Deciding between N vs HO

[Lehigh_Valley_2089]

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).

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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…

I’d say you hit it on the head. Not much experience with HO, but N scale parts are surprisingly forgiving to clumsy fingers. Even some O gauge models don’t stand up well to ogre fingers.

[Burlington_Northern1]

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).

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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…

I’d say you hit it on the head. Not much experience with HO, but N scale parts are surprisingly forgiving to clumsy fingers. Even some O gauge models don’t stand up well to ogre fingers.

most of the time, I haven’t broke anything yet while holding a loco or car, but I’m watching carefully for the day I do.

[cuyama]

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

Unfortunately, that’s a bit like asking “How long is a piece of string?” There are lots of different buildings of different sizes available in each scale.

In terms of area, the same structure will generally take roughly three times more space in HO scale compared to N scale.

As an example, the Walthers Sunrise Feed mill in HO scale is about 4" X 15 1/8" overall, so about 60 square inches. The same structure in N scale is about 2 3/4" X 8", so about 22 square inches.

Another example, the main building for the well-known Walthers New River Mining kit is about 9" X 12.5" in HO, or about 112 square inches. The main building for the same kit in N scale is 7 1/2" x 5 3/8", or roughly 40 square inches.

[Texas_Zephyr]

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

Wow that is a tough one. An out-house, the Empire State Building, or a steel-mill rolling plant?

Generally 87 HO-scale buildings set end-to-end will equal 1 real building of the same type. For N-scale the number is 160 buildings. So take the size of the building being considered and divide its size by 87 or 160.

However many people don’t use full size buildings. We use what is called selective compression. That is where parts of the real building are left out so the model is smaller, but still gives the look and feel of the real thing. For example Walther’s HO Packing plant is about 8" x11" which is about 1/4 the size a real small slaughter house would be, but it looks OK.

[Lehigh_Valley_2089]

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

Wow that is a tough one. An out-house, the Empire State Building, or a steel-mill rolling plant?

Generally 87 HO-scale buildings set end-to-end will equal 1 real building of the same type. For N-scale the number is 160 buildings. So take the size of the building being considered and divide its size by 87 or 160.

However many people don’t use full size buildings. We use what is called selective compression. That is where parts of the real building are left out so the model is smaller, but still gives the look and feel of the real thing. For example Walther’s HO Packing plant is about 8" x11" which is about 1/4 the size a real small slaughter house would be, but it looks OK.

Don’t forget that you also have building flats. They are typically scale length, but are only 1 to 2" deep.

[BRAKIE]

Don’t forget that you also have building flats. They are typically scale length, but are only 1 to 2" deep

Indeed…This is Walthers Bud Trucking background building and it measures 19 x 1 1/8 x 4".A very nice building.When I took the photo the kit was not fully built.

[BerkshireSteam]

Modern N scale models are very well detailed, for their size, and are also smaller, so less detail needed.