2013 Insider Model News from Marklin/Trix/LGB

Marklin, Trix and LGB have all announced the new Insider & Profi Club models for 2013 at the Modellbahnmesse in Cologne. Full English details will follow shortly on our store website but here is a sneak preview of the new models. Click any of the images for a larger view!

Marklin & Trix HO - BR 58 Steam Locomotive (ALL NEW tooling! a set of matching freight wagons will be available)
Marklin Z - V200.0 with F-Zug train set
Minitrix N scale - BR 18 612 Steam Locomotive with Sound, Smoke & Cab Lighting
LGB G Scale - Feldschloesschen Beer Car

 

Product Feature - Noch Laser Cut Minis for HO and N

Some of the most popular elements of our store layouts, both on our Noch pre-formed layouts in HO and N and our Karl Gebele built display layout, are the finely detailed plants and vegetation. Many of these details are created from the Laser Cut Minis line from Noch.  First launched in 2009, these amazing products won a Product of the Year award from Eisenbahnmagazin for Model Railroad Scenery that year and are one of our best sellers for scenery products.

Made from blends of tear-proof paper and cardstock and easily affixed with a drop of white glue, Laser Cut Minis can add a level of detail not previously available to any HO, TT or N scale layout.  Add amazing flower boxes and vegetable gardens to your towns and reeds, ferns, and lilypads to riverbanks and woods. Noch has recently expanded the line to include small laser cut structures such as a bee-keepers hutch, a railroad signal box, a bus-top as well as non-vegetation details such as patio slabs, lumber, marker posts and more!  Click here to see all the Noch Laser Cut Minis on our store website. We stock the full line!

Click the image for a larger view

Product Spotlight - Our New Noch HO "Tannau" Display Layout

We recently received a new addition to our store - a brand new factory-built Noch HO Tannau layout.  We will be bringing the layout to the Trains 2012 show this weekend (November 10th and 11th, 2012) in Burnaby BC along with a completed N-scale Noch Traunstein layout so if you are in town, stop by and say hi!

If you can't make it this weekend here are a few photos of the Tannau layout, finished with Noch laster-cut structures and accessories (click any photo for a larger view). This is one on Noch's newest pre-formed layouts and is a great way to get started in HO scale without needing a lot of space. 

Product Spotlight - ESU SwitchPilot Servo Accessory Decoder

We have just posted a new video to our YouTube channel taking a look at the ESU 51802 SwitchPilot Servo accessory decoder.  Small, inexpensive servo motors are the ideal choice for all sorts of layout animation and motion.  They are also a particularly good turnout or switch motor when combined with a digital decoder such as the SwitchPilot Servo.  They allow you to throw the turnouts on your layout with a realistic slow speed similar to much more expensive stall motor switch machines.  With a bit of ingenuity, you can create a servo linkage to control just about any element of a model railroad from various scales and sizes of turnouts to animation such as adding opening doors to an engine shed or controlling road crossing barriers.  The ESU 51800 standard Switchpilot accessory decoder also comes with two servo outputs in addition to it four standard outputs, making it ideal if you already own motors for your turnouts but want to experiment with servos as well!

Come visit us at the TRAINS 2012 show November 10th & 11th

Trains 2012 Model Railroad Show
November 10th and 11th, 10am to 4pm
Cameron Recreation Center
9523 Cameron Street, Burnaby, BC

We will be there with lots of product and a NEW Display from the NOCH company featuring their new preformed layout "Tannau" fully finished running the Marklin Digital system as well as a completed N-scale "Traunstein" Noch layout. Show organizers have brought many new layouts this year and there is something for all of the family to enjoy (including the popular Lego train layout).

Setting up more than 30 feet of layouts and product at last year's Trains 2011 show

Building an N-Scale Layout - The Helix

The nearly finished helix constructed
of Gatorboard and Kato Unitrack.

The lowest level on my new layout is a 10-track staging yard and I wanted to ensure that I had great access to the trains there in case of problems and for any maintenance such as track cleaning. Some quick testing led me to realize that I would need at least 6 or 7 inches of clearance above the staging yard and below other track levels to ensure I could reach the tracks at the back of the yard once the layout was complete.  The smaller size of the layout meant that I would not be able to gain that height without using a helix.

Building an N-Scale Layout - Staging Construction

Laying out the tracks onto the Gatorboard sub-roadbed.

Once the staging yard plans were finalized, it was time to get started on laying some track!  The first step was to lay down sheets of the 1/2 inch Gatorboard which would form the sub-roadbed. I then laid out the actual track on top of the Gatorboard and used a pencil to mark any cuts required.