I’m planning on getting back in the hobby after a long absence. I will be building a room-sized layout that will be either ~12x12 or possibly ~15x15. I probably won’t be building the actual layout for a few years, but in the mean time I’d like to start building, painting and detailing some structures and rolling stock. I need to pick a scale but I’m undecided. I love the space and long runs N scale would give me, but I like the added realism and ease of handling that HO scale affords. I’m looking for some opinions or other considerations to think over. What are some other pros and cons of each scale? There seems to be more available for HO, and it’s generally of better quality/more detailed which may be my deciding factor, but I keep thinking about how much I could model in a room that size with N scale. What would you do?
You’re correct that there is more available in HO. However, N-scale has been making some real strides in the past 10 years. And - price-wise - N- and HO-scale are about the same.
Have you decided on an era and/or a railroad that you’d like to model? If you’re thinking about steam then HO would be a better format. There just isn’t a lot available in steam in N-scale. Same goes for sound. While decoder installations are feasible in N-scale, fitting a decoder AND speaker under the hood of an N-scale locomotive is much more of a challenge.
How are your eyes? Will you be working on your own locomotives? I personally like the detailing of HO over N. In either case, you’ll want a good magnification visor (e.g. Optivisor) for working on locomotives, as well as assembling rolling stock and structure kits. It’s THE most-used tool in my tool arsenal - no joking!
I hear you on the advantages of N-scale in regards to getting more layout in the same amount of space. For me - as a NYC modeler of the early 40s - I’ll take the detailing and the things available that HO-scale offers me over more layout in a smaller scale.
Yes, your age has much to do with your scale. LION has much trouble seeing small things. [Optivisor… gotta buy an Optivisor!] Big Furry Paws do not help either, and my manual dexterity has diminished over the years, so I am glad I am in HO.
LION models the New York City Subway, and good (cheap) subway equipment is only available in HO.
Finally, LIONS ARE CHEAP… Him builds some buildings out of corrugated cardboard boxes or using a base of Styrofoam forms. I can get away with this in HO, but in N scale?
Sure you can get more track per table in N scale, but is length of track everything (Says him who runs 14 scale miles of mane lion!)
You are thinking about the right aspects. I went with HO (again) and it definitely limited what I can do in my 6 x 10’ space, but I assumed (no experience with N) it would be lots easier for me to build car and structure kits, etc.
If you have the time, play with refining preferred track plans (I recommend track planning software) for HO and N, plus try some things you want to do in each scale, plus determine more specifically what locos you want and what the availability is in each scale. If a local club has both, join or visit that and get a better feel for each.
It’s kinda a priorities / preferences issue. People have a great time with all scales.
I’m a diehard HO guy, but I did build an N scale layout back in the late 1980s. I was in my late 40s at the time, and had a lifetime of model railroading under my belt.
The obvious “plus and minus” to HO and N are hard to argue with. HO is more available and easier to work with, while N scale will get you a lot more stuff - and long realistic - train running in a given space.
My personal problem turned out to be that I just could not work with the trackage and wiring and rolling stock as easily as I could with HO. Between aging hands and fading eyesight, I decided to sell off the N and pick back up on the HO.
Only you can determine if those problems apply to you, and if they do, if you choose to deal with them or not.
hold up hold up an N scalers gotta get in here… [:P]
with N scale tom is right about speakers and decoders fitting under the hood of locos it’s gonna be tight. If you’re all for running long trains over vast sections of open scenery or you’re saving space N scale is very good. If you’re looking at doing a big N scale layout it might take some time on the fact that everything is almost half the size. if you’re more into steam HO is your scale, N has steam but only so many types of locomotive. I only own 3 steamers at the moment, the rest of my fleet is diesel.
I’d like to do both scales soon but am currently working with N scale.
Well I model in N-Scale and thus am quite biased as to which is better. To echo something Tom said…how are your eyes? N-Scale is small. My brother is 5 years older than me and he has trouble seeing some of the things I can see. Mostly because of the family history of macular degeneration. It missed me.
I do not necessarily agree on the cost aspect though. It seems to me when ever I see something in HO that makes me consider switching I look at the cost. What i see is that good HO stuff costs about twice as much as good N-scale stuff. This is my own opinion and my LHS does not really agree with me. But I look at the add in MR and that is where I get my info from.
I have done drop in installations in locomotives. The most difficult was the install in a RDC. The decoder for that is designed with a spider in mind I think.
You can get alot of N-Scale track in a small space. I think that may have been why my dad had us switch to N-Scale in the 70’s.
This is an age old question that is asked and answered and discussed here many times.
The best advice has been given. Age and a person’s fine motor skills limit the N gauge experience. Your area sounds big enough for a nice HO layout. So, unless you are young or have the rock steady motor skills of a surgeon, go HO. N scale’s big advantage, (its only advantage) is lotsa’ activity per unit area of layout. If you dream of 50 or 100 car trains you’re stuck with N gauge.
Even with terrible motor skills, if your layout was a lot smaller, (4X6 or even 4X8), N gauge might be a better choice if you seek a lot of railroading for the space.
All of the above, although I will say that my own slightly furry paws have gotten better since I got back into the hobby. Kitbuilding and detail painting seem to have actually steadied my hand and gotten easier. Your results may vary.
One thing to consider is the era you plan to model. I’m a Transition Era HO-scale guy, and I’m building my layout to accomodate shifting back to the 1930s by swapping out trains, vehicles and perhaps a few buildings. The Transition Era is noted for short, 4-axle diesels and 40 to 50 foot freight cars. For this, you can get away with 18-inch radius curves in HO. If you want to model modern-era stuff, or if you’re thinking of Big Steam earlier in the 20th century, then 18-inch curves become a problem in HO. In N-scale, though, 18-inch curves are pretty big and you can run a lot on them. Even in the Transition Era, the nice HO-scale passenger cars that are coming out now require wider curves than 18 inches.
Neither is a prerequisite for modeling in N scale, as seen by the thousands of older folks who happily model in N.
This is a fine forum, but the active posters run heavily to HO scale and often “damn with faint praise” when it comes to N scale. Asking your question on a more N scale focused forum such as The Railwire or Trainboard would yield a very different set of responses.
Of course, O scalers had the same criticisms of HO scale when O was the dominant scale.
Where I grew up, there was a small short line that went out of business in the 40’s, I believe. My childhood was the 80’s, so I’ve been thinking I was going to concoct an alternate reality where this small short line survived to modern day, then set my layout some time in the mid-80’s to modern day time frame. I haven’t nailed it down yet, but it will be the modern era.
If you like long trains and generous scenery, N scale will be a good choice. Quality is as good as in HO scale and detail is following. Sound is available, but don´t expect too much out of those tiny speakers. Even in HO scale, sound does not really sound well.
In order to enjoy the detail available in N scale, you´ll have to bring up your layout to eye level as close as possible. This may have an influence on layout design.
If my eyes were younger, I´d stay in N scale, but as I like scratch building a lot, I am right now in the process of moving up into O scale MRRing.
I am a scenery man, which is why I’m even considering N scale. I’ll likely be modeling a short line, so long trains are not really going to be an issue for me. But my favorite part of the hobby is scenery and (re)creating that imaginary world. I think building the scenery is like writing a story, and the actual running of the trains is just a side benefit of creating this little world. Large stretches of scenery is very appealing to me, but I like to kitbash and paint my own locos/rolling stock, but I’ve never done that in N scale before. I’m worried I wouldn’t be able to do a very good job at that in such a small scale.
Thanks to every one for all the advice so far. I know this topic has probably been beat to death around here.
First, I’m an N-scaler, so I’m admittedly biased towards N scale.
The variety, detail and quality in N scale is so much better today than it was 20 years ago, and has closed the gap with HO considerably.
Much has been said about modeling eras and the advantages of HO if steam is in the picture. Less has been said about the advantages of N scale in the modern era.
Modern era means long equipment. Even short trains on short lines still run long equipment in the modern era. You may have room for “large enough” curves for modern equipment in HO, but modern equipment will look much better on the same curves in N scale.
Modern era equipment is also not kept as clean or cosmetically maintained as well as was earlier era equipment. This means weathering is more prominent, but it also means that some finer details become less prominent. This tends to make effective modelling in N scale easier.
As has been said earlier, I would encourage you to survey more N-scale-focused forums and resources on the 'net, and find out from N-scalers how they have handled the same concerns you have.
The advantages unique to HO are several economy lines of products which really have no equivalent in other scales. And HO has a wider selection of stuff. So if cost is a major factor or there are certain models you have to have that are only in HO, then go with HO.
Otherwise, it really depends on what you want to do. If you like building cars, locomotives, structures, etc. then you really should look at larger scales like O and S. If you like vast scenic vistas then Z or N may be your best bet.
Personally, I started with HO, tried O, built an N scale layout for my son and finally ended up in S scale as the best compromise between big enough to build with and small enough to have a nice layout. But they are all tradeoffs. One thing is you could build a small shelf layout in both (or more) scales - say 18" by 6-8 ft just to try them out.
And nothing says you can’t have 2 layouts, one stacked over the other if space is tight.
This makes me think HO. A prototype shortline generally means shorter trains and smaller locos operating in more-or-less urban/industrial areas, which HO does very well. The sweeping scenic vista with a 100-car unit train snaking through it – N scale`s specialty – wouldn’t really be part of that.
ummmm…why not both. I started with HO. Friend gave me some N stuff and I never looked back. Now I work with both. I would never be able to choose. It would be like choosing which cat, wife or kid I loved more( I have no kids).[:(!].
