Gn15 and other things

[gnichols]

Gang,
  I just posted this info on the Gnatterbox site... sorry for the duplication.  I've been out of the model train deal for some time and so I thought I'd post my intentions and interests. I plan to start a small, minimum radius test layout soon in Gn15. I'm talking 6-7" radius and with up / over grades. It will be very small, perhaps 2'x4'. Locos will obviously be gas mech and Porter sized things. If I can, I'll post a photo of the start of my first kitbashed PM, a Bman Davenport chassis with a 1/25th Ford truck cab. Later on, I hope to build a larger, dual-gauge 1/2n42 - Gn15 layout.  Later, Gary

[NORCALLOGGER]

Hi Gary,
Good to see you posting again and nice to see you chose this forum.
Looks like your rail truck project is off to a good start, looking forward to seeing more.

By the way those used switches I got from you a few years back are all converted to narrow gauge,
installed,  and have been working just fine.

Good luck on your new modeling venture.
Rick Marty

[gnichols]

Rick,
  Good to hear from you and to hear the turnouts are still working!  More later, Gary

[Ken Hamilton]

Hi, Gary:
Welcome to the group.  Your reputation obviously preceeds you!
Hey, that's a neat little piece.  As a combination scale (HO & 1/2") railroader/car modeler, I've
thought about building a small shelf layout with something similar to your truck as motive power.
If I could ask, what did you use for track & as a mechanism in the photo you posted??
Nice work..............

[gnichols]

Ken,
  The track is Micro Engineering On30 and the base for the model is one of those cheap-o Bman Davenports.  Glad you liked it (so far).  Gary

[Fred H.]

I must have missed something during the 15 years I was out of the hobby. (Ya, THINK, they all say.) What the heck happened with this Gn15 thing? What would make a LOT more sense to me is 1:24 scale running on O-Gauge track, which would translate into 2 foot gauge, right? I mean is the ONLY reason the fact that On30 has taken hold? Aren't there 2-rail O Gauge mechanisms that would work?

I'm working on a 1:24 indoor layout and I'm going to put in a little 2 foot Gilpin Tram line using the Sierra Valley dual gauge track. Aren't there others doing something similar?

[gnichols]

Fred,
  My interest in Gn15 is about 2 years old, off and on searching web sites, etc..  But Gn15 has been around far longer, I think.  The big interest is in small, light industrial stuff (mines, factories, etc.).  It's zoo train sized track and small, light, low rolling stock.  Isn't that how most of the other obscure ultra-narrow guage scale / gauge combinations start out, regardless of size?  Sooner or later some guy manages to combine a mechanism two sizes too small and applies it to a larger scale?
  But Gn15 is far more whimsical than serious modeling, for the most part.  For me, it's about minimum radius, a certain degree of whimsy and the NKP (no known prototype) thing.  Besides, I have a ton of old 1/24 & 1/22 stuff.  Figures and vehicles are far easier to get than in 1/20 (the scale I like the most, really).  And lastly, my garden railway went away in 2004 during Hurricane Francis and I'm getting too old for one at ground level anyway.  So... I decided to pull up my garden rails, sell of a lot of the stuff, and move indoors.  The goal is to lay as much track as I can in the smallest space possible (and at a more comfortable height).  Going DCC, too.  Some of these small locos, like the Porters and my Davenport bashed Ford, will run on 6" radius track.  Later on, I plan to build another layout that also includes 1/2n42 with the Gn15.  I have a source for whimsical German ties / turnouts with "R-0" (in LGB-ese about 17" radius) and I also have a lot of small stuff in 1/22-24 to run on that also.  But you can also run 30 or 32mm, if you wish... no one is counting the rivets there.  How could they?  Later, Gary

[Fred H.]

Gary! Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I agree that Gn15 seems to be all about fun without a lot of worries as to prototype modelling. I could see myself heading in that direction, but... Then you get a hold of MH Ferrell's The Gilpin Gold Tram book! Look at the line! All of those switchbacks and sharp curves and steep grades! Wow! And what if it hadn't gone belly-up in 1917. What if there had been a revival of fortunes in the 1920s or 1930s? Wouldn't it be great to model? And the C&S connection?

At the East Coast Large Train Show I purchased an old AMB G scale Whitcomb switcher kit complete with a Delton motor block. Perfect for a small "what if" Gilpin-type critter, assuming I can find a suitable O-gauge motor block. And a Gilpin shay! It would have to be completely scratch-built. A great project. (I'm not excited about this, am I?)

-- Fred H.

[gnichols]

Fred,
  Here is an image of a 1/2n42 ECPP (engineering / caboose / passenger / parlor) car I built, using spare LGB and 1/20 parts.  That's the direction my Gn15 layout will take.  Forgot to add... they all have small diameter wheels (LGB's FRR size).  Low and slow.  Gary

[gnichols]

The other side... Gary

[gnichols]

Another one... started as a Bman 1/20 tipper, now a side dump gon!

[gnichols]

Still more...

[gnichols]

These last two are based on LGB disconnects.  Gary

[gnichols]

last one... Gary

[finescalerr]

So, Gary, have you been doing any modeling? -- Russ