N scale locomotive resource celebrates anniversary

By Will Everitt

An N scale locomotive resource celebrates an anniversary

N scalers have questions. How does Athearn’s Big Boy compare to Broadway Limited’s? How can you tell the second run of Kato’s GP38-2 from its first? How do you remove the shell of a Fox Valley GP60M? What’s the (crazy!) production history of Con-Cor’s 2-8-8-2 Mallet?

A quirky and indispensable website named after a Rob Zombie album has answers.

The N Scale Locomotive Encyclopedia (North American Prototypes) provides a review of every American (and Canadian!) locomotive model ever made in that scale.

The encyclopedia, which will soon celebrate its 25th anniversary, lists 700 models. Each locomotive has been tested by more than 20 hours of run time. They are evaluated for pulling power up a 2% grade, minimum radii, slow speed creep, and performance through turnouts. The reviews include each model’s manufacturing history, DCC-friendliness, shell removal instructions, an overall grade, “A” through “F”, and blurbs from Model Railroader’s first review of the locomotive.

The brains and elbow grease behind Spookshow.net is Mark Peterson. A computer programmer by profession, Mark got back into model railroading in 1999 after having given it up as a child. “I didn’t know an RS3 from an SD,” he reminisced, “but N scale was cheap and I began impulse buying a bunch of locomotives.”

Buy them all

A collector by nature, Mark realized that it was possible to own one of every model ever made. At that time, the N scale wing of the hobby was only about 40 years old. The initial challenge was making a comprehensive list. Mark scoured collectors’ guides, old Walthers catalogs, and perused every issue of Model Railroader back to 1962, when N scale got started.

He put photos of every N scale locomotive ever made online so that he would always have access to which models he owned in order to avoid accidentally buying the same engine twice. This formed the skeleton of what would eventually become the encyclopedia.

“This was in the early days of eBay,” Mark explained. “I could purchase decent stuff for $5 to $20.” To this day, he has stayed on top of new releases by pre-ordering them.

Getting attention

To his surprise, other N-scalers began to find his online list. People from around the world began to email him asking about how well certain Atlas or Kato or Life-Like models ran. Mark has a scientific mind and to answer these questions he began a formal evaluation process. Grades proceeded naturally from there. Experts, such as Ron Bearden (a Model Railroader contributor), collaborated with Mark on tweaks and fixes for problematic locomotives. These tips were incorporated into the reviews.

An industry tool

Eventually, manufacturers took notice. Jeremy Fleming of Rapido Trains has the encyclopedia bookmarked. “Mark’s locomotive reviews are concise and unbiased,” Jeremy said. “Since I’ve become an industry ‘insider’ I’ve interacted with Mark on several occasions. Whether it’s helping to troubleshoot FP9s or just answering general questions he has about our products, I’ve got all the time in the world for Mark and what he does. I’ve even passed his site on to our project managers for whenever they tackle an N scale release.”

But wait, why name is the website named “Spookshow?” Mark’s internet provider gave him a “free” website builder. Never intending the site to be bookmarked by thousands of model railroaders, he simply named it in reverence for an album from his favorite performer. And now his N scale locomotive resource celebrates its anniversary.

Mark regularly receives emails from O, S, and HO hobbyists wishing there was a similar resource for them. N-scalers know they are a lucky bunch and wish Spookshow a happy 25th anniversary.

All the details

Mark Peterson’s N Scale Locomotive Encyclopedia includes a performance review of every North American model ever sold in that scale. Each review includes:

• Production years of the model
• Production history
• Photos and descriptions of the internal mechanisms
• DCC readiness
• Refreshingly frank reviews
• Performance on grades, pulling power, speed, reliability, and ability to handle turnouts and 9¾ inch radius curves
• Common deficiencies with the model (and often useful solutions to those problems!)
• Noted trivia about the model (for example, what other companies’ shells fit the model)
• Notation of the locomotive’s review in Model Railroader
• A through F grades based on use for model railroad operations

For a sample, check out his review of Atlas’s GP40.