Is there a forum to discuss G gauge? I have some questions, but I do not find anything, until I saw this post.
"HONGZ" stands for HO scale, N scale, G scale, and Z scale.
Post your non-O scale stuff here!
Hi Jeff,
There are a few forums out there to discuss G scale trains. I have been part of various forums since the late 1990s and they have changed quite a bit over the years.
What kind of questions do you have?
Davy,
I saw you have lost your lettering for the loco. I have a cricut vinyl cutter and could maybe see about making you some lettering for the loco. These are permanent vinyl and I've been doing a lot of repaints here and relettering. Unfortunately, I do not have all of the exact fonts. If you have a digital file of the lettering you need in the size you want it, I can see. Vinyl is harder to work with when the sizes get below about 1/4" tall. 
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@Mark Oles posted:Hi Jeff,
There are a few forums out there to discuss G scale trains. I have been part of various forums since the late 1990s and they have changed quite a bit over the years.
What kind of questions do you have?
Hi Mark:
I am not doing anything real special, but my wife (and I) are wanting to put up a small G gauge track inside my work shop. I am wondering what type of track to use, brass or steel, and I have heard comments about the track needing quite a bit of upkeep to keep the electrical contact in check. i.e. cleaning the rail fairly often. Since this set up I am proposing is high up, I hate to think of climbing up on a ladder and reaching around to clean track. Also, some friends of mine suggest going with battery operated systems so as to not have to worry about electrical connections and rail needing cleaning. One of my friends has a Bachman Spectrum Shay which he intends to give to me, and would put in a battery system. I need to know how much a system costs, and if it is a real good idea for my situation. This layout will not be anything fancy, just want to have a dog bone loop to enjoy a G gauge in the work shop.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jeff
@Mark Oles posted:Davy,
I saw you have lost your lettering for the loco. I have a cricut vinyl cutter and could maybe see about making you some lettering for the loco. These are permanent vinyl and I've been doing a lot of repaints here and relettering. Unfortunately, I do not have all of the exact fonts. If you have a digital file of the lettering you need in the size you want it, I can see. Vinyl is harder to work with when the sizes get below about 1/4" tall.
Hi Mark, thanks for that however I've got new decals from the states for the B&O lettering and a pal of mine has done me a sheet of B&O roundels. I just bought another Aristo pacific from a guy down in England ,its the last production run with the better drive unit. I'm looking to knock it into a C&O F19 pacific with vandy tender. B&O didn't run P7 pacifics with vandies. So I might take you up on your offer as and when and if I get round to that.
Jeff,
You can try the various facebook pages. I like gscale.net and G garden trains. Forums can be rough but largescalecentral seems to have an active group, too.
To answer your question about track: brass track indoors is easy to maintain. You might have to clean it once in a while, but not all the time. I have stainless steel for outside which has worked well for me. I believe Davy is using peco's nickel silver. Bachmann's plain steel track is hollow and to be avoided. Piko, USATrains, LGB and Bachmann all make lines of brass track and are readily available. Get the widest curves your space allows. The 4' diameter starter set curves are to be avoided, if possible. Battery power is an option and simplifies things for wiring. But for a railroad like what you describe, I'd stick with track power. The trick is to mechanically connect all the track. Old Aristocraft, USAtrains and bachmann track have screws to hold the track sections together. For Piko and LGB you might want to consider rail clamps. Also, you can get track on the secondary market for about 2/3 the cost of brand new track, if that's a consideration.
The shay has a long and storied history. Early ones had some issues with split gears. Not sure if yours will have those concerns. A great resource from the late 90s is: http://www.girr.org/girr/
Davy,
Let me know and I can work on getting those made up.
A friend in Georgia made vinyl lettering for me when I swapped tenders with him. He wanted a standard aristo 'long' tender and had a vandy he didn't need. So we traded. I would like to have made these a little bit smaller but the 'weeding' becomes a real problem.
Here's a video we made back in May. Starts off at the roundhouse but the track wasn't super clean and I had some electrical issues at first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ux9RT4hN_Q
Davy, The C&O with the Vanderbilt tender sounds like it will be great! I always liked those tenders!
Thanks Mark for that information. Appreciate it.
jeff
Hi Davy! It’s been awhile! I hope your well.
Larry
