How does one go about-- uh..

Yeah! There are aspects of traction modeling. . .

 . . .that you just don't get modeling regular railroads.

A working trolley pole automatically picking the proper route through a set of switches is fascinating and a joy to watch, especially for non-modeler visitors.

You can have prototypical sharp curves (almost corners) and fit a far more interesting track plan into a smaller modeling space. Ditto for running prototypical short trains.

In common urban settings, lines typically often run over, under or through very small spaces, like back alleys, bridge arches and which give lots of hidden-open trackage flexibility.

And small can translate to inexpensive for starting out and quickly getting to a good "operations" stage.

Sewer Cleanouts...

Well, it depends on what locality you're in. If you're in a big city, you open the phone book, look for "sewer and drain services," check online for feedback (because you want someone RELIABLE and professional), then call them for price quotes (or check websites - some of the sewer and drain companies have websites). They set up a time, come out, open up the check cap in your main sewer line, and run a BIG drain auger down the pipe.

Now, here's the kicker - IF you need it done depends on the kind of pipes you have. If it's the old early 20th-century clay or cast pipes, it WILL probably need to be done. A good indicator is a drain that backs up a little when you run the washing machine (usually indicated by a damp/wet spot on the floor near the floor drain cover). If the pipe has been relined with Resin or PVC... might not need to be done. Newer homes (last 20 years or so) probably won't need to have this done. Older homes WILL probably need to have this done. The company I went through charged me $165.00 for the work, which included a new cleanout cap, took all of two hours, and involved a BIG electric rotary auger with a motor that looked like it could have come from a full-size locomotive power truck.

Long story short-ish: Washing machine backed up a LOT. Got water in the train room, workshop, and game room. I went "gee, that's not good," and called around. Was told "well, check your basement near where the sewer line would leave the basement and head to the street for a cleanout." I have a pit in that area about 2 foot to a side, with sand in the bottom. The inlet line for the city water comes in through that pit... and under the sand, there is a sewer pipe with a cleanout plug that I didn't know about. After the flooding, I lifted up the lid of that pit to find that there was enough pressure in the line to knock the cleanout plug (which was damaged from age) loose and flood the pit with, well, the stuff that goes down the sewer pipe, including copious amounts of used toilet paper and... other stuff... to a depth of over a foot.

After the cleanout was done, I went through two bottles of bleach cleaning out that pit, the basement floor in three rooms, and everything ELSE down there. It was NOT fun. Lucky for me, that pit (which is technically sand a LONG way down, NOT concrete on the bottom) allowed most of the... um... "stuff"... to drain downwards, and not outwards. The flooding damaged some wallboard, forcing me to remove some benchwork so I can replace the sheetrock (with what was IN that water, there is NO way I'm NOT replacing it), and ruined some kit boxes and stripwood that I'd set on the floor a day or two earlier while I was trying to clean my workbench. Nothing expensive, fortunately, but still not fun.

Oh, and I do NOT recommend doing this yourself!!! The machine that the sewer and drain specialist was running looked dangerous, and the guy running it point-blankly told me that if you've never done this before, you'll think that you're destroying your drain with the sounds that it makes, and it DOES sound like it is breaking the pipes when it runs!

Traction action!

I prefer pantographs, personally, but same idea.  I just like watching them take those tight curves and switches while the go around buildings that seem to hug the track in places. Going to have to learn how to handlay girder rail somehow, but I may get some of the old Orr street track and widen the gauge. I've looked at the new stuff on the Proto:87 site and while it would work, modding the turnouts would not be easy. The Orr stuff may be oversized a little for HO, but that should suit S scale fine once I widen the gauge.

Truth be told, I'll probably use both pans and poles.  A lot of prototype traction lines did - pantographs for the heavy freight haulers, trolley poles for the passenger operations, or in one case, the trolley pole allowed the interurbans to use the trolley line's connection street trackage.

Really, the only issue I can see is I want to go kind of modern-ish (80's or so), so I can run covered hoppers, a-la the Iowa Traction. Means I'll have to figure out how to scratch-bash some kind of more modern LRV, but I can live with that. Making my own Faively pantographs for the LRV however, that will be a challenge. Thing is, the heavy-duty HO stuff is actually sized almost perfectly for a shortline-style S scale part. The HO pantographs I'm using on my steeplecabs and box motors came from an old IHC GG1 - according to the measurements, they DO scale out almost perfectly to S scale P&N measurements.

Call Roto Rooter. They are

Call Roto Rooter. They are nation wide. You should have a clean out in the floor somewhere. Most likely in a corner or at least by the wall that is closest to your neighborhood sewer line or your septic tank if that is what is being used.

The clean out will have a PVC pipe plug on it about 4-5" in diameter. There is no mess when you have the line cleaned out. Just needs to be easy to reach. tree roots love the food supply in the lines. Once they get in through a joint or small crack they can fill up a line in no time. makes a monumental mess. had it happen to me too once. Gave me an excuse for a major remodel including wiring.

Jack

Alternatives...

Train advice: don't attach it to the wall that will need to be replaced when the floor drain floods.

Apparently, my earlier reply to that question didn't get past the forum's spamfilter. RotoRooter is an option, but I prefer small, local businesses. There are a lot of small, local businesses that can do just as good a job for a considerably lower cost. RR charges almost $800 for that service in my area. The small company I hired did an excellent job, got here quickly, and charged only $165, and that included a new plug for the main sewer cleanout. Your local area will have a selection of small sewer and drain services in the phone book, but you may want to check references with a reputable online referral source.

Things to keep in mind are: how old is your sewer pipeline? If it is less than 20 years old, you might have newer pipes that are firmly lined and don't need cleaning. Older pipes, however, should be checked at least once every two years.

I do NOT recommend doing this yourself. The noises the giant drain snake makes are... disconcerting, to say the least.

I had to clean up a MASSIVE mess when the sewer plugged. Lucky for me, the sewer cleanout I didn't know I had is in a sand-filled pit that contained most of the mess. UNLUCKILY for me, the cleanout plug was old and damaged and the pressure in the line was strong enough to pop the plug. Two bottles of bleach cleaned up most of the mess, but the wall the layout is/was on needs to be resheetrocked, because no amount of bleach will make my wife feel good about that wall.

Please indicate contents of post in "Subject" line where possibl

Not addressed just to you, but to posters everywhere (OT:  Especially those on the IMDb boards).  Readers like me, and maybe others, want at least a hint of what's inside the post or blog.  Such as (crummy alternatives):

"Narrow gauge traction: changing gauge and scale"  Or just

"Egads.  "Narrow gauge Traction is too tough after all."

Maybe it's because I use a 6-year-old computer running at 0.7 Gh with Windows XP.  Bringing up the whole post is slower.  It's not like using a more modern computer or turning a page in a physical magazine.  Am I missing the point, here?

Okay

Point taken. Actually, I should have thought about that myself, given how old my own computer is (7 years, ALSO running XP). My apologies.