I’m sure this has been discussed in the past, but how does one decide what era, scale, gauge, to model? I’ve been doing this for a long time and I have found my interests have changed. Lately I have built models in HO, N, Sn3, On30 and HOn3. My small room in the garage is almost complete, so I need to decide which one I want to model.
I have gotten this far with it…if I go standard gauge, it’ll be HO. If I go narrow gauge, it’ll be Sn3. I just can’t decide. I love them both but only have so much space.
We never really had that problem from a macro perspective. Having grown up in UP/MP/Frisco territory and now living in NS/CSX land. That is, we always wanted to model what we knew and know–I think most do, and a large part probably do so from their child hood memories/pictures.
As far as scale, that’s really a function of your preference. We chose HO since it’s popular and not too big nor too small. N was too hard to handle for older eyes/hands while S and O were too large to get long trains for our available real estate. If I had lots of money and 5,000 square feet, I would probably go S or O.
Richard - Your right about modeling what we grew up with. If it’s standard gauge, I would model the CB&Q. Growing up in north Texas, we had a lot to choose from, but I’ve always liked the Burlington, and to a lesser extent, the Frisco.
Paul - I think you right about me preferring to build than operate. However, i do want some operations. That is one of the attractions of narrow gauge…you wouldn’t need a whole lot of operations. Just a lot of scenery.
To be honest, I am sort of leaning to the standard gauge HO side. I think I am making this harder than it needs to be.
You’re right. You are making it unnecessarily complicated.
Start with, “What do I like?” (Meaning you, not the cat who’s prototype speaks Japanese.)
Then treat it like a satellite view in four dimensions. Out of the entire Earth from the first rail laid on the Stockton and Darlington until - MARK! - zoom in on a general place-time. (For the aforementioned cat, it was the Upper Kiso Valley, Nagano-ken, Japan. Unlikely that you will pick the same.)
Having found a general zone in spacetime, narrow the view some more - specific town, specific kind of location, possibly a favorite prototype scene.
Now comes the process of shrinking things - selective compression, selective omission, forced perspective (which only applies to scenery…) The object is to get the best (in your opinion) strands of spaghetti out of the kettle and into your bowl - without overfilling the bowl.
As a person who would rather build than operate, go for a simple track plan, preferably one with continuous run capability and as much hidden staging as you can arrange. Then you can build whatever happens to catch your fancy at the moment. If you discover you like constructing buildings, leave yourself lots of real estate to put them on. OTOH, if rolling stock is (or becomes) your `thing,’ having hidden staging gives you track capacity for new creations without making it necessary to remove old favorites from the layout.
Above all, never forget that the main object is to have fun.
Chuck (An operator modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - TTTO 24/30)
The choice of era is subjective, but often revolves around our feelings about steam and diesel locomotives. Many of us like both which is why the transition era is so popular. Steam lovers are attracted to the earlier pure steam era. Those who lack feelings for steamers are attracted to the modern post steam diesel era.
Choice of gauge/scale has some practical considerations. Obviously the smaller gauges/scales permit more railroad in the same amount of space. Scratch building and kitbashing are more practical in HO and larger. Everything is available in HO, and nearly everything in N. This is not so in narrow gauge and S scale. You should enjoy model building before going into Sn3, 'cause you will have to do a lot of it.
I am in HO, cause it’s big enough to build models in, stuff is widely available at a good price, and the trains are big enough to have some presence. My layout is a country sort of railroad, with creameries to service, small towns to model, one big mill to generate some traffic, some farm country, single track main line, rural scenery, which is all perfectly plausible in standard gauge and not so plausible in narrow gauge. Narrow gauge really calls fo
I gotta back Chuck on this one. No matter what field or interest area you might develop a hankering for, you eventually find something that gives you that extra hot spark. For me, it was always steam, and I could even leave the transition era diesels and electrics behind. Also, as a person who is not exactly flush with cash, I have to work within my means. So, personally, whatever drives me has a hefty utilitarian component to it…it has to be functional, reliable, and affordable. For me, HO is the no-brainer part of the decision-making process (if you will excuse that now trite phrase).
The HO market is large and robust, and the choices have never been better for non-brass offerings with reasonable levels of detailing. This has tended to keep prices low (hey, don’t yell at me! We’ll soon enough see what high prices are really about in this hobby…they’re just getting started!). It means I can have my own brand of fun by running all the steamers I decide I like, and believe you me, they run all over the place. My two best-represented railroads are the Norfolk & Western and the Pennsy. But I want more Santa Fe and Union Pacific, and of course my native Canadian Pacific. I even have three New York Central…so I am all over the place. In other words, I don’t model. I pick what I want off the shelf and run it. My scenery and line-side details are generic. The sticklers would perhaps wrinkle their noses at my imagery, but that’s only because there are some glaring inconsistencies between that they know and what I want to know. Which of us is the happiest in our pursuit of the hobby? If you can figure that out, it might be worth something.
Hey Crandell, I like the way you think!! I also buy off the shelf, if i like it and can afford it I’ll buy it. So I guess that means for some, I can’t be a real model railroader. Who cares.
I can’t really answer the question, because the Connecticut River Valley in the mid-1950’s was a natural for me, and I already had a lot of HO stuff, so I wasn’t about to switch. I did, however, fudge history so that I could use some things that aren’t strictly prototypical for the time and place.
I’m modelling mid-summer, but I always wanted to do some winter modelling. So I made a 2’ x 4’ diorama which I call Home for the Holidays. I drag it out every year at Christmas and modify it a bit. I’ve also done an Alpine scene and an English village. These allow me to try different things, but still return to what I like.
I find that I am really interested in Narrow Gage, I like the terrain N.G operated through, the history behind and the equipment they used. If I were to start over, I would model the Rio Grande Southern in Sn3. This size would be very similar to HO. I think this size is as small as I would want to go; but, the size has enough heft to operate well.
This determination has only been made, after 2o years of “Hard At” standard gage HO modeling with years of my youth involved in HO, also. HO kept me going as there is lots of stuff available. However, now I could live with a couple of real good Brass Sn3 locomotives and far fewer pieces of rolling stock. Al;so, Sn3 is a “Modeler’s” scale, meaning if you want to be involved in this size, there will need to be plenty of building (kits and scratch) involved, which is right in my “Wheelhouse”!
Sit down, write out lists of what it is you like about each of the sizes you’ve tried. Add in the history your interested in and a clear choice should emerge!
Ask Yourself: What makes my heart “skip a beat” when I think about it? …Or see a picture of it? …And what year does my lasting memory occur? …Do I need steam, or is diesel just fine?
For me – It was a Pennsy F7 + PRR PA1 in tuscan brown livery thundering through the valley – And the singing-wires of traction – Plus a slow B&O GP7/9, and Beth-Steel SW1500, stopping traffic at a crossing. Hmm? – Circa 1956!
Now Ask: With the available layout space given – Will HO Scale or N Scale be the best fit for my operations?
P.S.: Dream a little, take your time, and planning ideas will begin to emerge.
I’ve had that same discussion with myself often. My three likes are southeastern shortline/branchline operations, then narrow gauge, then logging, not always in that order. Then considering that, to me, narrow gauge looks best in the larger scales, and I don’t have the room to capture the effect I saw while living in Colorado, I narrowed it down to southeastern shortline. Next the question was what era? Again, space in the room decided it. While I prefer 70s/80s GP38s, rolling stock was getting larger. Going back to the 50s dropped the car size, allowing tighter curves.
So the end result was a 1950s era branchline served by the SR, but with it’s own identity (common for the SR). This also helped out because I didn’t need to provide space for an engine service facility. Trains arrive from the mainline “somewhere” work the branch, and go back to “somewhere.”
I’ll go in a different direction than most advice given so far. Go with Sn42. You can use HO mechanisms, track, etc. The Newfoundland Railway is what I’m thinking of as a prototype. There’s even a thread here about Sn42:
Or you could make removable buildings, etc and swap between HO standard and Sn42 modes on the same layout with a little planning.
I assume you’re planning on typical Colorado stuff in Sn3? Because that tends to be it’s focus in terms of kits, etc, although I’m well aware that S tends to attract more than it’s fair share of builders vs HO, so there are other things you can do. I only say this in all honesty as a Rio Grande fan. I love it, so my HOn3 empire is well-served these days.
Anyway, a few different ideas to add to the mix. If I was Canadian, I’d be all over the Newfie, it’s a wonderful prototype if you like modern NG ops like I do. I still may dabble in something off the island eventually, but probably in HOn3.
This is like a kid in a candy store question. So many choices, and they will all taste good!
Nobody can answer this question for you dude! I can only suggest that you look at the resources available to you in each scale and decide which will fulfill your wants the best.
You can always go dual scale with HO and HOn3, and that will certainly provide some challenges, and some neat looking dual gauge track too!
If the OP wants to focus on 42" (1067mm) narrow gauge (known as CAP gauge or Cape Gauge), there are also some possibilities outside the US (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_gauge).
Personally, I find S scale rather appealing, and it certainly is a “builder’s scale”. However, the drawback to it, even, or maybe especially, in narrow gauge, is the space required. Yeah, the track and trains perhaps not so much, but if you want believeable-sized structures, you’re going to require considerably more real estate than you would in HO.
If you go with HO, you can buy (if you wish) just about anything that you can’t or don’t wish to build, leaving you plenty of time to build those things which bring you the greatest pleasure. And, within your available space, more room to use and display it all, too.
My primary scale is HO. I have some N scale equipment and a few pieces of G scale stuff, but like HO more because of the greater variety of locos and cars.
As for era, I model the era in which I had my first taste of railfanning (mid-1970s). Watching real trains inspired me to take up model railroading, and I got my first train set in 1974.
S scale does require more space for the same modeling as HO. S is about 1/3 longer in single dimension and 1.85 times HO in area dimension. So the old HO favorite 4x8 becomes 5’4" by 10’8" in S. The models being 3 dimensional are about 2 1/2 times the size of HO in a space a little less than double HO.
When I reentered the hobby five years ago I just wanted to run the old HO trains from my childhood. I had to have the obligatory bridge, tunnel, inclines and other items on my ‘train set’ wish list. Though I enjoyed my first layout after returning to the hobby, my interest was somewhat tame. Once I had to destroy that layout and start to build a new one I had an epiphany. I decided to model my home town of Mankato in the 1950’s. Since I know the area and am interested in the history, it was a perfect fit. I’ve had so much fun reading about what once was and trying to recreate it. I guess I’m lucky that I had that ‘thunder bolt’ moment. I hope the OP has a moment like that as well.
I sure didn’t expect this many replies to my question! Thanks so much to everyone.
I’ve been the HOn3 route and I find it not big enough. In narrow gauge, Sn3 is perfect because it’s roughly the same size equipment as standard gauge HO and the track gauge is even narrower than HO. Of course, the structures and things are a bit larger, falling in between HO and O. I’m in the middle of building both an Sn3 C&S boxcar and a Red Caboose HO CB&Q boxcar.
Since I have the 2 competing scales chosen, I just need to decide between standard gauge (HO) and narrow gauge (Sn3).
I am leaning towards the standard gauge side because of, like several of you have mentioned, the availability.