Is it just our nature to always think that the guys who model another scale have it better? I was thinking about this today when I was reading some O scalers’ posts about engines that they were hoping to see. As I’ve posted in the past, I’m looking for most any kind of 2-8-8-4 in HO scale and my choices are limited to brass ones. Yet, even though O is supposedly way less popular than HO, there are several mass produced ones to choose from in that size.
Is it just a case of the grass being greener on the other side of the fence?
I still can’t figure out how Lionel & MTH can make engines that seem somewhat obscure in HO scale but sell them successfully in O. Perhaps it is the size of the run that makes a difference but it does seem strange.
Yeah, I think you’re right. The Grass is always greener syndrome. Like anything else what you want you can’t find in anything but another scale or channel you can’t get, but change scales or get a different channel package for the TV and watch what happens. Everything you want is in the one you just left!![(-D]
Only once in a while when I try to figure out what to build, in my limited space I could have a fairly impressive N scale layout with switching AND continuous run, without using toy train curves. And I’ve checked and there actually are quite a few locos and cars available in N scale.
And then I think about trying to install DCC and sound in those little N scale locos…
Nope, I’ll stick with HO, thanks. I won;t always be in this small apartment.
Oh sure. When I was planning my current layout, I realized I could get it all in if I used N scale. And I’m always looking at the new offerings in HO. Every time I go to a train show and look at the O and G layouts I love the size of the trains. But whenever I get tempted by another scale I get out a 40 ft boxcar in that scale and set it next to one of my S boxcars. That reminds me why I like S. The smaller scales I can’t see well and the larger ones take up too much room on the layout.
I have dabbled in N, HO, S, O, and G. In the end I find S to be the happy medium. Plus it has 7 of the 12 locomotives for the Ma&Pa of the early 50’s.
I only see greener grass on twhite’s layout where he has all those brass monsters. His is HO, so I don’t have to envy the dizzy heights of On30/3 or O Scale…yet.
I used to have N-scale envy, back when I was planning my HO layout. Now, though, I realize that my eyes are too old to even see the grass in N-scale, much less admire it. Really green grass isn’t realistic anyway, so I don’t care for it. Heck, I can’t even get it to grow in 1:1, how am I going to ever model it?
I like the detail level in HO, and the sound engines, and the availability of most everything I’m interested in. I can see what I build, and build what I see. I can live with the 18-inch curve issues, since I don’t model either big steam or modern era. Most of my rolling stock is from the layout I built as a boy, 40+ years ago, and it remains a link to my youth.
I really get a kick out of all the other scales at train shows. That’s the main reason I go, actually, just to look at the layouts. Great work, great ideas and a great way to show off the virtues of each gauge. But when I get home to HO, well, I’m home. That’s where I know I belong.
Started in the '50’s with Lionel. HO had more detail so there I went. After the Army, late '60’s, I figured N was better - more stuff in less space - BIG MISTAKE!! In the late '60’s, N scale was ca-ca - 2 laps without a derailment or the engine stalling was almost a dream!! - back to HO. At 66, G scale is looking better - the eyes DON’T have it!! [:)]
I can’t seem to get enough. I’m an HO guy, but I’ve always had a craving to do a little N on the side. Especially upstairs during the winter time when it’s too cold in the basement. Don’t think the wife would fly with that one though. I also grew up running my dad’s old American flyer so I’ve always loved S scale and once my basement is remodeled I’m going to put a dual track S scale setup around the walls over head.
When I was a kid my dad had someone build me a really nice 4x8 platform with a homasote top. One Christmas we had my HO trains, Dad’s American Flyer train and a Big Tyco Race car track all setup on that platform. Talk about hours of fun, man I’ll never forget that. I still have that 4x8 platform and I use it today as the main part of my 5x12 layout.
I’ve looked over the fence - actually hopped it once - and decided to stay with HO. I have no problem with other scales, and appreciate what can be done with them, but have determined that HO is for me.
I really gave the issue a lot of thought a few months ago when I began the process of taking down a 15 year old HO 11x15 layout so I could build a new one. The thoughts of changing gauge were:
I had a run at N scale in the late '80s, and appreciated what you could get in a given space. But, the track/locos/structures were just too small for me to effectively work with, and I didn’t feel “up close and personal” with the trains. As I am a lot older now, my feeling remain that N is not for me.
I have a decent postwar Lionel collection, and thought about putting up a Lionel layout. But, I would not get to run those long ATSF trains and the realism I was used to in HO is just not there.
I got the most serious about On3, and looked into it quite a bit. But, while there is some really neat shortline stuff out there, my heart is still with the ATSF and IC of my boyhood.
No, I didn’t forget S or G scale, but they are both rather expensive and/or hard to find, and not for me.
Sooo, I concluded I am sitting in the green grass, and the “new and improved” HO layout is in progress.
I used to model in HO scale with my uncle and then got away from it for several years. When I came back I jumped into N scale because I love how much stuff I can fit into a smaller area. However when I look at everything that is available in HO sometimes I do get a bit envious. But overall I am very happy with N scale and I will probably never switch.
I grew up with O scale, my dad’s actually. He was a Santa Fe engineer. Went to college in mid-late 50’s discovered HO would fit in my dorm room, and have been HO ever since. With over 200 diesels and something in the neighborhood of 1700 cars, and three decks of HO filling the basement, I am pretty content, or was, until I saw my first garden railroad while on an NMRA division tour in Omaha back in 1989. We came home to KC, and I was out surveying the backyard the next week.
Long story short, the HO is still my first love, but come early spring, I am out back starting to re-level and re ballast the track that runs all over the back, the structures stored on shelves in the garage are being prepared, diesels and cars are being pulled off shelves and serviced and touched up, and as soon as all the leaves are picked up, the Garden Railroad and Santa Fe is ready to go. During summer, the HO is relagated to operating sessions, but not much maintenance while I take my radio control throttles out back. The garden railroad runs on battery power, radio control and uses Kadee G gauge body mounted couplers. I use Llagas Creek switches and track, wide radius curves, etc.
Best of both worlds. When the leaves start falling, the garden railroad goes into storage, and the HO is back in full operation and attention.
One of the best moves I made in years was to switch from HO as my primary scale to N scale as primary…The hobby seems fresh and new…I was becoming bored with HO especially since I didn’t have a place for a HO layout other then a 1 x7 foot layout which would amount to no more then a time waster–er ah,time saver.[xx(]
For an HOn3 guy, the Bachmann output of reasonably-priced On30 locomotives sure makes the scale look very green in comparison. Add to Bachmann lineup the amount of work involved in getting HOn3 locomotives (there are some exceptions!) to run smoothly and consistently at switching speeds in less than sterile room conditions.
And for those with larger bank accounts than mine, the SMR line of 19th Century steam is another drool cause. Leaves their HO counterparts looking rather sad.
But the restraining factor is always the space required for buildings and scenery - and the requisite standard gauge interchange and line.
