I admit that the only guage I ever considered running has been HO. But now I see that there are a great many scales out there. What are the differences and do they all have the same amount of modeling supplies for each?
Learning, buy way out of my league
SPcatfish
Ho is the most popular. HO also has the most amount of parts and stuff
HO has the most “affordable” highly detailed steam of any scale.
Z - smallest scale, highly expensive, and not too much available.
N - second most popular scale, lots of stuff available. A “serious” scale, but it’s still easier to model the post-1960 era than anything else. A good scale if you like modern trains, but not very good if you’re into the massiveness of trains, or if you like steam.
TT - almost a dead scale, it’s between N and HO. The only modern items available are German prototypes. If you’re into being different from the crowd, this is the scale for you!
HO - the most popular scale, it has the largest selection of models. It’s also a good scratchbuilding scale. If you’re really into steam, there’s no other serious choice.
OO - slightly larger than HO, it’s the only scale to model in if you’re into Briti***rains. There’s not that much available though.
S - There are TWO S scales: scale and American Flyer (tinplate). AF is the most popular and the best supported, and Sn3 seems to be the second most popular. S is a niche scale, but there’s more support for it all the time. A good scale if you like narrow-gauge trains or want massive trains that don’t take up as much space as O.
O - As with S, there are two O scales: scale and “lionel” (tinplate). While it may be toylike, three-rail has a LOT of support, so items are easy to find. O is the best comercial scale to model in if you’re really into mass.
G/F/Q…“Garden Scale” - This is gigantic stuff, but most of the models are of tiny prototypes. G is mostly used as a fantasy garden railroad, but I’ve seen some nice “serious” indoors layouts done in G. While there’s a lot of items available, it’ll still require a lot of compromises and scratchbuilding, and really is nore suitable for outdoor layouts.
You mean that there are scales other than “N”?? [:p][;)]
While I agree with this summation, there should be some “asterisks” added.
Pre 1960’s diesel power releases have been on the rise. Altas (SD24, RS1, GP7, GP9, SD7, SD9, H15-44, H16-44, Trainmasters, VO1000) Kato (F3), Lifelike (E8, SW8), Intermountain (FT, F3), an even MT (FT) have been pretty busy lately.
Steam offerings in N-scale have also been on the rise. While they still have a ways to go, the selection is now a far cry from what it used to be.
An overall comment should be made that there is more new release activity in this scale than ever before (and probably in any scale?). There is no doubt that this is in response to the growth this scale is experiencing.
I’m also not sure what you mean by “the massiveness of trains”, because all you have to do is visit any Ntrak show to see very long (prototypical) trains in operation. This is something that you won’t see everyday in the larger scales.
What scale you choose should primarily be influenced with the way you live your life. Come again? If you are into instant gratification and want forty or fifty car trains and have it running quickly you can find the most equipment availaility and prices in HO. If your tastes run more toward perfection and pride of accomplishment I would suggest narrow gauge, S or O where you will have less equipment and more scratchbuilding. I will probably rattle some cages with this statement but I really am not a fan of N or Z. They are both very expensive ways to obtain more railroad in the same place and I could and would not even try to detail anything that small. Plus as I get older even HO is getting to be a bear to detail. Consider this whole diaologue and opinion please.
TT - almost a dead scale, it’s between N and HO. The only modern items available >are German prototypes. If you’re into being different from the crowd, this is the scale >for you!
Hey, I resemble that remark!
But we’re not quite dead yet- There is some American prototype TT being produced, both resin and wood kits. And the older HP (American) stuff is still around at shows and on Ebay. It ain’t easy being TT, but RTR is for sissys!
We like to think of it this way- If you buy a locomotive, take it out of the box and put it on the track, that’s being a model RAILROADER. If you like to build your own stuff, from scratch or from a kit that’s light years beyond the blue box stuff, then you’re a MODEL
railroader.
Bruce,
I model in both HO and N, but I’m mostly a steam nut, which is why my home layout is HO! When I refer to “massiveness”, I’m referring to the sheer size of the models and the visual impact they have. We regularly run 40+ car trains on our Ntrak layout, but when you get to see a 40+ car train in O, you really take notice! Having operated long O scale trains on occasion on a big home layout, you can really start to sweat when you run up and down hills with a semi-uncontrolled train! If I had the money and especially the space, I’d switch to O scale in a New York minute…
N scale is in a sort of renaissance period right now, with lots of modern equipment being released all the time, along with some steam. But I’ll stand by my original comments: N scale is most approproate for modelers who like the modern era and running prototypically long trains on a long mainline. If you’re into switching or modeling steam, HO or larger is probably a better choice.
Believe it or not, when I was planning my new layout, I considered TT scale for several reasons. Liking to run outside the pack, it appealed to me since it was a really obscure scale. I did find the new made resin freight cars available in TT, along with basically every TT website online. There’s even TT stuff available on Ebay ($50 for SIX German 0-8-0s?!? You can’t beat that deal with a stick!) I ultimately didn’t make the switch because my heart was set on modeling the NKP in the steam era. Not wanting to scratchbuild a fleet of Berkshires and Mikadoes ultimately led me back to HO.
Now if I was freelancing, and still wanted to model in an unknown scale, TT would be the way to go! I’m thinking about making a German TT scale portable layout to bring to shows, just to surprise people!
Okay, you got me there. [:)] Steam offerings have always been the weak spot of N-scale. But there have been some good signs over the past couple of years that point to an interest in producing more steam engines.
Case in point would be Atlas. Who would have thought they would get back into N-scale steam with a Shay???
I’d also agree that a 40 car train in “O” scale would get my attention! [^]