My son gave me an Athearn N scale 60’ SP auto box for Father’s Day. What a great starter for my SP Fresno District layout I’m planning. I would like to hear to see a thread from how modeler’s made the change from HO to N. I almost had to design a matrix like Bernie Kempinski did for his excellent Tennessee Pass layout.
I have noticed one basic change in "look: from HO to N I want to accomplish. Bernie and The Reid Brothers did that well. The more open the look to the layout, the better it photographs and looks. Meaning: Don’t try to cram a lot into a little. I want to borrow Bob Smaus’ SP plan for a lot of mine. Keep it open and it tends to look less toy-like in the smaller scale. Do you agree?
I also want to mail order from several different comapnies where I can save 20-30%, good idea? - And how hard was it selling off the HO to convert to N. I am going to a swap meet with a massive list of everything from boxes of rolling stock,. vehicles, structures and detail parts. All new. Looks like a freakin hobby shop. Happy Father’s Day. If you plan on attending the 29 Palms show next weekend, my wife and I are making the trek with 15 totes. Thanks for agreat forum.
I would also encourage you to visit and support a good LHS in your area as much as possible. I have three good ones in my area and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. The info and experienced expertise I receive from one of them is invaluable. Yea, I pay close to MSRP but it’s worth it to me to keep them in business.
I mostly rely on my LHS for track, supplies, and rolling stock because I can check on the BLT and repaint dates to make sure that they are in my era. However, I’m not against picking up substantial deals on the Internet. (Most of my locomotive purchases have been just that.) Even so, I probably give about 80-85% of my MRRing business to my LHS.
but I agree with the previous posters. If there is a good LHS in your area support it. I am fortunate, there are 3 within 50 miles of me. Probably 80% of my purchases is split between them. If there is a store that isn’t so good, a little encouragement might make it better.
You’re right about an “open” look being less toylike. I switched to N after years in HO, and it was the best decision I ever made. I still use 18" radius curves, but now, instead of being toylike HO curves, they are broad, sweeping N curves.
It’s really amazing how much more you can do in a given space with N than with HO.
I have HO, but too much to sell off and start over. So, I want to start a On30 layout to satisfy my narrow gauge craving. Love the k-class locomotives.
My making the transition from HO to N took place over 25 years ago and was easy; on a given date I simply stopped buying products in HO and made a rather substantial purchase in N. As I have outlined in other responses to other threads I went from one to the other, not because I felt N was any better than HO but, given the space available at that particular moment - and, most likely, I was going to have to live with that space for a good while - N was the only way I was going to be able to escape the great oval syndrome. In fact I suppose that my “druthers” lay with HO but Uncle Sam kept picking my caboose up every two to four years and sending me halfway around the world. When I retired in 1978 I was genuinely tired of watching locomotive chase caboose around the layout. No remorse; just a reflection of fact.
For most of the previous 10 years I had toyed between the two gauges and the net result of this vacilation was that when I made the commitment to N-Scale I didn’t really have a considerable amount of equipment in either HO or N. Because of circumstances I had elected to spend my last overseas assignment without my family; this had necessitated my moving from on-base government quarters to economy housing and “bye-bye” went my 4 X 16 (two 4 X 8s butted end to end.) I spent most of my first three years as a “civilian” using my GI-bill education benefits - and working - so had never really got around to starting a new layout in my new home.
And that is my profound transition story.
I’m going to have to “P.S.” this. You made an observation about the appearance of the new scale - valuable observation. Just remember that you’re going from a 1:87 proportion to a 1:160 one. At one foot your eye level is going to be twice as high in N as in HO - this usually causes HOers to make such sublime observations as “Sure looks toylike!!” Keep your benchwork high and you can make any N-Scale layout look as good as - and maybe even better than - most HO layouts. Hoers refer to
I model HO, mainly because that’s what I got started in as a kid. I also liked the abundant selection of HO stuff and the size seemed “just right” to me. I thought about N for a little while, but thought it was too tiny for my personal taste, and I discovered that N stuff costs about the same as corresponding HO stuff. I figured “Heck, I want my money’s worth, so I’m gonna stick with the BIGGER one!” [:D]
I did go to a train show recently that featured several N layouts, and last week I visited a friend’s “basement empire” N-scale layout, and was really impressed by everything I saw. What is enticing to me about N scale is the amount of layout you can fit into a given space versus with HO. In N scale, you can have reeealy long mainlines, and reeealy long trains, which I like. Practically speaking, scenery between the two is basically the same, but you can do more in N because of the space. Seems like if you prefer scenery, long trains, and long mainline runs (as opposed to switching and heavy industrial action), N is probably more suitable.
I’m still happy with HO, but I think if I were to start all over, I’d give N a more serious look. Good luck with the fresh start! [:)]