So my wife has finally allowed me to start building a layout in a space in my basement that I’m working on cleaning out. So this is very exciting for me as I have been planning for this day to come for ever. now that i have a rough idea of the area i have to work with I’m working on a couple of different track plan’s in both N and HO scale and see which one i like the best.
Will keep everyone informed on this Forum post.
Thanks!!!
Goodness
Well, of course it should be N-scale![:D] Oh, good luck and have fun.
My opinion on the HO vs N scale debate:
N scale is generally better suited for those who want longer trains and have a tendency to want to “watch 'em roll”.
HO scale is better suited for those who may do more switching, city and industrial type scenes, or run shorter trains.
Both scales will have modelers on both ends of the spectrum, but given a fixed space, those would be my personal recommendations.
Brad
I decided on HO partly because I’m now Medicare age and like to build car kits and buildings. I thought it would be a stretch for me to address all this in roughly 1/2 that size, though I could have done lots more in the allocated space in N for sure. Another tradeoff situation but a good problem to have…you will have lots of fun either way. Good luck.
Hmmmm i did not think about this at all as of yet. but now hearing it from you and other people i think i plan on doing more switching then anything so i do believe i’m going to just focus on HO scale now. I new i really liked HO scalled and new i would probably end up doing that but this reasoning just pushed me to it. So thank you very much!!!
HO Scale it is!!!
That’s odd. Quite a number of us have switching layouts in N scale and they work just fine.
… I wonder how in the world we are managing it?
As I may have mentioned to the original poster in an earlier thread, you won’t see much positive about N scale in this forum. Look for the Railwire and Trainboard forums if you want to give N scale a fair hearing*. Folks on those forums are building fine layouts of all sorts in N scale, perhaps because they didn’t let the “forum experts” dissuade them.
I’ve only seen one or two HO scale layouts that approached the quality of Bill Denton’s N scale urban switching layout.
HO is fine, N is fine. Great modeling of many types can can be done in either, despite what you may read on this forum. Best of luck.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are many great N scale switching layouts, and many more that have ample opportunities for switching. My post was more of a generalization than anything, my logic being that N scale equipment being smaller requires a much greater degree of “finesse”, fine motor skills to uncouple cars manually, rerail cars and locos (again, by hand), and the like. Some of us have unsteady hands (no, not myself … not yet, anyway), making HO a “friendlier”, and perhaps more forgiving choice.
Please don’t take my comments as being negative or against N scale, if it came across that way it certainly wasn’t intentional. I’ll admit my bias toward HO scale for myself, but I hold no prejudices for any modeler’s choice of scale, just like I hold no prejudice whether you drive a Ford, Chevy, Dodge, or even a Yugo.
Brad
CUYAMA
You make a good point. There definately seems to be a bias towards HO scale in these forums.
Personally I chose HO because I want to be able to work with my trains comfortably when I am older, i.e. bigger is supposedly easier to get on the rails, build the structures etc etc. I don’t know where I got those ideas from but they made sense to me at the time.
The irony is that I have discovered that I didn’t have to get very much older before I found myself having a bit of trouble with HO! I am still in my 50’s! You may have noticed me raving about my recent investment in an OptoVisor on another thread.
So, I would ask you to share with us your methods for managing stuff that is half the size of what I am modeling with now. This is not a challenge in any way. I am simply curious to know how you work with stuff that seems incredibly tiny to me. I am sure there are things that we HO modelers can learn from you.
Dave
Optivisor. Additionally, good lighting is the most important (and most-often-overlooked) issue for me. Reading glasses may be a help for some people for some tasks.
A major factor is what one is used to. I find that after spending a few days working with N scale, folks have fewer issues than they think.
I find it interesting to note that people in old MRs said the same thing about HO scale when O was the dominant scale.
Personally, I find it easier to manually uncouple cars (with a Rix Pick) and rerail cars in N scale than in HO. But that’s what I’m used to.
I’m very guilty of these two things, oh so very guilty. [(-D]
although one day I will own HO and O on top of N scale. maybe even some G scale.
1:You can get more detail in HO even though I have seen some z scale layouts that make my mouth water. 2: the larger the scale the less skill it takes to get it to run perfect (not saying that it can’t be done and isn’t done by lots of people, it is just easier.
Thanks everyone for the good information and insight into this subject. My choice to go HO scale was purelly because i think i will be able to more detail out of it. How ever i have been thinking alot more again on N scale after listening to some Podcasts on model Rail radio so, i think i might still do two Layout plans and post both on here and see what everyone thinks and then go from their. N scale would be good because i can do alot more in the space i have and i want to do alot so we will see.
So all in all i guess its still up in the air and still cant make up my mind lol!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3wp2DJ4MRc here’s an HO scale layout that’s really well done
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlRW_loSCWs here’s an N scale layout that’s really well done.
these videos are in my personal opinion.
If you don’t want small scales, DON’T try Z scale. I like to call it RFT (really freakin’ tiny!). Nothing against the Z scaler, it’s just so small.
It is interesting to note that N scale is almost at the standards that HO is currently at (though there is still that gap), making it a logical choice when it comes to heavy switching and long mainline trains. It all boils down to whether you want a lot of railroad or not so much.
So i have decided to go with HO Scale!!! I’m going to be doing a point to point switching layout with hopefully 4 industries and also including a Diesel Engine Servicing Yard. Hope to put the final touches on my track plan tomorrow then i’ll post it here for all to take a look at.