Scaling Down... Not what you think...

[Santa Fe buff]

After seeing my hopes and dreams of a layout, and confronted with the size given, I set out with much excitement to see if I can meet most of those dreams with HO scale... Simply too big for what I would like. I love how it's easy to work with and the amount of supply's available. It's perfect for a first-timer like me.

Great, isn't that wonderful?

WAIT! I have and industry that won't fit on an simple 4x8, so, should I simply downgrade my largeness of the industry or the... the, scale? Well, seeing my newly found passion, it simply turns away from HO, although I do love the many advantages and equipment offered that I do own, I have a more smaller love...

From now on,
Santa Fe buff is modeling N scale.

I wanted to tell that, this allows for my thought of double track layout with a fair yard... Including a good sized town, with a thriving industry.

Negative and positive feedback is something I'd like, I don't care if you don't like; tell me. It still won't change the choice, but let me know so I at least have a good opinion on how others think.

I'm going to sell some of my HO, a give a way some to a few people, but I'm keeping most so I can use it for running on other's and the local museum's layout(s).

Sincerely, with the love of small little trains and towns,

Joshua

[glennk28]

You'll be back.  A wise man  (John Armstrong) once said, "Time and eyes are on the side of O Scale."

When you get older, you'll come back to modeling what you can see.   8^) 

[az2rail]

I am doing the same thing you are, just a little bigger. I am scaling down from O scale standard gauge, to ON30. Not much smaller, but with smaller engines and rolling stock, I can make a layout that I will enjoy.

We have to make the choice, do we go with smaller trains to get the layout we want, or do we scale down the layout to fit the trains and available space. Problem with model railroading is there is never enough space. And no matter what anyone says, it is our layout and we need to chose what fits us best.

In my case, I decided that instead of an intermodal yard and a refinery, I could do logging and mining. I still get my switching, but in a smaller area. Plus I can climb up the walls with a shelf layout, with will give me more trackage.

Bruce

P.S. ~ Some times you will see me talk about large scale. I do have some FN3 equipment that I put out in the yard from time to time. But nothing permanent.

[Santa Fe buff]

glennk28,

Yeah, I probably will. I currently have a liking for O, but not currently. I can't afford nor model it... N scale is for me...

You'll be back.  A wise man  (John Armstrong) once said, "Time and eyes are on the side of O Scale."

When you get older, you'll come back to modeling what you can see.   8^) 

Joshua

[boomertom]

Joshua,

I envy you your young eyes.

I had two very enjoyable N scale layouts when I was much younger.  At that time N scale was  very sensitive to dust and the locomotives of that era were nowhere ear those available today.

Good luck in your new venture, keep postion on general discussion and I will watch for your posts on N scale as I generally visit all forums.

Tom

[Santa Fe buff]

Same here.

I've had a fair amount of posts in the N scale forum, and I'm learning more. I guess I, and other children of today, are blessed to modern technology. A few old 1970s freight cars 9911A E5 gave me feature a lot of scratch-built details. This is completely contrastive to todays method of Details West and many more companies. I'm glad I have someone looking out for my posts, you shouldn't have to do that, but I can't tell you what to or not to do. I'm starting to take an interest to the skill of soldering. After all, brass kits do have more detail... I simply don't have the equipment, nor the money. I'm reading up on everything I can, but I still don't have that much time... school. Good thing it's coming to an end soon, and I'm sick. The downside is that I feel bad (No flu... ), but if I have really bad parts, no school! Still, I do have make-up work, but hey, it's worth the extra time I spend on the hobby.

Funny, we started out as N scale, still are, but we've threw in a few other good discussions.

Oh, I almost forgot, I'm forced to keep all of my HO scale (Thanks to mom... ) until I reach my planned goal of $300.00 at minimum for raiding a hobby shop with for basic N scale track and supplies.

'Afternoon,
Joshua

[jward]

i was in n scale off and on for over 40 years, things are much better now, good running engines that allow the scale to reach its potential, along with the absolutely beautiful cars by micro trains.

a couple of things to look out for. some of the older locomotives had really poor drives, with extremely cheap motors and traction tires on the wheels. stay away from these. most cars now have knuckle couplers that are truck mounted. and for the ones that don't come with those, micro trains makes a variety of replacement trucks. i took the time to convert many of my cars to body mounted couplers, they back up better that way.

if you have mountains and tunnels, be sure to leave yourself access from inside the tunnel. your hand won't fit in the tunnel portal to pull out derailed equipment.

with the added space n scale provides, it is easier to go to a wider radius on your turns. my last n scale railroad had 14" radius on most curves, and they worked very well. another idea is to take a standard HO plan, and not scale it down. you'd get a very nice looking 18" radius for your curves.

clean track is a must. n scale locomotives are much more likely to stall on dirty track than HO, because of their light weight. invest in a good track cleaning car. mine was my centerline, aztec has others available as well.

[Santa Fe buff]

Thanks for your information, jward.

That was actually very helpful, thanks.

Joshua

[Guilford Guy]

Pfff just N...
Depends how scale you want to be. Code 40 is the most realistic rail size you can really attain. Code 55 is super mainline rail, and Code 80 is pretty unrealistic. Another visual deficit is the huge flanges and wheeltreads. If you do do N, go for the better quality locomotives and rolling stock from Atlas, Intermountain, and Proto. Micro Trains couplers are a good investment, but their wheelsets are frequently out of gauge, and they've been known for a lot of inaccuracies in their production runs.

American Z Line is where its at...
They're doing GP7s, RDCs, GP30s, and SD70s, F59s, and a good amount of rolling stock.

[Frisco]

glennk28,

Yeah, I probably will. I currently have a liking for O, but not currently. I can't afford nor model it... N scale is for me...

You'll be back.  A wise man  (John Armstrong) once said, "Time and eyes are on the side of O Scale."

When you get older, you'll come back to modeling what you can see.   8^) 

Joshua

ON30= smaller space and biger scale for the same price.

[Santa Fe buff]

On30= Mom saying , "No, it's too big."

It's okay Frisco, On30 will get me one day...

Joshua

[glennk28]

az2rail--you aren't changing scale, just track gauge.   O and On30 are the same scale--as is the On3 I model in.   gj

[az2rail]

Ya, I realize that, O scale is O scale. But when you put ON3 next to O standard gauge, there is a big difference. Equipment is smaller and you can put more into available space. I consider it scaling down in size but not fun.

Bruce