I had planned on modeling a local narrow guage rail in On30. Have it all drawn up and ready to go on the board. Down side is the curves would be so tight the passenger cars would look like garbage going around it I think. So then I thought hey maybe HO would work well, I could add a 2x4’ section to it for a yard and do it that way. Then the same thing came to mind, with that small of a layout will any car over 40’ look too “big” or just wrong? So then I thought N scale, it’s what I did when I was young…er. But DCC seems hard/expensive with N scale. And you loose alot of the detail IMO when compared to HO and On30 for sure.
So how does everyone settle on what kind to go with? This is killing me for some reason, I think it’s just cause I close on my house next week and I’m just trying to keep my mind off of it. The G scale will come next year which will be interseting.
don’t try to fit an entire On30 railroad into 8x3.5 , just do a small portion of your dream layout . you can build the rest of it when you’re settled into the new house .
I think I will just add another 4x4 section to the front and make it an L. That should give me enough room to have an On30 line on it with some room to turn.
It depends on your time period. There is not a wide choice of steam in N scale. Have you thought about HOn3? DCC in N probably isn’t any more expensive, could be harder depending on what you are trying to put a decoder in.
Why choose? Become a rubber gauger; the possibilities are huge (as will be the hit to your wallet). Lay some HO gauge and some N gauge track, and you can do the following:
- Gn15 and a G scale model of a 7.5 " gauge (or so) live steam line. Lots of detail in the big G scale.
your preferred On30 (you know like them big!) and an On18 mining or industrial tram. Highly practical for simulating some of the Colorado mining areas.
an Sn42 and an Sn2 line. For the more creative.
HO and HOn30. Again, a highly practical combination.
When you get down to needing to run N scale trains on your N track, the question becomes can you do it without feeling guilty? I don’t have a plausible explanation for the HO track in N scale, but surely the fun of owning and running trains in multiple scales outweighs rude comments from your so-called friends?
Just based on the above, you can own 9 different scale/gauge combinations. That’s 9 sets of locomotives for just one small layout! Choose the scale of the night, and put the structures and trains to match on the layout.
So again, don’t settle. Go for the gusto. Be a real man (real poor man); be a rubber gauger.
Keep in mind standard gauge passenger cars are around 80’ long, narrow gauge cars are more in the 35-50’ range. I’m not sure how long the Bachmann On30 cars are but I’d guess they’re maybe 40’ or less?? I’ve seen them running on a layout with 18" curves and they looked OK. Narrow gauge lines were usually built because the topography dictated that they had to build the line with very sharp curves that standard gauge trains couldn’t get through.
Well if I went with N scale I would probably do a 40’s era layout, ya get a good mix of styles during that period. If I go HO it would probably be about the same time period. As far as G goes that will be a pennsy and B&O line but fully outdoors, dont want to fool with it inside.
I just cut up a board 19x30" and framed it off to make a quick small layout to keep me entertained and to help me decide on what to go with. I have one On30 0-4-0 laying around so I might do it in HO track, on the other hand I have 2 dozen or so N scale cars/engines that I could use on it also. So I now have a new task infront of me. I will probably go with N so I can make a loop and have a little switching going on.
Well, I’m kinda biased towards On30, but let me say this; If the curves are tight, you’re modeling Narrow gauge for the right reason. I can get a bachmman On30 Combine to go through a 14" curve looking just fine. Most of their stuff will make 15" curves and look fine. Porters with shorty cars look good on 9" curves. The reason for NG is to fit more into less space.
One thing you need to think about if you go with On(anything). The locomotives and cars may be scaled down, and the track is thinner it’s true, but the structures are still the same size as regular O-scale. I have a shelf-top diorama in On30 that’s just as long as your proposed layout, and a little less than half the width. On it there are two major structures; a depot and an enginehouse. Each one has a footprint of about 8 inches wide and 18 inches long, and they just about fill up the scenery. I can’t see trying to design a whole O scale layout in the area you describe with it having any scenic possibilities. Not unless you plan to limit yourself to whistle-stop platforms and one-room shacks.
If you are space restricted to 8x3.5ft, check out Z scale. If you shop carefully, prices for equipment are no worse than N scale. You could use ModelTraiStuff as a good etailer to check real prices with.
The new MicroTrains track is very good, & uses most of the same geometry at Marklin trak with a plastic KatoUnitrack like roadbed. The Marklin/Peco track or MTL flextrak needs a cork shim to get it up to MTL track, but can be done. You could begin with a MTL Expansion Track set & expand from there. MTL includes a circle of 8"/195mm & 1/2 of 9"/220mm radius track used for mainlines, & a LH & RH manual turnout set. For $50, you can quckly get a small train up & running in no time.
The MTL GP35 & GP9’s are very fine quiet locos. AZL male some other american style locos. I’m not sure what is going on with Marklin but you may still find some stock at varoous Etailers.The market for Zscale is expanding. I’d compare it to Nscale in the 1980’s. What Zscale dosen’t have is bottom feeders like Bachmann, Lifelike, etc.
Some of the newer laser wood kits make very fine models. Some Nscale structures can be downsized into Zscale items with shorter 7-8ft doors.