trend.  Maybe they just didn't have any HO to go with and so reluctantly went with N Scale stuff to get the issue out the door.  Subsequent issues will tell us more.  Here is a thought, maybe MR is using this issue as a test to gauge the N Scale market.  If they sell more issues than normal they can attribute this to N scalers buying the mag. 

If this Walthers approach to market research is how Kalmbach works, they deserve a monster dope slap. The Popp article could have used HO as an example for what it's worth. Same for the SD45 piece, a decoder replacement article doesn't ranks as an article for N scalers, per se. And the Kelly piece is like a poke in the eye and, also, is not an N scale specific issue and shouldn't be placed in an N scale column. The latter is presented in a harmful way, IMO.

There's really nothing of N scale significance in the issue. If you're hinting we should support MR's featuring N scale just to prove there's a market there, I would disagree. That should be reserved for when the product's significant and worth buying. As long as we knee jerk for schlock, that's what they'll keep giving us.

[wm3798]

Yes, the Popp article could have used HO as a basis, but there is an underlying opportunity there that demonstrates how much N scale you can have fun with in a limited space budget...That's not a bad thing.  Plus it's obvious that Popp "gets it" while Kelly and Polsgrove come across like old fuddy duddies.

In fact, Kelly's approach to wheel gauging just happens to involve using a wheel puller and a set of inexpensive calipers available from Micro Mark...  I smell more product placements...

You can't sell ads when you tell people to use a toothpick or a pocket knife to fix the problem in 30 seconds....

Lee