I was thinking if I should quit collecting trains all together or start N-scale trains instead?
Or should I just stop modeling trains & not to start a new hobby? All these years, O gauge has proven to be very expensive & space consuming. I have already started a train layout yesterday & I wonder if I should start a N-scale train layout instead.
Perhaps stamp collecting?
Sounds like you already made your decision, but it’s a personal choice which gauge people want to model in. I don’t think you’ll find N to be less expensive than O either. Space considerations are an issue, but you still need space to model effectively in N. I know a few who have N set ups; they’ll tell you you need space and money.
You should probably ask yourself what you want to get out of your hobby. Are you in it for collecting, running? Do you like to build scenery? Are you going for realism?
I don’t know about you, but it sure seems to me most adult hobbies seem to cost money and take up time and other resources. But we do them for the enjoyment right?
If you’re not enjoying trains, then it’s probably a good idea to get out.
Cheers,
Dwayne.
Well said, Dwayne.
Although I’m sure many on this forum appreciate the fact that you come to our online community for advice on the matter, it all comes down to what you want to get out of it. As I often tell people, what you put into something is often proportional to what you get out of it, meaning if you keep thinking it isn’t worth it, it won’t be.
Although it does get to be an expensive hobby, I have still found it enjoyable, despite the fact that I am not able to spend more than maybe $250 a year on various used items (if that, even, its usually much less). The key to making it enjoyable is finding ways to be resourceful, clever, and creative in your set up. I only have a 4x8 layout in a dark corner in my basement that has a figure 8, and a loop with a passing siding… it can only run 1 train at a time, maybe 2 if I don’t mind watching them go in circles for a while. The fun I have is in making small scenes for the layout out of household items and trying to make it realistic looking while being realistic about my budget.
Of course, part of the fun is in looking at the various modeling magazines and dreaming that one day I will have a layout like those, but that is another thing entirely.
In any case, I hope you find something you can enjoy. I think that it is important for people to have a hobby of any kind in their lives.
this hobby, like any, is as expensive as you want it to be. like many others, I drool over the $1000+ Steamers. but, as a husband and father of two, that aint gonna happen. I have mostly Lionel and Marx pre and postwar, with some MPC and LTI. I have enough runnable trains. I scrounge the junk boxes at shows for parts and projects.
I have an 8x18 layout. addthe furnance and water heater, and my basement is full. you don’t need a 50x50 layout to have fun with O gauge.
It wouldn’t hurt to buy a good N scale train set such as a Kato Superchief with Unitrack and see what you think. I do both N scale and three rail and find N scale to be much futzier than O gauge. You do a lot of tweaking with N scale such as regauging wheels, adjusting or replacing couplers, disassembling and cleaning locomotive mechanisms, etc. This kind of work takes a lot of patience because everything is so small. Good diesels are typically $60 to $75 and steamers $75 to $125. This is without DCC and sounds. Good freight cars are $10 and up. I would not consider the inexpensive Bachman variety of $20 engines and $5 freight cars. It is just too cheesy and doesn’t last very long. Bachman Spectrum steam is good stuff however but it is in the $100 range.
The things I enjoy most about N scale is the ability to run long trains with multi diesel lash-ups on realistic curves in a small space. A lot of shops carry N scale so it is easy to hunt down and doesn’t blow a hole in your wallet when you buy compulsively.
I wonder why you are tired of trains. Too much time? Too much money? Too little space? Prefer building or collecting to operating? No local clubs? No local hobby shop with O? Think through the above questions before making a switch.
Depending on the answers, I would give N gauge a go. One thing though, I would think twice (and 3x and 4x) before selling off my O gauge trains. I (and many others) dabbled a little in N then came back to O.
An alternative is to box everything up for the year and just do a Christmas layout. Sometimes giving the hobby a “rest” is just the ticket. I only do a Christmas layout now since I moved to England and have very little available room.
Jim H
Here is a thought…join a modular club that way you do not have to build an entire layout and you get to be around others who also enjoy trains.
Good advice! I did’nt want a layout larger than the 5x8 I already have, yet I love to do scenics, and I like to see both scale and long trains run. I joined a modular group a year and a half ago, and I love it. Joe
N scale, don’t forget to buy tweezers & a magnifier. Been there, done that.
Before you divest yourself of your O gauge equipment, why not purchase a good quality N scale starter set? Kato makes some great starter sets with a loop of their Unitrack and engines that run like swiss watches. I have some N scale that I set up occasionally. The biggest drawback to N, as has been mentioned, is the small size- dirty track is more of a problem as is track gauge. The light weight of the cars make them more prone to derailment. And yes, it is a challenge just seeing well enough to work in N scale. A magnifier of some kind would be a good investment.
I don’t spend a lot of money on O gauge - most of my engines are conventional, second-hand and fairly inexpensive as is my rolling stock. My O-27 layout fits on a 3 foot wide door on folding legs. Also a good size for an N scale layout.
The main thing is that you enjoy your hobby or it’s not worth having.
So true, Dr. John! If you aren’t enjoying yourself, you aren’t doing it right!
John, can I “borrow” that blue Marx loco of yours for a few months? [;)]
Jim
First, my fingers and now my eyes would prevent me from working in N scale. For some reason that doctors are unable to diagnose I have lost significant finger dexterity and my eyes are ageing like everyone elses. Second, there are sensual reasons I am drawn to larger scales. I like metal locos and trucks. I like the mechanical sounds they make, they sound real. I like the smells and feel of bigger gauges and they look fantastic. Third, I got back into this stuff after 20 years off, I just dusted off the stuff I had as a kid and started running again. For me its many things that N and HO can not deliver. Jim
[#ditto] Maybe, a short hiatus is a possible solution. Often, a second thought or revisiting a situation is the best thing. All the best.
I have settled my choice, I have already moved all train-related things out of my sight & will abandon the hobby. It is too space consuming & expensive & I am going possibly enter the traction modeling railway hobby-it calls for creativity, patience, & skill.
Americanflyergantrycrane, we hardly knew ye…
Man, that’s a long screen name!
What is a “traction modeling railway?”
JO
Traction modeling is running trolleys, street cars, electric inter-urbans, etc.
AF Gantry Crane,
Tell us how modeling an interurban line is less “time consuming and space consuming” than O gauge trains are??? Interurban models are the province of the scratchbuilder as far as I know. There have been some great interurban layouts built in O. The Crooked Mountain Lines was one. I’m not knocking it if that’s what you want to do but I think you are going to have the same problem you started with. I made the decision in the early '80s to stop buying O gauge trains and go full bore into HO. That lasted about one year. I even built Linn Westcott’s Great Northern Pacific from HO Railroad that grows. I enjoyed the experience, but it taught me that O and HO were more alike than different. It also taught me that I like big trains. If I weren’t so heavily committed to O, I would be in G with 1:29 Aristo-Craft or USA trains.
George
There is a interurban group here in the Phila area that displays “O” and “HO” set-ups at train shows. They are wonderful…but look like a LOT more work than most “O” layouts. Joe