I have a good layout plan in mind but I am debating whether to stay in N scale or move up to HO. My main concerns lie with couplers. My plan is a switching layout and I am concerned N scale couplers will be harder to uncouple than HO ones. I could install magnetic couplers but that is going a little overboard. Are N scale couplers hard to uncouple with a pick? Any feedback would be great. Thanks!
Not hard to uncouple with a pick at all.
While its easy to uncouple with a pick its much easier to use a magnet since you can use the delayed action of the MT and Accumate coupler.
If you’re still able to see N-scale couplers, why not stay with N?
Mark (HO-scale modeler. HO, a great compromise scale between N/Z and S/O.)
Speaking of seeing…
I have a rough time replacing a KD coupler spring but,in N Scale I have no problems with tiny screws-go figure.
I think if you are considering a scale change there is a reason. That being said there are longer term ramifications. Ten or twenty years from now you may be so invested in N you could never replicate what you have in a larger scale. Ten or twenty years from now as your eyesight ages N can cause significant problems with vision related issues like rerailing or track laying. I am now 65 and there are issues with HO I don’t care for but there is no way I am selling forty years of train collecting and building and starting over in a larger scale
For me and my decision to continue with HO it is about modeling and the level of detail that can be achieved in that scale vs. N. O scale is just too big and expensive for me to go there. N is too small for someone of my age 60 to be able to add any realism… On the other hand if well built a N scale layout gives one more operations room for any given room size.
But in the end it’s up to you.
Bob,There’s a lot of us 60 plus year old “senior citizens” in N Scale…[swg]
Apparently you’re not aware of the modeling that takes place in N Scale as well as super detailing with details from BLMA…
I started with N scale and moved to HO after a couple of months. The deciding factor was when I took forever changing a few couplers. The eyes just aren’t what they used to be. The detail of N shouldn’t be an issue. Today’s stuff is right up there with the others IMO
Hand-uncoupling MT and compatibles with a pick is easy in N scale, maybe even easier than in HO. Since you have some N scale equipment already, why not set it up and try it for yourself?
The vision issue is a canard. Many older folks model just fine in N scale. Optivisors are cheap. More light helps a lot. It’s really a matter of personal preference, not a particular age cut-off.
Larry I build a lot of plastic model airplanes and I prefer 1/48th scale over 1/72nd due to the fact that there is more detail and it is easier for me to see what I’m doing.
I build model cars and I prefer 1/24th scale over 1/32 or 1/43 for the same reason.
If I had the room and the money I wouldhave probably chosen O or S over HO but I have accumulated over 50 HO locomotives, 300 various freight cars and numeous structures all in HO so that is where I will stay with my trains.
I don’t knock N scale, it’s just not right for me.
Just my [2c] to the issue:
N scale is an ideal scale, if you aim at building a layout to run long trains or if your space is at a premium. HO scale is an ideal scale for switching layouts, where you just operate a single train, with all the works. Build your layout at near eye level, add sound to your loco and you get the feeling of being the engineer in a real world.
Check here, what Lance Mindheim (for me the shelf switcher guru) has to say about it.
Much more available in HO scale.
You will have to reach everything , everywhere.
How good are your eyes.?
If you are talking steam Ho is the only answer.
Bob
Bob,Let me put another way so we be tuned in… N Scalers is begining to demand higher details then ever before…When I made N Scale my primary scale I was shocked how N Scale modeling had changed over the past 10 years…One doesn’t see the big picture when he dabbles in N like I did for several years because I didn’t really follow the hobby trend.
Actually N Scale could be the ideal scale for a ISL for those with limited spaces-you can have a larger ISL in the same small space-small meaning less then 10’…Less then 10’ in HO amounts to a gloried “time saver”…
For my [2c] on a switching layout, I would rather have HO to play with for coupling/UNcpouling ease over N scale. I have N scale knuckle couplers and find them harder {more frustrating really} to deal with than my HO knuckle couplers, though for Nscale I prefer them to the rapido HUMONGOUS couplers…
For small space continuous run or other layout, perhaps N would be better, though in my small space I still went with HO and forced the issue.
It’s a matter of personal choice. likes and abilities.
Again that’s why I suggest using uncoupling magnets for N Scale…
I have built HO ISLs as small as 1’ x 7’ and IMHO its was frustrating at best since there was never enough headroom to complete your switching moves like the prototype.Today any ISL less then 10’ goes N Scale.
Its your choice and enjoy!
I have been in HO since roughly the mid 1960’s, converted from good old Lionel, and have enjoyed it very much. In the mid 1960’s HO was about where N Scale was in the late 80’s early 90’s but since then N has really taken off and is showing improvement everyday.
My layout space is about 70X17 and it is “all” HO, that being said I would also comment that because of some of the N Scale I am seeing now days I would convert in a second if I didn’t have so much HO equipment.
Granted, my eyesight isn’t what it used to be but I need glasses to read my new MR every month anyhow and past 3 feet it’s still 20/20 and I can just imagine what I could build in that space with N Scale.
So my advice to you is buy the magnetic uncouplers, get yourself an uncoupling stick and stay with N Scale, it’s getting better everyday! Beleive me when I say that the only reason the grass looks greener next door is because you’re seeing it from a different angle…
Mark
P.S. Did I mention it’s also “cheaper” than HO.
Was that post large and bold so the other Old fogies could read it too?[:-^]
Ya caught me!!!
squint squint!!!