I love the design, it is clever with that crossover in the middle of the siding! As for what to build, I say make it with the ability to make it a full loop for a show, but that is just me. Curious to see how this comes along!
Steve you have me excited. I attempted 2 rail O scale way back in the late 90's. Because I was standing on concrete all day and attempting to lay my own track, I didn't get very far. So 20+ years later and being 72, I may just have to give it another attempt. I still have all my equipment, a Red Caboose GP9 and 5 freight cars are on display. It occurs to me that one of Ian Rice's dinky 1x3 -4 ft Ho layouts might convert pretty well to a trial O scale layout. A door could easily solve the layout base pretty easily.
Yep, that is my thinking! I’ve even seen how to modify body-mounted kadee couplers to allow rolling stock to make it around O27 curves, so now I’m contemplating the idea again of doing a 36” wide door layout with staging on one side and the switching area on the other so will do some additional testing on that idea.
It’s interesting to see this as I’m currently struggling with what to do. I love o scale but I now have no room for a layout. I have room for an HO scale switching layout but overall can’t decide..
Steve, "come to the dark side!?!" Oh, I mean, O scale side . . . oh, whatever . . . things are looking good with the bigger models. Yeah, ya' can't fit as much trackage in a small space with O like you can w/ HO and N. I too have a 'sparking' 22 degree crossover; a really old NOS piece. Atlas was quick to reply with an email concerning the problem: "This is an older piece of track. This was corrected many years ago. The problem is the live X in the middle of the crossover, there is nothing insulating all 4 ends of it. A thin coat of epoxy will fix the problem. Just put a thin coat on all 4 rail ends where the back of the wheel comes in contact with them." Hope that helps . . . thanks for sharing your work/play/fun 🙃
Go for the LD couplers. I created some shims on some LGB stock from loco front thru cars and caboose. We shaved a chop stick down and directed it down to the coupler and caused the coupler to open up. Worked very well. Cheers David
Again, welcome to O Scale. You're moving along with this "project" nicely. I'm not sure about those particular cars you have, but some of the 3-rail manufacturers have been listening to those of us that want to be more prototypical with our modeling efforts. They have been setting up the cars to more easily be converted to kadee couplers. I have some demonstrations coming up that will show how I do it.
O scale really is cool stuff. My brother Chris messed around with it for a while. I've got some videos of it on my channel, But wow it takes up a lot of room. I think i'll stick to N scale for now. May graduate up to H.O. scale eventually since i've got a ton of rolling stock, track, etc. for that stored away, lol. That little switcher sure is cool. I love how smooth it runs!
Yeah, I will only be able to do a door sized layout at most, but it should still be a lot of fun to operate since slow speed switching is more enjoyable to me in big scales.
What is funny is that I think I like N scale and O scale the best. Any time I go to a train show I always gravitate to those displays. With N scale you get some of the best scenery and ability for a lot more stuff around the track because you have more room for it. With O scale, the shear size and sound of everything is impressive and captivating. HO is the middle ground and most popular, but for me tends to be the least fulfilling.
I sure like what you are doing for a small o scale 3 rail project. That sw1 is a super unit as I see it. If I were to duplicate what you are doing and going to do would you coach me through building what you are doing? Cheers David
I will have a while video series on the construction and can answer questions if you have them. I don’t really have much time for direct one-on-one consultation so hard to say on that. I work long hours at my day job, and I’m usually working on the TH-cam stuff at 4am before work.
I’m doing a combination 2-rail/3rail layout, so I can run my previously bought 2-rail equipment, along with some of the great 3 rail steam that’s out there. Each is going to run on its own track system, basically a big double track loop, where the outside track is 2-rail and the inside loop is 3 rail.
come on Steve, Bifocals. yeah, its hard to get used to, but you'll get it. If you don't want bifocals, get a set of reading glasses. Love the O switching layouts
I have progressive lenses but my prescription is changing quickly so I can only see closeup well for a few months. I don’t want to update them more than once a year since the cost a lot. My distance vision is horribly bad so just doing reading glasses doesn’t work for me. I might get cataract surgery in five years then I’ll be able to just have a bunch of reading glasses.
Since I commented on your other video introducing the Sw1 I’ve decided to switch to O scale. You might be partly to blame for getting the wheels spinning in my big empty head… 😊😊😊 I’ve built an O scale 2-rail layout in the past-I think you’ll be much happier with Kadee O couplers when compared to the lobster claws…
Nice! I’ve become quite enamored with it. I did receive a bunch of kadee couplers in the mail this week so will try out the conversions soon. Of course I’ve also just received a bunch of Z scale stuff. Doing all the scales, lol.
Ahora una maqueta escala O. Excelente. Mi maqueta es escala N. Falta una maqueta escala Z. Maqueta escala G. Modular o compacta. Maqueta escala HO compacta.
I love the design, it is clever with that crossover in the middle of the siding! As for what to build, I say make it with the ability to make it a full loop for a show, but that is just me. Curious to see how this comes along!
Steve you have me excited. I attempted 2 rail O scale way back in the late 90's. Because I was standing on concrete all day and attempting to lay my own track, I didn't get very far. So 20+ years later and being 72, I may just have to give it another attempt. I still have all my equipment, a Red Caboose GP9 and 5 freight cars are on display.
It occurs to me that one of Ian Rice's dinky 1x3 -4 ft Ho layouts might convert pretty well to a trial O scale layout. A door could easily solve the layout base pretty easily.
Yep, that is my thinking! I’ve even seen how to modify body-mounted kadee couplers to allow rolling stock to make it around O27 curves, so now I’m contemplating the idea again of doing a 36” wide door layout with staging on one side and the switching area on the other so will do some additional testing on that idea.
It’s interesting to see this as I’m currently struggling with what to do.
I love o scale but I now have no room for a layout. I have room for an HO scale switching layout but overall can’t decide..
Steve, "come to the dark side!?!" Oh, I mean, O scale side . . . oh, whatever . . . things are looking good with the bigger models. Yeah, ya' can't fit as much trackage in a small space with O like you can w/ HO and N. I too have a 'sparking' 22 degree crossover; a really old NOS piece. Atlas was quick to reply with an email concerning the problem: "This is an older piece of track. This was corrected many years ago. The problem is the live X in the middle of the crossover, there is nothing insulating all 4 ends of it. A thin coat of epoxy will fix the problem. Just put a thin coat on all 4 rail ends where the back of the wheel comes in contact with them." Hope that helps . . . thanks for sharing your work/play/fun 🙃
Awesome, great info on the cross over!
Go for the LD couplers. I created some shims on some LGB stock from loco front thru cars and caboose. We shaved a chop stick down and directed it down to the coupler and caused the coupler to open up. Worked very well.
Cheers David
Again, welcome to O Scale. You're moving along with this "project" nicely. I'm not sure about those particular cars you have, but some of the 3-rail manufacturers have been listening to those of us that want to be more prototypical with our modeling efforts. They have been setting up the cars to more easily be converted to kadee couplers. I have some demonstrations coming up that will show how I do it.
I believe these cars are ready for easy conversion. I plan to try that soon as I have received a bunch of kadee couplers in the mail this week.
O scale really is cool stuff. My brother Chris messed around with it for a while. I've got some videos of it on my channel, But wow it takes up a lot of room. I think i'll stick to N scale for now. May graduate up to H.O. scale eventually since i've got a ton of rolling stock, track, etc. for that stored away, lol. That little switcher sure is cool. I love how smooth it runs!
👍
Yeah, I will only be able to do a door sized layout at most, but it should still be a lot of fun to operate since slow speed switching is more enjoyable to me in big scales.
O scale layout.
I love O scale train.
Locomotive and boxcars.
N = Normal. HO = Horribly Oversized. O = O.M.G! 🙂 Looking forward to see how your new project comes together!
What is funny is that I think I like N scale and O scale the best. Any time I go to a train show I always gravitate to those displays. With N scale you get some of the best scenery and ability for a lot more stuff around the track because you have more room for it. With O scale, the shear size and sound of everything is impressive and captivating. HO is the middle ground and most popular, but for me tends to be the least fulfilling.
@@StevesTrains OK, now I'm thinking...where can I cram an O scale Inglenook layout? I need aspirin...🤣
Anymore updates on this layout?
I’ll be starting on it here late this winter I think.
I sure like what you are doing for a small o scale 3 rail project. That sw1 is a super unit as I see it. If I were to duplicate what you are doing and going to do would you coach me through building what you are doing?
Cheers David
I will have a while video series on the construction and can answer questions if you have them. I don’t really have much time for direct one-on-one consultation so hard to say on that. I work long hours at my day job, and I’m usually working on the TH-cam stuff at 4am before work.
I’m doing a combination 2-rail/3rail layout, so I can run my previously bought 2-rail equipment, along with some of the great 3 rail steam that’s out there. Each is going to run on its own track system, basically a big double track loop, where the outside track is 2-rail and the inside loop is 3 rail.
That is a nice combination and way to run both!
come on Steve, Bifocals. yeah, its hard to get used to, but you'll get it. If you don't want bifocals, get a set of reading glasses. Love the O switching layouts
I have progressive lenses but my prescription is changing quickly so I can only see closeup well for a few months. I don’t want to update them more than once a year since the cost a lot. My distance vision is horribly bad so just doing reading glasses doesn’t work for me. I might get cataract surgery in five years then I’ll be able to just have a bunch of reading glasses.
Since I commented on your other video introducing the Sw1 I’ve decided to switch to O scale. You might be partly to blame for getting the wheels spinning in my big empty head… 😊😊😊 I’ve built an O scale 2-rail layout in the past-I think you’ll be much happier with Kadee O couplers when compared to the lobster claws…
Nice! I’ve become quite enamored with it. I did receive a bunch of kadee couplers in the mail this week so will try out the conversions soon. Of course I’ve also just received a bunch of Z scale stuff. Doing all the scales, lol.
🤠
Ahora una maqueta escala O.
Excelente.
Mi maqueta es escala N.
Falta una maqueta escala Z.
Maqueta escala G.
Modular o compacta.
Maqueta escala HO compacta.
Video on a Z scale layout coming in a few weeks. I also have an HO switching layout I built several years ago. I’ll do a G scale project eventually.
why don't you go modular and try s scale almost same size and get a lot more space
I'll do an S scale layout eventually, but already have most of what I need to build this O scale one.
Please Steve don't tell me that you're going to the dark side of model railroading
I want to do all the scales! Lol. I actually will have a video on a small Z scale layout in a few weeks (full build of it).