I was looking to get into the hobby, I was told to eather go with the ho or the n trains to start off with. i was wondering what would be better for me to start with? just looking for some help to get started.
A lot depends on you - your likes and dislikes. If possible, I would suggest joining a model railroad club. You’ll find a lot of help there, and they are alot of fun!
-George
You may be new to the hobby but you’ve already learned how to start an argument. This debate has been going on since I joined this forum about 4 years ago and probably long before that. You might as well ask which religion is better. The right answer is there is no right answer. Each person’s situation is different. Each scale has its advantages and disadvantages. You have to ask yourself a number of key questions. What do you want in your layout. How much space do you have. How much budget.
Some of the advantages of HO are that the larger components are easier to work with. You can create better detail. The trains are more prominent in relation to the rest of the layout. There is a wider variety of items available.
The N scalers can probably list their advantages better than I can but here are some of them. You can get almost twice as much layout in the same space. You can have grander scenery in relation to the trains, i.e. higher mountains, wider rivers, bigger towns. You can run longer trains, closer to prototypical length.
Each scale has its trade offs. You will get numerous replies and I would read all of them to allow you to make an informed decision before you commit to one scale over another. Don’t rush this decision as it might be the most important one you make.
thanks I wa stold that being new ho would be better but the n gives you more room to set up. With the kids I was thinking more towards the ho but the n trains would be to much $ to start up, and a lot harder to work with being new.
The N scalers might disagree but bigger trains are easier for small hands to handle so if the kids are going to be involved, that is an argument for HO. It might amuse you to know that this same debate began about 50 years ago as HO began to replace O scale as the dominant scale in the hobby. The HO modelers were on the other side of the argument back then. HO was just too small and didn’t allow for the detailed work that could be done in O. What goes around, comes around.
I’m not going to go into the HO/N debate. Your kids will handle either one.
But having designed a layout for my kids, I can tell you to design the layout for you, because from what I’ve seen, kids can lose interest very quickly. If the layout is designed with you in mind, the transition to adult layout is less painfull.
I would suggest reading my Beginner’s Guide before you buy anything. It will take about 5 minutes and is clickable from my signature.
Very true. I got two kids as well and their interest comes and goes. Only problem is that they are away for a month and back in an hour if you understand what I mean. I wanted my kids to play with me but they get bored. They want to run the trains at max speed around and around and then they want to do something else.
How old are they by the way? Because if they are a bit older then mine(4,6) it might be different.
Welcome to the forum and the hobby.
Magnus
I think that this could start a bigger arguement that HO Vs. N.
N is no more costly to start up that HO is. In fact, I think that N might be cheaper in the long run (strictly theory here, but my reasoning is; not as much available in N-Scale, hence, you’re building more and spending less).
And as others havbe mentioned previously, N gives you twice as much real estate to work with compared to HO.
I’ve been looking at some N scale stuff and have to agree. I think it is cheaper in the long run.
I think HO is a bit more forgiving for kids though.[2c]
Since I’m not new to the hobby (i got my first train set in 1996), But since im building my layout now with my father, I find that HO scale is great and if you want to Switch to N scale in the future that may be better. Also Great sources for advice are local train clubs. If you go with HO scale the best brands for your money is Athearn, and atlas.
How much space do you have available?
I am “new” to the hobby after a 10 year break. The best thing I did was join theNMRA. It put me in touch with others in the hobby and full of info. Find a club or a modeler in your area and talk to them. All these guys are very friendy and helpful and would love to have another modeler in the camp. As for my kids(4 boys 1 girl), HO is the only way to go. My layout is 52" high. When they can reach that high they know its a model NOT a toy(w/proper teaching). Also with eveything else kids can do these days they still enjoy the trains. My oldest built some structures and you just spend some quiet, quality time and you talk about stuff that they just normally don’t talk about in your busy lives. Take some trips to train places like Galesburg RR days coming up in June. There is something for everyone there(steakhouse). Also the kids learn geography because of all the locations trains go to,through(Donner Pass, Horseshoe Curve,etc.). Don’t get discouraged and always come to the forum if you need something.
I think its NMRA.org .com~~~
Happy Modeling
First let me say that I’m in HO but I’ve always been fascinated by N scale and I’ve seen some extremely impressive N scale layouts. These days the N scale stuff runs every bit as nice as the HO, including slow speed performance. If you want to get more into a given space, N scale will certainly let you do that.
However …
If you compare the cost of N scale decoders to HO scale decoders, you will find for the most part, N scale decoders cost $10-$20 more per loco than HO scale fleet decoders. Also you will find it tough to even fit a decoder into smaller N scale locos (ever try to fit a decoder into an N scale switcher?) … some locos will require you to mill the chassis to make room. Fortunately there’s a firm that provides pre-milled loco chassis parts (Aztec), but again, that raises the cost of installing a decoder above that of an equivalent HO loco.
And if loco sound seems like an area you would enjoy, it’s tougher with N scale. As if fitting a decoder into an N scale loco isn’t sometimes a challenge, now try fitting in (an often) slightly larger sound decoder and speaker. The laws of physics are against you in N scale sound because the smaller the speaker, the more poor the sound. In HO you can often fit in a speaker twice as large as what you can fit into an N scale loco.
With N scale, you can fit more track into a given space, which implies the potential to run more trains. If you want the best multi-train control in the hob
It does not have to be one scale or another. There is a little bit of N scale that I like, HO too along with S and O if such a thing is possible. I do stay in HO like 99.95% of the time.
A loop of track, some switches and a train of some length. Call it 8 cars, engine and caboose and a power pack. Since you probably will buy each item by itself, you will enjoy better than trainset quality.
You might want to buy some equiptment to be a little more robust and simple to start. IHC in HO comes to mind. that way it wont give you an MI if a 5 year old should drop something advanced.
Welcome to hobby, cheers!
part of a living room in the basement