PC&NP Magic City subdivision in N scale
The primary purpose of this group is to document and share the progress of my N scale layout—which... View more
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Pennsylvania_421 posted an update in the group
PC&NP Magic City subdivision in N scale a week agoScenery - The first bit of ballast
It’d officially been 6 months since i started working on this layout. Progress has been rather slower than I’d hoped due to other stuff clogging up my time. At long last, though, I’ve begun an essential step in scenery—Ballasting.
Im using Woodland scenics gray blend fine ballast. Its a tad bit lighter than the ballast generally is in the…
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Pennsylvania_421 posted an update in the group
PC&NP Magic City subdivision in N scale 2 weeks agoAn unexpected visitor arrives on the PC&NP
Its been a hot minute since the last update of my layout. Well, there isn’t much to report on the layout itself (though I hope to begin ballasting very soon). However, I hae acquired a new locomotive that doesn’t quite match the theme, but is very cool all the same.
I told myself my next locomotive would be steam, and pre-ordered some Great…
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Pennsylvania_421 posted an update in the group
PC&NP Magic City subdivision in N scale 7 weeks ago7 weeks ago (edited)
DCC has arrived on the Magic City Sub
A few weeks back, I decided I was tired of running club equipment at the club layout and decided to get my own DCC stuff. Up to this point, all my locomotives were standard DC. That would soon change.
I selected 2 of my favorite locomotives—A BN SD40-2 and a BNSF SD70ACe, both Kato—to be upgraded first. I ordered TCS K1D4 decoders. The decoder…
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Pennsylvania_421 posted an update in the group
PC&NP Magic City subdivision in N scale 2 months agoTrack Work - The Turntable
Right off the bat when planning this layout, I knew I wanted a turntable and roundhouse. Consequently, the turntable was the first purchade i made for the layout. It is an old Walthers Cornerstone kit. I dont know when exactly it was produced, but copyright information on the packaging and instructions indicate its at least 30 years old.
The kit…
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Pennsylvania_421 posted an update in the group
PC&NP Magic City subdivision in N scale 2 months agoTrack Work - Starting the Interior Yard Track
A yard isn’t much of a yard without spots for locomotive maintenance, storage, and refueling. In my yard, those tracks have been nick-named the “interior yard track.” These interior tracks will be the last track laid on the layout until it is time to begin the second half. Funnily enough, they were the first pieces added to the original track…
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Pennsylvania_421 posted an update in the group
PC&NP Magic City subdivision in N scale 2 months agoElectrical Work - My Controller
For this layout, I needed independent control of 3 separate blocks—The 2 mainlines, and the yard. I couldn’t find any commercially available 3-way controllers on the market, so I decided to build one, as opposed to buying3 different controllers, which would ultimately have cost more (although make no mistake: This was not rock-bottom cheap).…
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Pennsylvania_421 posted an update in the group
PC&NP Magic City subdivision in N scale 2 months agoElectrical Work—My Control Station
In my previous post, I briefly mentioned how I will be using PC connectors as quick disconnects so i can easily detach my control station from the layout.
To build on that, I figured I’d make a post regarding the control station itself.
I started with a roughly 2 x 2 1/2 foot piece of 5-ply plywood i had laying around. I then drilled two holes in…
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Pennsylvania_421 posted an update in the group
PC&NP Magic City subdivision in N scale 2 months agoElectrical Work - Running the Mainline Buses
The last day of 2025, I finally got around to starting the wiring on the layout. On December 31st, I ran the the buses for the double mainlines. Each bus consists of 2 16AWG wires—1 red, 1 black. They run through little holes drilled in the 1x4s on the underside of the table. I also connected the first PC connector that will be used as…
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Pennsylvania_421 posted an update in the group
PC&NP Magic City subdivision in N scale 2 months agoTrack Work - Completing the Mainlines + The Temporary Extension
Once all the switches were installed, I was able to finish permanent work on the mainlines, which consisted of only a few sections on the northern end of the yard. But that wasn’t enough. I wanted to run trains continuously, which wasn’t possible since I’m only building one half of the layout at the moment. That is, until I set up a…
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Pennsylvania_421 posted an update in the group
PC&NP Magic City subdivision in N scale 2 months agoTrack Work - Caboose Industries Extended Ground Throws
The previous post discussed the caboose industries ground throws on my layout, with a particular emphasis on #206S (the beside-switch variant). 5 of the switches on my layout are too far from the edge to comfortably reach with my arm, and therefore, I needed some other way to flip them. Caboose Industries had a solution, with their #105R…
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