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If you Had 2'x16', Would you Model HO or n?

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7K views 42 replies 21 participants last post by  MichaelE  
#1 · (Edited)
Good Day,

I'm a returning model railroader and have been building layouts on and off for the past 37 years. I have modeled mostly HO scale and did one n scale many years ago. My last layout was a 7x16 HO scale which I was forced to dismantle and sell off after moving into a smaller home. I have about 2 (maybe 2.5)x16 in the garage to play with as a shelf layout. I've got so much HO rolling stock, figures and signs from the last layout and I'm wondering if you had a choice with 2x16, would you do a HO switching layout, or a n scale layout with the ability to run point to point or loop to loop?

The ability to run more trains under n scale is appealing so I either use what I got in HO and continue on with limitations, or I sell off everything HO and start fresh with n scale....either way, I'm just excited that I'm able to return once again to modeling....any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated! Many Thanks, Steve
 
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#4 ·
At 2.5 feet wide, you're pretty much limited in HO to a switching layout. In N scale you could do loops AND switching ops. I suggest going for N.
 
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#22 ·
Agree. A good layout program (I use AnyRail) would answer a lot of questions.

Start the project with Unitrack in both HO and N scale and see which scale gives you what you are looking for. Even if you want flex track, or even hand laid, for you final layout, you can go through a lot of ideas and variations with Unitrack for the drafts, and then work up different track for your final.
 
#14 ·
Steve C. said:
1) I've got so much HO rolling stock, figures and signs from the last layout.

2)The ability to run more trains under n scale is appealing

3)So I either use what I got in HO and continue on with limitations, or I sell off everything HO and start fresh with n scale.
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I cut your post down to the 3 key issues. The question for me would come down to how much you want to use the HO stuff you have. If you love your collection and want to use it, then you can make a nice switching layout. If you aren't as attached to your present HO stuff, then N seems like the logical choice.

This is especially true since as best as I can tell from your post (within the limited medium) it sounds to me like you want to run longer trains and loop them. Maybe it's time to sell off and down-scale.
 
#15 ·
Eilif said:
I cut your post down to the 3 key issues. The question for me would come down to how much you want to use the HO stuff you have. If you love your collection and want to use it, then you can make a nice switching layout. If you aren't as attached to your present HO stuff, then N seems like the logical choice.

This is especially true since as best as I can tell from your post (within the limited medium) it sounds to me like you want to run longer trains and loop them. Maybe it's time to sell off and down-scale.
Click to expand...
I am heading that direction. I assessed what I have which was quite a bit less than what I originally thought. I sold off so much 6 yrs ago, I honestly must of loss track and thought I had more. Only cars I have left are primarily passenger with a few engines and lots of HO accessories.
 
#17 ·
Steve C;

Ultimately, it will boil down to which type of layout Switching or continuous running you want, rather than what size trains you have on hand. If you feel you would be happy with a switching layout, and many are, then your choice is easy. Use the HO-scale trains you have. If you really want continuous running, then you will need to switch scales. While in the distant past, I've had O-gage and HO-scale layouts, I've been a happy N-scaler for over forty years. My layout is an N-scale shelf layout mounted on two walls of my garage. It's sectional (highly recommended) and my standard section is 4' long x 16" deep X 16" high. The height dimension comes in because it's a "bookshelf railroad" design I copied from an old Model Railroader Magazine article. It's also a two level railroad. I model the Milwaukee Road's passenger operations from Seattle Union Station, which it shared with Union Pacific. King St. Station across the street, was home to Northern Pacific, and Great Northern's passenger trains. So with N-scale I can have big time operation involving four class 1 transcontinental railroads, including continuous running, in a fairly small space. My biggest end loop section is only 3' deep, but I use a minimum radius of 16" to handle all that long equipment. If you are absolutely restricted to 2.5 feet of depth, you could use tighter curves and shorter rolling stock. The photos below show some of my layout.

Good Luck & Have Fun;

Traction Fan :)
 

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#18 ·
I just got an n-scale dummy loco off of Ebay to get my feel for the scale again.....it is small....and definitely a long time since I've modeled in "n." Just waiting for a piece of rolling stock in "n" to make my decision. I do like the ability to run continuous and realistic scale proportions with "n" but HO does feel good in my hand as well. A switching layout in HO could work, however I only have one switcher and a full size Rivarossi ML 4000 Krauss Maffei Southern Pacific to run along with 40' cars.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Steve C;

Either way you can end up with a nice railroad. It's strictly your choice. One thing about HO-scale "Feeling good in your hand" Is simply that after all those years of HO experience, your hand, and more importantly your mind, is used to that size as being "normal" for you. I've been through the same thing twice in my life. When I went from O-scale to HO-scale, the HO equipment seemed tiny, It seemed to be more difficult to put cars on the track too. Years later I switched from HO-scale to N-scale, and the same thing happened. The N-scale equipment seemed tiny and I didn't think I could work with it, even though I was a young man with 20/20 vision and steady hands. Fast-forward to today. I'm now 72 years old, have to wear glasses to see much of anything, my hands shake a bit at times, and I even have one injured finger that doesn't work very well. Still, with all that going on, I can work in N-scale without any serious problems. HO scale now seems huge to me, and O-scale positively gigantic!
This is quite normal. Our brains get used to all sorts of things and file them as normal. When anything comes along that doesn't meet the "normal", that we're used too, the difference is immediately obvious, and often exaggerated.
All I'm trying to point out here is that our preconceived perceptions play a bigger part than we may think in, well, how we think.
Again, it's strictly up to you, and you can't really go wrong either way. Just out of curiosity, is that SP Krauss Maffei the Diesel-Hydraulic oddball prototype with a 1960s model sold by Rivarossi back in the 1960s? I sold those, along with other HO-scale model trains, at Christmastime on my first job at a Woolworth's store. As I recall(?) it had only one powered truck, and was a pretty basic model. What model switcher do you have?
Are the single switcher, and the KM ML4000, your only HO locomotives?
Since you said you had a lot invested In HO-scale trains, I imagined a considerable fleet of locos, and loads of cars. If you decide to switch scales, and two locos & 40 cars are your entire HO stock, then the sting of selling off the HO, for not much, is lessened a bit.

Good Luck & Have Fun with whatever you choose.

Traction Fan :)
 

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#27 · (Edited)
New Texan;

Really, "N is just too small" for whom?:confused:

All photos below are my scratch-built, or kitbashed, N-scale structures. Click on the printed title under any photo to enlarge for detail. Click again on the enlarged photo surface to enlarge it more. See things like the truss rods & nut-bolt washer castings on the scratch-built wooden truss bridge in the last photo. By the way, I'm 72 years old and semi-disabled, and I built all these things and a lot more in N-scale.

Maybe you feel N-scale is "just too small" for you. O.K. you would know that better than anyone else. Maybe, you simply prefer another scale. That's fine, you, and every other modeler, should be free to choose whichever scale the individual likes best. "Every other modeler" would include the OP. He should be the only person to decide, for himself, whether N-scale or HO-scale, or whatever scale, is "too small", "too big" or "just right" for him.
N-scale is certainly not "too small" for me, or for thousands of other N-scalers. We like it just fine.

Traction Fan :)
 

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#26 ·
Many years when growing up in California, a buddy and me wanted to build a live steamer.....I left there 33 yrs ago and he started doing garden railroading since he had a huge backyard.....actually my backyard is a pretty good size, however my trains would melt in the Arizona heat and I'd have to build on helluva trestle across my pool 🤣.
 
#29 ·
Gramps;

Your quite right, I am just showing off. Not for my own credit, so much as to show those who think N-scale is "just too small" that while it may be too small for a few people to physically work with, and too small for the legitimate preference of many, it is not too small for everyone, or even for most people. Whether or not it's "too small" for the OP is his choice. It just gets to me when someone says N-scale is just too small, without adding "for me." Each of us should be able to decide on our own favorite scale without open-ended general pronouncements bashing one scale, presumably for everybody.
Thanks for the compliment on my work, but the main point was to simply show what's possible in a "too small" scale.

Traction Fan :)
 
#30 ·
Thank you so much for all the wonderful helpful advice! What an immense amount of information...I still got a lot of thinking to do; I dream of a nice switching HO layout, then again a nice Loop to Loop with a switching yard in N scale would be nice too. I was big into modeling SP during the Overnight and Black Widow era.....may make my decision based on what's available in rolling stock. Many thanks again for taking your time to respond! Steve
 
#34 ·
MichaelE;

I get it. Of course you were suggesting meter gauge, some of that "foreign stuff" you like! You know, those railroads that are generally more advanced than ours and actually have reliable passenger service! Besides, The rock group "Lead Zeppelin was pretty successful! 😄

Traction Fan
 
#35 ·
Meter gauge only because I'm working with it, but any narrow gauge HO would be appropriate for that size of sub-roadbed. He would be able to use tighter radius curves that would be entirely correct for that gauge and still use his structures.

If he chose, by a long shot, HOe (Germany / Austria), he could use N scale track and would even be slightly narrower than HOn3.

Not many into European railroads around these parts though. I find narrow gauge Swiss very charming running in the wooded part of the Alps. Scenery possibilites are endless.
 
#36 ·
MichaelE;

I hope you know. I was just pulling your leg a bit. Your layout looks excellent in your photos, and you are a valuable resource to the forum, simply because, unlike most of us, you do know a lot about European railways. For instance I, a 40 year N-scaler, didn't know that HOe was related to N-scale track.

Keep up your good work;

Traction Fan 🙂
 
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