Quote: “The concern I have right now is when I look on the internet, there seems to be few products available. Is this a growing field or will I be limited when I choose to buy another engine? If so I may be leaning towards the O27 gauge.”
Pick up a copy of CTT or OGR from the bookstore (usually in the crafts section or men’s interests section of your nearest large bookstore). There are countless ads for O scale trains. Model Railroader has ads for On3 and On2 1/2 , which are the narrow gauge. To answer, YES, this is a growing field, esp. in the wide selection available. You’ll also find that prices are even better than at your hobby shop, which you say has G and HO only.
Ok, so I won’t make any rash decisions. I’ll do some more research first because I did like the size of the On30. Allan, you mentioned ads from St. Aubin Station which is funny because the train shop I went to is called that. I wonder if that is just a coincidence or if the guy sells mail-order too.
Well, there’s only on St. Aubin Station that I know of–two actually, but under the same operation: one in Illinois (which is where I order from), and one in Las Vegas. I assume you visited the Las Vegas store. I’m not sure what they have in stock in the Las Vegas location, but St. Aubin runs ads for On30 in “Model Railroader” and “Garden Railways,” and they often enough have separate ads in those publications for their On30 stock. I buy from them, Trainworld, and Star Hobby (in Maryland). Between those three dealers, I can pretty much get whatever I want, and at very reasonable prices. Good service from all three, as well, at least in my experience.
Visit St. Aubin’s web site and see if that’s the place you visited (I’m almost sure it is). Perhaps their in-store prices are higher than their mail order prices–I don’t really know. But I’ve found their mail order pricing to be very attractive.
Yes, it’s the same place. In the store it’s 90% Garden scale. I can’t find their online pricing for the On30 products, even though I can for other Bachmanns. But Trainworld’s online prices are only slightly less then St. Aubin’s retail store was. So if that’s the way I decide to go, I’ll probably drive to the store since I’m not saving anything. I’ll pick up a magazine though because I want to see the ad they run.
If space is limited in the house, consider a garden layout. That way, you still have the garage for vehicles, and benefit from the fact that you get outside when the weather is nice. I’ve seen great O guage garden layouts as well as G, so either size would work. Something to think about. At some point, I’d like to have an outdoor loop.
I’m new to the hobby as well. I’m building an L-shaped layout in our basement from one 4x8 and one 4x6 sheet of plywood.
An outdoor track is not an option in my current house. It’s something I want eventually but until I can get a bigger yard and section it off, our dogs won’t react kindly to some foreign looking object tooting in their back yard. Not to mention the threat of derailments due to “little surprises” left on tracks.
oh, couple more pros for G worth considering: you can go battery remote or even live steam and you can build some humongous structures.
I’m a bit inclined as I think this over to convert over to G and just buy a few pieces and maybe 2 locomotives. I don’t need tons of trains to be satisfied.
Naturally, I’m not abandoning Toy Trains; as I run them every day in my office and may do another indoor layout. Anyway, that’s where my thoughts are at this moment.
Even if I were to go with G in my yard, I’d still bring the trains in when not in use. It has little to do with the weather. And K-Line offers a battery remote set in O (with plastic track) - Pennsylvania or Southern Pacific diesel freight sets and a Coca Cola steamer set w/ sound for only $39.95 (the Coke set comes with figures and a station). An affordable way to find out if outdoor railroading is for you.
We have a fairly large, level area of our yard that is mainly grass and patio at this time. Plans are to landscape the perimeter with mulch, shrubs and flowers. I’m thinking a nice little outdoor railroad would be the perfect addition to the new flora.
St Aubin’s station is just down the road from me (the Illinois store - it’s actually a big nursery with acres of land - it has primarily G scale everything and a few On30 sets. I’m impressed with some of their prices too. I echo Jim’s suggestion, I got the K-Line battery powered set - and have run it outside -the track is a large oval - plastic (won’t rust).
Unfortunately, being plastic doesn’t mean it won’t deteriorate. The ultraviolet in sunlight will do a number on many plastics. For example, it is not allowed to use ordinary PVC plumbing exposed to the sun without painting it.