Danneman rocks in new MR

[chuck geiger]

We've seen the layout in books and layout tours from MR/Kalmbach, but
it's always worth it to see it again. BTW- Was I under a rock, what
happened to Kelly's N Scale column?

[wm3798]

Kelly contributes bi-monthly... if it was in November, it won't be in December.

Lee

[Puddington]

Easily the best cover and article of the year; Danneman's layout illustrates everything that is good about N scale and his photography does his modeling absolute justice.

[lock4244]

You're all shills for MR 

Actually, might be the first MR I've bought in several years. Went to their website and wow, so nice to see a layout of that caliber and so well done.

[Sokramiketes]

Excellent photography, and the subscriber extra video that Mike produced is well worth a one-year subscription to MR.  Seeing trains move through this scenery is truely a sight. 

Don't forget the slideshows up on M:160 for more photos of this fantastic layout! 
http://www.model160.com/2011/08/02/images-from-mike-dannemans-moffat-route/

[Dave V]

Ugh...  After so many years I finslly let my subscription run out and so missed this one.

[MichaelWinicki]

Great issue.

Terrific layout also.

But it goes to show you what changes have taken place since that fine layout was built...

If he were to do it all over he would probably be using DCC.  The track would probably be Atlas Code 55 or something similar.

My wife noticed the trees right off the bat.  I said, "Yeah, even the trees for all modeling scales has improved considerably over the last few years."

[chuck geiger]

Lee I haven't seen it in a while

[inkaneer]

You're all shills for MR 

Actually, might be the first MR I've bought in several years. Went to their website and wow, so nice to see a layout of that caliber and so well done.

Let's not forget that it was MR who gave us the Clinchfield layout and at the same time a shot in the arm for N scale in general.  There's going to be a lot of HO'ers looking at that layout and wondering if a smaller scale would give them more operation.   But even more so MR has upped their N scale offerings. That is as significant as Athearn entering N scale despite old Irv (R.I.P.) saying that would never happen.     

[chuck geiger]

One note of interest is Soeberg, I don't know why he  tore down his old layout
began again. Most likely to write articles to contribute to the magazine. I really
don't like all prairie tufts to model desert grasses, it's too con-formative.

[HuskerN]

Chuck, I'll echo your statement about Soeberg.  I admire his talents, but quite honestly I'm getting tired of seeing him in MR.  He has had some nice articles in the past, but he's reached a saturation level in my opinion.  And some of the recent articles seem to be a stretch.

I have been waiting for an article titled "what socks to where while model railroading" by Pelle Soeberg....

Again, I respect the guy for his abilities, but question why the rebuild of essentially the exact same layout design and locale.

[Sokramiketes]

Great issue.

Terrific layout also.

But it goes to show you what changes have taken place since that fine layout was built...

If he were to do it all over he would probably be using DCC.  The track would probably be Atlas Code 55 or something similar.

My wife noticed the trees right off the bat.  I said, "Yeah, even the trees for all modeling scales has improved considerably over the last few years."

I wouldn't be so sure about that.  There are guys that still prefer bullet proof Peco Cd55, Pizza Cutters, and DC cab control.  It's hard to argue with reliability. 

The Atlas Cd55 flex with handlaid turnouts and FVM wheelsets combo comes pretty dang close to that reliability these days, but it involves handlaid turnouts.  Nothing compares to the Peco turnouts out of the box.  And that's OK for a lot of people, Mike Danneman included. 

BLMA is pushing the limits of scale wheelsets now, to the point that they are getting complaints about running quality.  We had a lot of trouble with an out of the box BLMA reefer train on the Modutrak layout at RPM-Lisle.  Layout ran fantastically well with the rest of our equipment, but the skinny BLMA wheels were just too scale.  So I'm probably going to stop at FVM wheels and handlaid turnouts for my "level of appearance vs. aggravation".  Someone headed toward proto:160 will probably figure out what it takes to make the BLMA stuff run. 

DCC is fantastic but glitchy as all get out. For me the pros still outweigh the cons.  For others, they don't want glitchy, they want DC. 

Either way, choose your standards and stick with them!

[mcjaco]

^ My level for working through aggravations has really diminished over the past year or so.  If it looks good, and works reliably.....then I'm done. 

If I go Proto 160, it'll most likely be a shelf/display model. 

[rochsub]

I wouldn't be so sure about that.  There are guys that still prefer bullet proof Peco Cd55, Pizza Cutters, and DC cab control.  It's hard to argue with reliability. 

The Atlas Cd55 flex with handlaid turnouts and FVM wheelsets combo comes pretty dang close to that reliability these days, but it involves handlaid turnouts.  Nothing compares to the Peco turnouts out of the box.  And that's OK for a lot of people, Mike Danneman included. 

BLMA is pushing the limits of scale wheelsets now, to the point that they are getting complaints about running quality.  We had a lot of trouble with an out of the box BLMA reefer train on the Modutrak layout at RPM-Lisle.  Layout ran fantastically well with the rest of our equipment, but the skinny BLMA wheels were just too scale.  So I'm probably going to stop at FVM wheels and handlaid turnouts for my "level of appearance vs. aggravation".  Someone headed toward proto:160 will probably figure out what it takes to make the BLMA stuff run. 

DCC is fantastic but glitchy as all get out. For me the pros still outweigh the cons.  For others, they don't want glitchy, they want DC. 

Either way, choose your standards and stick with them!

Mike,

Are you sure about the skinny vs. FVM.  I have not measured anything, but when I received my BLMA reefers, I felt their metal wheels were a bit thicker than FVM.   

BTW, I missed seeing your set up at RPM.  Are you going to be Trainfest and, if so, have their been a lot of changes/additions since last year?

Daryl

[chuck geiger]

Good point Husker, it's like watching CNN and seeing every news story
all over again every 20 minutes. I also noticed Hoover's layout is kind
of thin. He use to be a champion of logistics and scenery. Did every one
go off the cliff with Barrow on the minumalist thing?

BTW - Huge fan of your work....