Smoky Hollow Junction or Scenic Ridge ???

corniche

New Member
Woodland Scenics or Terrain for Trains Pre-fab layout kits???

Greetings all,

This is my very first post here, btw, you don't know how happy I am that I found this site!bounce7

At any rate, I am pushing 40 and have been involved with model railroading on and off, (whenever space, time and funds permitted), since I was 6.

I am interested in starting a new layout after an almost 10-year hiatus, (how did I survive so long without a layout? It wasn't easy), but I am now partially disabled and I'm not sure if I have the stamina to build a layout from scratch like I used to.

I've discovered two primary manufacturers of "pre-fab" layouts- Woodland Scenic's "Scenic Ridge" N-Scale layout and Terrain for Train's "Smoky Hollow Junction" N-Scale layout. The latter company also offers a "High Sierra" layout, with the primary difference being the "Smoky Hollow" plan allows two-train operation.

Does anyone here have any familiarity and/or experience with any of these "pre-fab" kits. If so, what were your general impressions?

Best wishes,

Sean
corniche

 

Cannonball

More Trains Than Brains
I've thought about purchasing one of these kits myself. The only thing holding me back is the pricetag. They are still a mostly do it from scratch type of thing- they just include all the ingredients to get it done. At least that's the jist of the Woodland Senic kits. I haven't read anything on the Terrain for Trains stuff.
 

corniche

New Member
Hello Cannonball,


Thank you for taking the time to reply. Yes, from what I can determine, the WS kits still entail a lot of work. The Terrain for Trains kits are better in that regard because the hills, mountains, bridges and tunnels are all “pre-fabbed,” (the only hitch being you are completely locked in to their "visual concept").


One more difference is the WS kits are primarily foam while the TT kits are high-strength polystyrene, (or something like that), with reinforcements included in the kit. Here is a link to their website:
http://www.terrainfortrains.com/index.html



Thanks again,


Sean
corniche

:)
 

Hoghead

Member
I have been using the High Sierra pre-fab for 3 years now. It is perfect for a mountain railroad.
I model the Rio Grande with plenty of pine trees. That could easily be transformed into the Chessie System or PRR by adding more lush eastern tree and bushes. Yes you are pretty much locked into one layout but you can really get into super detailing. I did try the Smokey Hallow but I had some trouble getting the the crossover between the mainlines to fit correctly. The Smokey Hallow allows not only a two train operation, but you can model two competing railroads, like CN&W and Milwaukee or maybe Penn Central and Lehigh Valley etc. I have limited space and a real problem with making the terrain to look decent. So Terrain for Trains is the way I went and of the two, I like the High Sierra.
 

corniche

New Member
Hello Hoghead,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'm very glad to hear you have enjoyed your Terrain for Trains layout; they are a relatively new company and I cannot find very many reviews of their products anywhere.

My planned layout will be set in the Eastern Foothills, (Appalachia) and I like your idea of running two separate or competing roads simultaneously- one could be the B&O or Pennsy and the other could be my homemade road- Huron, Ohio & Pittsburgh Eastern, (HOPE). My line will be set in the middle ‘50s, revolves around coal and iron ore and feeds the steel mills of Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

I'm glad your not having any problems with the unit- how easy is it to plant trees and run wires?

Best regards,

Sean
 
Top