Nine questions about Gnine

As with any different model railway scale there's always going to be the how do I? questions. Here we hope to cover enough of them to get you started. Here at Gnine.info we consider ourselves average modellers so if we can do these things then anyone can.

Do Gnine trains need any special track?

Far from it. You can run Gnine trains on ordinary N gauge track. Beleive it or not but Standard N gauge track sleepers scale up very favourably against the sleepers on full size miniature railway track. One thing that you will notice when comparing actual miniature railway track with N gauge track is that the sleepers are set further apart. This can be very easily rectified by removing every other sleeper in a section of track. Just snip them out with a pair of thin nosed wire cutters and file any rough bits down. Above is a picture of a sample section of track. This is a very simple modification that only takes a few moments but makes a lot of difference to the finished apearance.

Where can I buy Gnine trains?

Commercial support is growing. A full range of kits for locos and rolling stock are available from Sidelines through Pepper 7. Other than that, at the moment you are on your own. Take a look at the Locos and rolling stock projects pages on this site.Those will give you some ideas.

It sounds very specialized what skills do I need?

None at all. Though a modicum of patience might be useful. With the Garden railway scales being so large all the scratch building that you'll do will be in manageable sizes. You won't be loosing miniscule pieces of styrene in the carpet.

What about couplings? G scale couplers are huge.

Obviously you can't use G scale couplers. One suggestion is to use Micro trains N scale couplers. They are reliable and fully automatic when the uncoupler magnets are placed in the track. Another member of Gnine.info has used DG couplings to good effect.

Gn15 layouts are small can Gnine layouts be smaller then?

Of course they can. Real miniature gauge industrial lines would be used where space and clearances were very tight. But don't go thinking that just because you model in gnine you have to build a tiny layout. The Wells and Walshingham Railway is 4 1/2 miles long.

What scale ballast should I use on my track?

As small a scale as you can. We suggest N scale ballast. Thats what is used in the picture above. Its "Woodland Scenics" light grey fine ballast.

Aren't N scale locomotives expensive to cut up for conversions?

But we aren't going to be cutting up the expensive ones. Not in the foreseeable future anyway. The Plymouth MDT from Bachmann that goes under the Sidelines TITCH can be found for as little as 20USD (15 GBP) It is a very solid reliable runner. Another Cheap chassis is the KATO "pocket tram".

But miniature railways aren't real trains.

Of course they are. A train is a railed vehicle that moves people (and freight) between two points. So by that definition they are real trains. The vast majority of lines are for the sole purpose of moving people around zoo's, funfairs and seafronts etc;. But you may be surprised to know that there are a few lines that have existed for the haulage of freight . Wolds Way Lavender, in Yorkshire, England brings lavender in from the beds to the distillery for the production of perfume. The Faversham light railway in Kent, England runs around an apple orchard. Even the highly sucessful Driving Creek railway in New Zealand, before it was converted to 15" gauge was a 10 1/4 " gauge line. There have even been lines that have served a pig farm, part of an oil refinery and a car factory! So there are many different reasons for a freight operating miniature/minimum gauge railway.

Can I run Gnine trains in the garden?

We wouldn't recommend it. Just settle for making a model of a railway in a garden