Modeling Philosophy..G Scale

Garden Railroading
1

Newbie here.

I have had O gauge (family tradition) all my life. So I am not totally inexperienced.

I am thinking about G scale, my first foray. It will be outdoors.

I know from weeks of research a fair amount…like you want as big a radius as possible.

Most of the sets available come with 4 foot radius, power pack, etc. A few questions. I have read that the USA Trains sets are a good starter, plenty of motive power for the future. Problem, they don’t seem available at this time. Plus, I live in VA and have decided I want to model a railroad that could be seen locally IE CSX, N&W or one of their original roads b4 consolidation. Not available in a USA Trains set.

I like the PICO, and could probably live with the PENN steam set. I am concerned about the transformer/power supply and future use. Even though it’s not a local line, It would fit with our our seasons, shrubs, fall color. And, it is available. I also like that PICO makes some buildings with an American motif, american west, while I wouldn’t choose them, they do have a station, water tower, etc that would serviceable. At least its not all euro looking.

The Aristo offering, Little Critter? don’t cut it on many levels, availability, stylistically, and again, power supply.

I am Thinking of ordering a la cart, USA Trains.Track, engine and cars. How about power supply? Is the 40 V that ships with their sets adequate, or how about their more expensive Track Power 10? I am leaning toward the MRC Power G. I will probably start with about 25 feet or less track. Primarily as a starter to learn a little first hand, and want some room to grow b4 buying a bigger unit. Space is always going to be a problem, so I may never get but so much bigger. Actually a 4/5 foot radius suits my space, USA Trains has several diesels that will work on 5 feet and are available in road names I like.

Thanks for any advise, suggestions that you may want to offer.&n

2

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum! You will like it a lot.

That being said, you will get a whole lot better response if you post your G scale question in the Classic Toy Trains section of the Forum.

The good folks here are primarily dealing with HO and N scale, whereas the other Forum is mostly large scale.

3

Thanks. Actually I found a Garden Railways forum, and posted there.

4

The Garden Railways forum is what you want for G outdoors.

http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/default.aspx?GroupID=7

Good luck and welcome aboard

Paul

5

Dear Friend,

I am a large-scale, g-scale, 1:24, (or whatever you want to call it!) modeller…a lot of questions get answered here because they are issues that apply to all scales, and a lot of your questions like the ones you post here will probably be better off posted in the g-scale, garden forums referenced and linked above…

see you over there! and welcome!!

6

…p.s.: to answer one of your questions: “The Bigger the Radius, the Better in Every Respect”

7

I, too, am considering getting into Large Scale modelling (in addition to HO).

Something to consider that’s very different than all of the other scales: All of the “G Scale” stuff uses the same gauge track. There are various scales represented on one gauge of track. There are various narrow gauge scales (1/20.3, 1/24, etc.) as well as standard gauge (1/29, 1/32 - what we all know as 4ft-8.5in gauge track in the US).

Some scales represent Narrow Gauge trains, others Standard Gauge trains. I know, it’s very strange.

Standard Gauge stuff is 1/32 on “G” track. But USA trains and Aristocraft make stuff at 1/29 (I soooo wish they made it at 1/32). MTH makes 1/32 stuff (not as big of a selection).

I’m not very up on the narrow gauge stuff, as I’ll most likely be going standard gauge (probably 1/32).

Because the 1/29 Aristocraft and USA trains stuff runs on the same track as everything else, the equipment in fact looks slightly narrow gauge - because, well, it is. The equipment is about 10% oversize.

It’s a mess. A lot of people don’t care. I think I probably will, so I’ll probably be sticking with 1/32 stuff. What can I say - that’s what happens when you’ve been in & out of HO scale stuff for a long time.

As for power - everyone I’ve met in “G scale” who have outdoor layouts have told me, “If you’re just getting into it - go battery power all the way”… Much like in HO, people would be saying, “If you’re just getting into it - go DCC all the way”.

I’ve heard great stuff about Airwire wireless throttles, to go along with battery power.

There is a cool layout in Great Model Railroads 2012 from Kalmbach, which has a “large scale” (1/29) layout in it if you want some inspiration.

Me - I think I’ll be 1/2 model railroad guy, and 1/2 Garden Railroad guy, both with 1/32 scale trains. (Plus maybe some HO in there for fun too… since my small HO shelf layout is well under

8

The moderators should move this entire thread to the Garden Railways Forum which is dedicated to G scale.

There is no point to carrying on a discussion of the merits of G scale on this forum which is generally devoted to HO scale, N scale, and other such smaller scales.

Rich

9

Richotrain,

I agree! Seems it would be advantageous to all if the large scale postings were moved to either the CTT or GR section. In the pase, I have had two postings moved by the moderators from Discussion to Electronics - and of course they advised me accordingly. And yes, they were correct in doing so, and I got a lot more help than I might have gotten in “general discussion”.

Speaking of General Discussion, why is the thread on the “General” here in the MR section? That surely belongs in the CTT area - IMHO of course.

For what its worth…

10

Believe or not, there are folks out there who build layouts in larger scales than HO or S indoors. Not all O scale matters automatically belong into the CTT section of this forum; not all large scale issues into the Garden Railroad section.

This forum is not only for HO or N scale, even if some folks thinks it should be limited to those scales.

However, as the OP intends to build his layout outdoors, I will move this thread to the GR forum.

11

I agree.

John