I'm a new to this forum and was in need of some suggestions. I have been an armchair modeler for over 10 years and I really enjoy reading about this hobby. I'd like to get into it a little but I don't have a ton of time being a teacher and coach. Recently my dad mentioned wanting a train around the tree or a Christmas village. He and my mother have always liked the villages in the stores. I thought about it and had an idea that may not be very feasible. I would like to create a small layout with a Christmas theme, yet realistic. I was thinking a small mining or logging railroad. Think Christmas in the Appalachians. I don't want to tackle modeling snow, however, and it doesn't snow in my neck of the Appalachians much till January anyway. I have a few ideas and "druthers" and I'd like everyone's opinion on them. I'll number them for simplicity's sake.

1. I have room for a 2 x 6 layout so I am thinking narrow gauge. I have seen a couple of nice mining layouts about this size. However, I can't hand lay turnouts so what size should I use? Are commercial turnouts available in all narrow gauge scales? I want to use HO or above. I'm leaning On30.
2. I will be using DCC because it will require a good bit of lighting and hopefully sound. That is something I will have to improve on as I go.
3. I want it to be a continuous loop since it will be mostly display although a chance at small operations would be nice.
4. Here comes the kicker. It needs to be something I can build rather quickly and look "finished" as it will be a Christmas display. It also needs to be portable or removable rather as it will not be up except November through January. I can add to it every year during the holidays and work on structures and trees and such during the summer. Although it will "grow" through the years it needs to be display worthy within a few weeks. Details can come later.
5. Budget is not a major problem as I want a good DCC system and good locomotive. But, outside of that I don't want to spend a ton of money especially in the beginning.

All suggestions and comments are welcome. Thanks in advance!

If you're limited to 24" in width, I'm thinking you will end up with tight curves and small engines and cars to make that continuous loop possible.

Why not "Christmas at the Mine?" That would give you the mine building(s) to decorate or put a tiny tree on top of, some switching in front of the mine, and a continuous run around the mine at the same time, and all yu really need is a small switcher and some ore cars.

Thanks for the reply. That's a good idea. It was kinda what I had in mind. I know the radius is tight so I know a big Shay is out of the question. I've never been a big steam guy. What Locos do ya'll recommend?

The Bachmann 45 tonner can go on a very tight radius and it has that cool side rod action. Plus with red or green, you have Christmasy colors.

If you don't need steam, a small diesel switcher would be ideal, and perfect for shoving those little mine cars around. Hang a big Chrsitmas wreath on each side of it to add to the festivities.

Thanks fellas. I would prefer steam for this layout although I'm more of a modern diesel fan. I think I want to model 1900 to 1920's. Does anyone sell unpainted O scale figures? I like to dabble in historical miniatures painting. I'd like to paint my own layout figures.

Savez,

You can still find Varney 0-4-0T Little Joe tank engines on EBay. They also take a ridiculously tight radius.

Savez,

You can still find Varney 0-4-0T Little Joe tank engines on EBay. They also take a ridiculously tight radius.

Bachman also makes an excellent 0-6-0 switcher.

Savez Wrote:. I thought about it and had an idea that may not be very feasible.

You said it... lets try and tackle this piece by piece.

Savez Wrote:1. I have room for a 2 x 6 layout so I am thinking narrow gauge. I have seen a couple of nice mining layouts about this size. However, I can't hand lay turnouts so what size should I use? Are commercial turnouts available in all narrow gauge scales? I want to use HO or above. I'm leaning On30.

3. I want it to be a continuous loop since it will be mostly display although a chance at small operations would be nice.
4. Here comes the kicker. It needs to be something I can build rather quickly and look "finished" as it will be a Christmas display.

The Short Answer-

Your space is to small for a continuous loop that will reliably operate most HO or On30 equipment out of the box. You can improve things considerably by upgrading to at least 32" x 6', but a full 3'X6' with at least 15" curves would be better.

Any HO track will work, but Peco does sell some On30 style track, and their turnouts are pretty good.

The long drawn out answer

As a display layout, you want something that can run for a long period of time with reliability. If the train can't stay on the tracks, then you might as well save the money and make just a Christmas Village without it.

At 2' x 6', you can at most fit an 11" radius curve. Most HO and On30 equipment are not specifically designed for less than 15" (30" diameter). Trolleys can usually go down to 9" reliably in HO scale, and some (with or without modification) can make it down to 6".

I've heard reports of some On30 equipment making it down to around those numbers as well, but reliability greatly suffers, and you may have to make significant modifications to make this work. In fact, I've heard of people snapping the drive shafts of On30 Bachmann Climaxes trying to get them to run tighter than 15", a costly piece of damage even if Bachmann will sell the parts to replace them.

Remember, its not just the Locomotive or Car that has to go through the curve either. The whole train has to make it. For instance, you can coax an On30 0-4-0 porter onto a 6" radius curve, but nothing will couple to it and stay on the rails! From a quick google search, it seems many On30 people experimenting with tight curves report binding at around your 11" maximum.

Consider also that 15" curve sectional tracks are readily available.

The Bottom Line-

A 3x6 would let you use stock 15" curve sections that can be laid down quickly and easily, getting track work out of the way fast. Additionally, most HO and On30 logging/mining equipment should be able to handle a 15" curve with relative reliability.

Savez Wrote:2. I will be using DCC because it will require a good bit of lighting and hopefully sound. That is something I will have to improve on as I go.

5. Budget is not a major problem as I want a good DCC system and good locomotive. But, outside of that I don't want to spend a ton of money especially in the beginning.

Personally, I'd recommend the NCE PowerCab. The NCE system is a little more user friendly and intuitive than the equivalents by its competitors. Additionally, the programming walk through and "recovery programming" options are extremely helpful. The trade off with the PowerCab is that it doesn't have a command base (like the ProCab), and so a PowerCab throttle of some kind must be plugged in somewhere to power the layout. In this case however, your layout would be so small that you don't really need to walk around farther than the chord will take you (and if you found a cheap ProCab, you could use that to walk around while leaving the Powercab plugged in). The PowerCab would also need an add-on to take limited advantage of JMRI, but unless you plan to use that for programming you don't really need that.

If for whatever reason you think you might build a more permanent layout in the future, you may want to consider an NCE PowerPro system instead. This would be over kill for a small temporary layout, but ideal for anything more permanent that might grow in size. Its more expensive, but its a great system


As far as locomotives and sound go, it seems like Bachmann has really cornered the market on On30 equipment. If you buy something without DCC, I recommend the TCS (Train Control Systems) decoders, because of their "goof-proof" warranty. If you burn or break the decoder, they will usually replace it for free and are generally a lot less of a headache to deal with than any other decoder manufacturer. Reportedly, their new "WOWSound" decoder is top notch for steam.

If you want small, continuous run, I suggest you check out the late Carl Arendt's website at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.carendt.com">http://www.carendt.com</a><!-- m -->. It's been updated by others since his passing. You'll find hundreds of small layouts with all different themes and to fit all kinds of spaces. Very inspirational.

Andrew