I'd look at the tender as a place for the decoder for the steam locomotives. Depending on the size of the tender it may be possible to get a sound decoder and a speaker in there.
The Life-Like E6 will most likely need a frame milling in order to get a hard-wired decoder in. I don't think...
I have subscribed to both since the beginning of each one. I don't find "must read" articles in every issue but on balance I find them well worth the price.
Without looking at any of your plans, my first thought was an interchange to town shortline, with some "scenery" in between.
The "main road" could be mostly hidden and serve as your loop and/or staging, while the shortline would serve the industry that you are looking for.
The March 2009 Archive Edition of the Unofficial Micro-Trains Release Report has been posted to the UMTRR Website.
March Unofficial Micro-Trains Release Report
The full length edition of the UMTRR was e-mailed to all subscribers on March 9. Unlike the Archive Edition, the e-mailed...
The February 2009 Archive Edition of the Unofficial Micro-Trains Release Report has been posted to the UMTRR Website. (Finally...)
February UMTRR
The full length edition of the UMTRR was e-mailed to all subscribers on February 4. Unlike the Archive Edition, the e-mailed subscriber edition...
The pre-Horizon Roundhouse kits are OK. Athearn upgraded some of these when they re-released them, some more than others (some, just the price was "upgraded"). Newer trucks and generic magnetic knuckle couplers are now standard with these items.
The Roundhouse trucks are decent but you need...
The Bachmann non-Spectrum locomotives are better than they used to be; it's just important to make sure that it is the newer improved locomotives that you are getting.
With individual locos it's easy-- make sure they are in hard plastic two piece (top and bottom) cases, not paper boxes, not...
Welcome aboard...
I'm not familiar with the sets you mentioned, but generally speaking most passenger cars with which I'm family will negotiate a 10 inch radius... barely.
I use 19 inch radius on most of the visible part of the layout (with a couple of "cheats") and 11 inch radius in...
The January 2009 Archive Edition of the Unofficial Micro-Trains Release Report has been posted to the UMTRR Website.
January UMTRR
All of the release tables and the "2009 Month By Month" page with links to images have been updated as well, to reflect the month's releases and discontinued...
The biggest disadvantage to the Caboose Industries throws is that they are way oversized for N Scale. If you're willing to overlook that, you'll have no issue with them in terms of reliability.
The December 2008 Archive Edition of the Unofficial Micro-Trains Release Report has been posted to the UMTRR Website.
December UMTRR
All of the release tables and the "2008 Month By Month" page with links to images have been updated as well, to reflect the month's releases and discontinued...
Keep the HO if you can... the aftermarket is pretty bad right now, eBay or otherwise, in my estimation.
Plus, you might want to have it around for the kid(s).
I'd try to get as much done before the little one arrives... I speak from experience when I say that progress will slow down...
My layout uses 19 inch minimum radius nearly everywhere on visible track and 11 inch radius in hidden sections. I run mostly diesels and don't expect to own anything larger in steam than a Bachmann Mountain I have on order.
I would go for at least 19 inch radius for the 2-8-8-2 but then...