Looking for O Scalers to chat with

I am in O Scale 2 rail and live in Middle Tennessee. Long time in the hobby, also like 32mm outdoors. Favorite RRs TC, NC&StL, L&N,ET&WNC, Smoky Mountain, any thing southern

[#welcome] to the forum. Your Avatar says you have been here since 2006? [:^)]

There are not a lot of O scale conversations here, but maybe someone can give you some links that will help you.

You might give Classic Toy Trains a try. On the very top of the page, in tiny print, on the right side, point your mouse to “Trains.com sites”, and a drop-down will show.

You can take your pick.

Mike.

l also talk to 32mm gauge outdoor railroaders. You can see I sort of like strange stuff! I am familiar with the other spots

and I am not really interested in tinplate

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/forum/2-rail-scale-trains

I am afraid that the vast majority of the members of this forum have a strong bias towards HO scale, nearly ignoring the existence of any other scale. There used to be a few N scalers, but quite a lot of them have found a better place to hang out. I find it rather awkward to direct the OP to a toy train forum or a different ste at all.

This forum is a far cry from what it used to be!

Hi there. I mostly model HO but I do have a portable 2 rail O scale layout. Yeah, the toy train reputation of O scale can be insulting for some… I am currently working on an old Varney 4-6-0. What an adventure that is turning out to be. What era do you model? Do you have cool brass stuff to show off here? Or Atlas stuff? Rivarossi?.. show us some pictures.

Ulrich is correct about this being a mostly HO forum, and you can’t just scale up things when reading about the Q and As. But a few of us have some sidelines in other scales and gauges. I am by no means an expert but some folks here are.

Simon

Hi, there, G (any relation to “Callen” on “NCIS: Los Angeles”? Like many of my pen-pals, of which only one is still with us, I’ve been back in O scale since 1992 due to my elderly eyesight. I say “back” because I got tired of detailing the heck out of HO steam locomotives only to have the detail disappear after applying Grimy Black. I switched back to HO again in '68 when I became an apartment-dweller and realized I might never have a “train room with a thick roof” again.

I live in wonderful northern Minnesota, in a “Large Studio Apartment (440 sq. ft.)” in a Seniors Only apartment building, so I’m just building things for display and my own pleasure. I’d been on the Forum for several years when I had to drop off the internet due to moving to this place where my rent was 157% higher than my last apartment, plus I now have to pay for my own power bill. Happily, I’ve been back again since 2014, as I now have a comfortable buffer between income and outgo. I’m happy as a clam in warm water and enjoy this forum and its mate “Prototype Information,” as I can learn new things, get questions answered by others–and answer someone else’s queries to boot. I model after the late Paul Larson’s HO Mineral Point & Northern, which followed the prototype Mineral Point RR and the independent MP&N. I’ve been “kit-muddling” an IHB (Heljan) “Big 2-Stall Engine-House” for about two years now, but have gone a little stale on the project so I’ve gone back to turning my MicdroLux "Heavy Duty Variable Speed Drill Press with Variable Speed Con

Deano, these sound like very interesting projects… I wish I could build my own locos, but that is really beyond my skills set.

Here is a picture of my O scale engine in renovation. I changed the motor, repainted it and added a few details. It runs fairly well - a bit noisy because of the metal gears but not at a level I would consider intolerable. I have a circle of track in the living room for now to test it (my portable layout is in storage - I hope to take it out later in the season). I still need to add a few pipes and decals. CN purists will probably say that ten wheelers did not have this herald. The wafer herald would have been more prototypical, but I had that one at hand and I kinda like it.

Simon

A few years ago, I dabbled a little bit in O scale narrow gauge, but gave up on it, as I grossly underestimated the real estate requirements for buildings. My space is limited, so I had to go back to a smaller scale - with regret!

O scale is ideal for scratchbuilding structures and buildings! Just a couple of shots of my attempt at an engine house:

And a wharf scene:

Nice work Ulrich… Is that an On30 engine?.. I have a few On30 engines that I can also run on my portable layout.

Simon