Well, things have not gone well for a few years and more than likely I will have to move.As of now I have 174 square foot layout with double mains and some where around 300 + feet of track. Layout takes up most of my 2 car garage. I am HO scale with around 35 engines and 250+ rolling stock.
I have been wondering for a while would I want to stay in the hobby with a apartment sizes layout. My current main line is 90 foot and use to running 30 cars per train.
I have all so thought about N Scale. But then what do I do with all my HO scale stuff. Yea I know, E Bay but I will hate selling good running equment for pennies for the dollar.
Anyone here go to a smaller layout and still enjoy the hobby or Am I just spoiled?
We are debating to move in a senior living place in five years or keep our house & get a lawn service.
Anyways ! I am working on a table layout (5x12 ) in a month . I am like you , thinking going smaller layout before I move (if I move ?) .
I won’t sell all my ho , N , & o gauge trains . Like you said "pennies on the dollar " after the Fees !
I dont know your situation is, But I would maybe join a club if there is one near by. Then create a switching layout (shelf style or freestanding modules ) .
Switching to N scale is no cheaper than keeping your current fleet !
If there is only a Ncale club in your area , Maybe sell off a few items of Ho to buy some N scale stuff .
Most of us have to settle for reasonable, or slightly larger size if we have a shed or garage to put it in.
Some like me have no choice its very small or it’s nothing.
I will take very small over nothing any day even though I have the stock to fill a shed empire.
Small has it’s challenges particularly when all the builder has had before is reasonable to large sized railway. Just to give you an idea of how small my railway is if the train is longer than what comes in a small train set I cannot run it. For that I have to go to a Model Railway Club which I can only do a few times a year.
Gosh, that is not good news at all, Ken. I am sorry that you have been struggling. For you to post your question means you have pretty much had the beast step in your path, and you don’t feeling like turning back. You are dealing with a looming problem, and it can’t be very pleasant thinking of all the change coming your way.
I would salvage everything and store it for the time being if you are about to demolish your layout. All the lumber, tracks, turnouts, rolling stock, structures, locomotives…keep it for a year at least to see what turns up for you. Once you know how the dice have fallen, then you can cull and get rid of as much of each item as you know you won’t be using again, including all of it in HO scale if you have to leave it.
If you are loath to abandon the scale and your prized items, and who wouldn’t be, maybe keep three or four must-haves so that you can start quickly when the time comes that your circumstances are improving nicely once again. You can always spend a wee bit on N and see how it goes. Maybe delve into switching layouts now and learn switching’s ins and outs. Become really good at building switching layouts that hold your interest, and eventually you could build a nice module that you could import into a new plan in a few years when you are ready to up-size once again.
All that said, sometimes the draconian, hard-nosed, and pragmatic approach is the easiest in the long run. Hack hard, get rid of everything, and use the proceeds, such as they may be, for other more important things. Your missus will really admire and appreciate a determined and realistic process from you, because you can count on it; she’s really worried if you are.
Ken, I wouldn’t be worried about going to a smaller layout in the future, I would be more concerned about living and not ending up in a trailer or worse.
Ken, nothing more to be said as I think the best advice you have been given is to pack everything up and keep it until you have a firm idea of what the end point circumstances are.
When and if the time comes, let me know how the boys and I can help? Many hands can make lite work of packing the layout up if it ever comes to that?
That is four short paragraphs, but a heckuva lotta issues.
First of all, of course you want to stay in the hobby with an apartment sized layout if it comes to that. Had you expressed boredom with the hobby and a nagging desire to get out of it, then there might be a different response to your question. But given the way you expressed yourself, it is obvious that you want to remain in the hobby. So, take what you can get.
Second of all, N scale could be a highly workable alternative to HO scale to regain a lot of lost space. And, don’t give up on eBay too fast. If the items to be sold are in good working order, there is a market out there. Last winter, I sold off some unwanted and unneeded stuff for 70 cents on the dollar. I was happy and the buyers were happy. A win-win situation.
Third of all, of course you are spoiled by the size of your current layout, and good for you. But, if you are forced to go to a smaller layout or a smaller scale, in the long run, you will love that too - - - maybe even more than your current, larger layout.
Don’t despair, things always work out for the best.
Anyone here go to a smaller layout and still enjoy the hobby or Am I just spoiled?
Cuda Ken
You’re spoiled rotten.[:O][swg][(-D]
Ken,First of all the hobby isn’t all about Godzilla size layouts if it were I would have left the hobby years ago.
Think on the bright side and don’t linger on the gloomy side.Now you can spend more time detailing the layout,operating your layout and weathering cars since the layout will be easier to build and maintain.
As far as N Scale some friendly advice…A lot of converts from HO to N usually returns to HO because N Scale lacks a lot of the common goodies they enjoyed in HO.
It’s obvious you are dealing with some major issues, but, perhaps in a round about way to help, yes, you can have a satisfying railroad even with a smaller layout. Even the much maligned 4x8 can provide operations. My current layout is along two walls 1x12 on one wall and 2x8 on the other in HO. The largest layout I’ve ever had was 8x10.
Some things to think about with a smaller layout. Trains get shorter, but they are still trains. All the same movements are there. In some ways we as a hobby and magazine coverage in particular have become so focused on large layouts with multiple train operations, we forget that there are many other aspects to the hobby. Creating detailed scratchbuilt structure and scene can increase hobby satisfication per hour. I recall a fellow named Ben King spent several decades building a 3x10 layout with exquisite structures (actually just had to quick look it up in the MR DVD).
The bookshelf layout concept in the Jan/Feb 77 MR is perfect for apartments and I used such a system through several moves while in the AF. Just take your time in building the modules and you can get an around the room layout that looks like furniture and still leaves the room open for other uses.
MRP has had several issues over the years devoted to apartment room size and bookshelfs RRs.
Mainly just want to reassure you that in the midst of your troubles, you can still have model railroading.
I have lived in a double wide trailer for 10 years…
Here is where a small portable HO ISL or portable N Scale door layout works wonders as does a student desk workbench.Of course having a understanding wife helps.
Living in a trailer one needs to think outside the box and that should include membership in a club for operation and only modeling(like weathering,detailing, etc) at home…
The sky doesn’t fall when one needs to downsize to smaller living quarters.
One needs to adapt,improvise and overcome by thinking outside the box.
I hope you did not invest a pile of money in trains as an investment, many did, many failed, it’s a hobby and thats all, a few of my friends thought that way and found out their investment was not worth much, I found that out with my stamp collection and I am now using up old stamps on my letters and parcels.
Can anyone reply on the signicant difference between HO & N? ? I would think there would be some great points equally with a few bad points - - true ? ?
You could write a book on that subject, but the main advantage of N scale, in my view, is that you can put so much more in the same space than you can with HO scale.
On the downside, N scale, being smaller, is harder to work with and harder to see the detail. And, as already pointed out, N scale has much less selection than HO scale in terms of locos, track, and structures.
Ken, I can certainly understand your feelings. It’s a terrible thing to have to face, not only having to move, but having to give up a big layout. I don’t want to take away from your problems, but I’m sort of in the same position myself. Our hope is to stay in our house until we die, but that may not be possible. My wife is handicapped and can do only a minimum amount of housework. I’ve had to pick up a lot of what she used to do. I don’t have much strength any more and yard work is hard on me. We have hired a lawn service which has taken a hard job from me. So far I can still run the snow blower. We have discussed that we may have to move into assisted living quarters, something like an apartment where one can cook their own meals or eat in the dining room, someone comes in to clean once a week and there is a nurse on staff. I really doubt that a model railroad layout would be permitted there. I’d have to give up my model railroad and my workshop, and other things, and become a couch potato watching TV all day. That’s the part that hurts me.
I hope you can work this out, Ken, and find a place where you can have at least a small layout. A small layout is better than no layout. You’re good at fixing and detailing locomotives and cars and that can be done in a small place. At least keep your hand in that.
Bob, don’t give up so quick on the notion of a layout in the assisted living facility. I’ll bet if there is room, the staff would welcome the opportunity. Can you imagine how much enjoyment that might bring to the other people living there, whether they simply observe the layout or participate in its operation. You may have to start a model railroad club there.
Ken, if done properly I think you can be happy with a smaller layout.
In the late 90’s my son and I built a 14 X 16 foot room inside my garage. I then built an around the wall layout, it was the best one I had built to date. In 2005 I got the bright idea to buy another house, so we tore down the layout and the room, packed up all my stuff and salvaged as much track and benchwork as possible.
Nothing railroading was done for 7 years, except planning new layouts. My wife gave me permission to use one of the large front rooms downstairs. As I started to build some benchwork for another around the walls layout, things changed again. My mother-in-law came to live with us and the space was no longer available. This year I started to build my new layout. The only available space was in my “office”, a small bedroom with my desk, and computer stuff. Right now it is an L shaped 30" by 8 ft by 6 ft shelf layout. It will eventually be incorporated into a larger one back downstairs sometime, I hope. But for now it is pretty much just the beginings of a yard and engine service facility. It’s small size gives me the opportunity to try new things.
My first layouts were 4x8, 6x6, 6x10, 4x8 then I moved up to 10x18 and am now building 12x31 with another bigger half of the basement if I want it. Building the big one is going kind of slow so I set up a 5x12 test layout with a loop of O27, HO, and S - that’s the one running trains until I get the BIG one further along.
So yes you can still enjoy the hobby with a smaller layout.
As you probably know, I have a small HO layout that is only 4x9 and although I would love a large one there isn’t any practical space to put it. It is really a loop with a switching layout in the middle. I can run a short train round and round if I like but often find I enjoy switching most and HO is great for that.
I also am building an N scale door layout as I wanted to investigate N scale as we are planning on moving in a few years to Vancouver Island which will mean a condo with 2 bedrooms. That will mean a door size layout at most. I am finding that while N is small it is great for just watching trains, even on such a small layout. Not so sure about the switching though.
When the move happens I am thinking of doing the door layout in N or possiby a HO shelf layout for switching. I have a plan for a 1x6 switching layout that looks quite good so I actually hope to do both with the N for continuous ops and the HO for switching.
While my present layout (last in this lifetime) is about the same size as your present 2 car garagefiller I have had smaller (3 x 6 and 1.25 x 8) layouts in the past. All through that, I kept a vision of what I wanted and made controlled buys of rolling stock (including 1/700 of the 1964 JNR freight car roster!) so that I would be ready for the space when it became available.
I had a few larger layouts, which reached various stages of semi-completion between military moves. I also joined clubs when I couldn’t build at home. If you take a little time, assess your givens and druthers and plan a layout to fit YOUR wants and available space, even a miniscule empire can be very satisfying.
Non-powered rolling stock has great staying power. Within the last few years I have taken cars out of a box packed in 1975, inspected them and put them into service. They weren’t new when they went into that box. Actually, most of my freight stock dates from the mid/late '60s, and the passenger equipment isn’t much newer.
For locomotives, I’d try to work up some plan to run each one at least once every six months or so, just to keep the lubricant stirred and flexible things supple. Depending on how long it is before you can get the ones that don’t work on the smaller layout back into service, they may require some TLC in the future. In the meantime, you can always put your favorites on display on one shelf of a bookcase.
I have had to scrap damaged rolling stock too far gone for help, but the only things I’ve ever sold or traded away were items that spoke the wrong language or ran on wide(r) gauge track. (I still own the first HO engine I ever had…)
While I am pretty sure I will have to move, you never know.
Joining A Club. While it not really a club, my LHS K-10 Model Trains has a huge layout that is 61 X 80 feet.Funny, but I don’t like to run there. To many duck under section to stay with the train.
Switching Layout. Really never got into switching. I am more of a sitting back and sipping [B] kind of railroader.
If I have to move into apartment with out a garage I will try a round the room layout. That way I can have the big turns my engines like.
Only thing I will miss about the current layout is the sizes. Most of it looks like a 12 year old built it.
Still thinking about N scale, anymore thoughts on it?
Speaking from my own experiances (switching from a 4X8 HO layout to a 3X6 N layout) It really isn’t as bad as many would think, as far as price goes (THe locomotives are about the same price as HO scale, and the rolling stock, at least from what I have seen, cost roughly half of the price of their counterparts), although, it is always useful to keep an eye open for good deals in the usual places.
One of the big bonuses for N scale is the fact that you can put more railroad into less space. When I made the switch to N scale, I was able to get most of the “feel” of my old Ho scale layout into my current N scale one, along with more of a mainline run (in scale miles) and more chances for scenery.
One drawback however, is that the N scale models are not as detailed as most of the modern HO scale models today. For example, Where seperate wire grab-irons are standard on HO scale equipment, the modeler must either purchace them or make them seperately for N scale. That being said, though, there are plenty of N scale detail parts out there, and the N scale detail out of the box is getting better and better.
As always, the choice is up to you, but N scale is definately worth considering.
I hope everything works out for the best for you, Ken.