Deciding between N vs HO

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
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You see, that IS the problem. LIONS have big furry paws and no opposable thumbs. It is very difficult to hold a model, a screw, a screwdriver, and a magnifying glass. Him gets frustrated enough in HO scale! But he is well suited to catching wildebeests.

Point is, you are 55, and you say you can see just fine. Oh You young wippersnapper! You will get older (I hope) and your vision (and dexterity) will diminish. Just keep that in the back of your mind when you choose to build a new N scale project. Yes, you can do it. The LION can (or will) not.

Besides, Cheap plastic subway trains are only available in HO.

ROAR

22

skennedy,

The Lion has made some very good reasons for choosing HO as have others.

There are a ton of 4 X 8 HO layouts that keeps a modler’s interest in both running trains and actual modeling.

IMO the only reason for N is a real lack of space or if one already has N supplies. If you choose N and are dissapointed you will have N locos and equipment which will make changing to HO later a much more difficult decision.

There are alot more negatives with N than positives. Go with HO !!

Bob

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Me thinks the lion has been hitting the sauce.[D]

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Is this sort of N-bashing really necessary or helpful? Unfortunately this thread has gone just as I thought it would, without much help for the Original Poster. [But at least Superbe isn’t so affected as to pretend he is a stuffed toy animal and use toddler grammar to speak of himself in the third person. Just saying.]

Many folks modeling in N scale today (as myself) modeled in HO before and are making an informed choice. How many layouts have you built in N scale, Superbe, on which to base your categorical dismissal of N?

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As others have stated - your choice. I could rant and rave about the good/bad things both HO or N. I can only tell you about me.

I switched from HO to N years ago as I didn’t have space for the railroad that I wanted. N worked for me then. A few years back, I switched back to HO; for one reason the trains seemed closer and the orther is probably the most important - sight. I can not see well close-up and started to have to search for glasses just to put the things on ( or back on ) the rail. Distant trains were not a problem as I didn’t need binoculars to see them. Fingers and dexterity are not an issue, but when you can’t see the wheels to put’m on the track … well you get the idea. YMMV

ctclibby

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There are alot more negatives with N than positives. Go with HO !!

Bob

Bob,They’re some negatives in N as there is in HO and your comment just shows your lack of general N Scale knowledge…

Know and understand this.There is far more old fashion modeling going on in N then HO…

As far as the lion,I think he’s been underground with his subways way to long and has no real clue of the age of N Scale modelers…meow!! [:O]

There’s lots of 60/70 year olds in N.

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Since so many are into childish comments and NOT into to helping your questions, I will take a stab at it:

Well, there are several ways to make a “hatch” or “liftout”. You can screw some hinges to a cut out of the layout board and add a latch underneath. Or you can just make a light-weight piece {usually out of extruded pink or blue foam} to lift up from underneath when you need to access the nether regions of the layout. It can also be made out of papier mache or plaster cloth over cardboard {though plaster cloth can be heavy to lift}

You can make the liftout section topping scene a: mountain, a town street, a country pasture, whatever scenery you’d like on it that makes it light weight to lift out or unhinge.

You COULD also have the layout on wheels, so that you can roll it out to get tot he back of the layout, like I did.

Whatever you do, don’t make it permanently against the wall and out of your arm’s comfortable reach!

[8-|]

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My In laws told me that for years…

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IMO the only reason for HO is a real lack of space or if one already has HO supplies. If you choose HO and are disappointed you will have HO locos and equipment which will make changing to S later a much more difficult decision.

There are a lot more negatives with HO than positives. Go with S !!

[(-D] [(-D] [(-D] [(-D]

Paul

31

Actually, he could still model HOn30 scale if he is willing to accept the challenge.

…but N still has it’s place.

9-29-12 003.JPG
9-29-12 003.JPG2272×1704 649 KB

Look into this H-16-44’s eyes, you made it sad…[:'(]

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If you do go for N scale, you could try cutting down the middle of the benchwork so that you don’t need hatches. Leaving 4’ on each end will allow for very broad curves, but you can narrow it to 2’ or so in the middle in the classic “water wings” (or “dogbone”) layout shape. My in-progress HO layout is using 16" wide shelfs for the around-the-walls part of the layout, but it widens out to 64" in two places to allow for a continous-run dogbone.

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so what are the usual dimensions on the buildings on N and HO

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All the correct stuff has been said. The assumption is that you have never model railroaded before if you are having issues with what scale you want to work in. If you are modern era modeling and have decent dexterity, within the space you note, I would go N as you can pack a lot of N scale railroading on that layout. N scale diesels can be had that are decently detailed and run very well.

If you are planning on steam era, then HO is the way to go. HO steam engines are much more detailed and run so much better than N steam. HO allows for decent sound within all engines. Also HO allows for far more precision of small details and user kitbashing and ease of assembly and painting if you start to scratch build anything.

Richard

35

This “reach-out” is reduced by using a u-shaped benchwork where “the middle” is less than 48" in depth (meaning reach). Example: Look at a simple dogbone trackplan where you essentially have two end-sections of up to 48" with an apx. 32" middle section – The reach is apx. 24"-32" into each dogbone-end from any point of the dogbone.

Outside corners could be “trimmed-up” by using 45-degree triangles (with 6"-12" sides) planning on each of the two dogbone outer corners, and then the same triangles could “be added” to the inside corners of each dogbone.

Also, if you are considering a two-level layout, dedicating one of the dogbone ends into a helix has potential – And helix portions can even be exposed for scenic viewing (see Guide to Helix and Staging Design and Volume 2).

As others have suggested, N Scale can provide (at least 1/3) greater operations in the same amount of space – Plus, it is easier to add a second parallel mainline for greater operations. Note the perspective of greater operations vs. only thinking in terms of fitting in more track. The bottom line is rail operations in the available space.

36

Hi,

My late father introduced me whith Nscale just when Arnold Rapido made his first release ( ? 1969 or 1970…)

He was modeling in HO scale because at this time N don’t exist.

He switched immediately to Nscale, first whith Rapido and after whith the other European manufacturer (I live in Belgium).

I switched myself to American prototype first because of a excellent working coupler, Kadee; second because of the magnificent trains running in the US in the 40’s.

I have only modeled in N scale and at 53 years I am still completely convinced by Ns cale.

Father and me where looking for realistic looking trains, including track, curves and long trains and I forget to say Nscale offer a good ratio between trains and scenery.

All of us in HO or Nscale, if you are correct with your answer for this post, we must admit we have no good running engines before 1988-1990 in HO or N scale out of the box (generally); sure the advance in HO was noticeable in the 90’s but from 2000 the engines were good runners from the box in the two scales; so the running problem is not a good factor choice!

(post edited by moderator)

There is three basic rules in any scale if you are asking for a good running layout: electrical continuity, perfect track, well gaged wheels; just in N scale I must confess, these rules are on the edge.

So check and recheck and check again your track, use only body mount coupler,put only broad curves which is not a problem with your space, and don’t forget you can run easily trains of 20-25 cars.

Sure I am still convinced by N after all these years.

At 53 I just begun to build a very big layout in a 65X26 room…in N scale and I wear glasses!

HO had give us superb layout but N scale too.

Cheers

Marc

I am in the way to build a very big N sclae layout with an around 500 feet of mainline set

37

65x26! Holy cow! Just a wee bit jealous over here!

I’ll give my reasons for jumping from a long term love-affair with N scale to starting from scratch with HO.

The chief one: I’m a locomotive guy. Sweeping vistas are lovely (and N does them very very well) and space constraints do make N easier to fit in just about any space (even the claustrophobic basement suites of my early years), but at heart my love of this hobby centers around screwing with locos of various shapes and sizes. I will not say that N is not amenable to this – it certainly is – but HO does suit my big clumsy fingers better than N does (eyesight not being much of an issue when your ogre-like hands are in danger of snapping small details whether you’re paying attention or not). HO just expands the equipment to the point where it’s comfortable for me to work on, without going so far as needing a second person to lift each loco onto the rails. Once I could fit an HO layout, the choice for me was obvious.

Stu

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but HO does suit my big clumsy fingers better than N does (eyesight not being much of an issue when your ogre-like hands are in danger of snapping small details whether you’re paying attention or not).

Stu,With today’s fragile HO models ogre hands can be a major problem more so then N simply because N doesn’t have the itty bitty details like HO…

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Stu,With today’s fragile HO models ogre hands can be a major problem more so then N simply because N doesn’t have the itty bitty details like HO…

…

Very true, though I do feel quite comfortable working on itty bitty details in HO scale. With N I seem to have an unfortunate knack of snapping loco shells into pieces whenever I try to remove them. I freely stipulate that this makes no sense anywhere but in my own head and hands…