What scale model railway?
 

What scale/gauge do you currently model in, or would do if you were about to start a model railway?

I use N Gauge because it allows me to have a fair size layout on a small base board. Had I the space, I would use 00 as there is a lot more available (although there is a good lot of N stuff now coming out), plus my eye sight is not what it was.
Syd

I use OO. I find that it is small enough to be able to make a reasonable sized layout in limited space whilst still being large enough to be able to be detailed fairly easily.

Of course I am an H0 enthusiast (half-zero according to Henry Greenly).
The scale ratio 1:87 is the most popular in the Continent.
Due to historical-technical reasons, mainly the so-called "Berne" loading gauge being wider and taller than the British loading gauge, an average 10" long model locomotive is to be OO scale for British models and H0 scale for Continental models, to give the same satisfaction to the eye.
There were many exceptions to this rule, notably Fleischmann adopting the ratio 1:83 or 84, and Rivarossi 1:80(limited to steam motive power).
But again, Italian locos are much smaller than German engines,and the slightly bigger size restores the satisfaction principle.
According to this principle, an automobile model to fit a 10" size must be in a range of ratios from 1:25 to 1:16.
And this is why acceptance of 12" coaches has come only recently.
I hope I haven't bored you!

It's probably space which has tipped the balance in favour of N for me as well as you Syd. And, like you, my eyesight is going awry as well.

My main reason for trying this poll out was to get some kind of idea of how popular N had become, bearing in mind that folks maybe don't have as much spare space as they used to.

Which got me to thinking. There are a few firms which make OO models of prototypes which are very limited in terms of numbers or geographical distribution....Class 71/74, for instance. The firms will do it for OO, but will they do it for N? Given the penetration that N has at the moment, probably not.

There is no doubt that the available models in N have got better over the last few years...do you think that they will ever approach the current OO standard?

N scale models can certainly equal or be built to higher quality than OO/HO models. They must have finer tolerances as it concerns mechanics, and the current state of the art on plastics mouldings can achieve good details.
The problem is the cost of production, which means we'll see more and more Made in China.
Regards from Dario

Good point Dario.

It's a shame that N, in the UK at least, has been subjected to some pretty poor model standards in the past, which I think has hampered its popularity. It's a chicken or egg situation. Modellers won't go N because the standard of models has been dire in the past, and so the firms won't invest in better models because the market isn't there.

But look at the situation on the continent and in North America. Excellent N models, easily as good as their OO/HO counterparts. Why can't we have something similar in the UK?

Would Fleischmann (for example) even think of releasing an N German Pacific with vastly undersize front bogie wheels? I think not.

I model Britsh rail 00 I had considered N until I checked out the cost. Over here in New Zealand N gauge product is at least the same if not more expensive than 00:( and space is not considered as much of an issue for me at least,:D ( I have a dedicated room 6mx4.3m ) It allows me to have a small brach come preservation line as well as a large terminus station.:)

cheers Dave

You can say that again!

I'd have shoehorned the East Coast Main Line into that! :D

I prefer the detail of 4mm and if I couldn't manage enough space for standard guage I think I would try narrow guage in 4mm.

Yeah it does sound like I'm quite spoilt Trev but even though I'm well off for space I have the very real dissadvantage of being 12000 miles away from the prototype I have chosen to model. Magazines ,books and the like are fine but there is no substitute for being there.Not that I'm moaning at all, research has become just as enjoyable as modelling :) When I'm finished my current layout I would like to consider 0 gauge but we will have to wait a while for that.

cheers Dave.

I model in OO and Ho USA. I have dabbled in N and O guage. I'm currently building a OO triple circuit in my cabin, there's still a long way to go though!

I have had layouts in HO (an advertising layout for a group - very, very, simple - to have trains moving continuously) and N for myself. The latter has just been re-built following a move from house to small flat.

i model north eastern BR but if we manage to move house i will get a 7 1/4 inch guaage railway :P

Although I voted in this thread several months ago I never got round to giving any details of my interests. My very first permanent layout was in the 1950's on a 6' x 4' board in my bedroom. It was 00 Gauge and the stock was mainly Tri-ang with a small amount of Hornby Dublo. In the mid 60's I sold it all for £10 and used the proceeds to take one of those new fangled girl things to see the "Sound of Music"....Big mistake!!!:D
In the late 70's, after getting married, I restarted modelling. My available space was still about the same but by now N Gauge had become available so my layout could be four times as big.:) Initially I modelled British Railways (LMR and WR) and built two layouts in the 70's and 80's using mainly Graham Farish and Peco stock.
In 1990 I was converted to European N Gauge and I am now in the process of building my second Swiss layout. My stock is mainly Fleischmann, Kato, Roco and Minitrix and I use Peco Code 55 track.
John.

40+ years later two of the locos that I sold have re-appeared. "They have stopped working John....can you fix them?" I knew I shouldn't have offered that 50 year guarantee:D
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"Cardiff Castle" is a Hornby Dublo 2-rail loco and I think it was quite a good model in it's day. The horrible looking blue thing is supposed to be a North British Type 2 diesel and was made by the French Playcraft company. Anyone who moans about trivial detail errors in todays models should think themselves lucky:D

I had a look at your website John, in particular the pics and track plans of your first Swiss layout. Very impressive it was as well. The upper part looks very nice....but I was gobsmacked when I saw the lower level storage sidings! How on earth did you manage to control it all? I was expecting to see half a dozen storage sidings, not an Alpine Toton Yard. :) A really impressive layout.

Absolutely. It does throw into perspective some of the comments I've read recently in the magazines. 'Spanner Swirlyflow 3' who comments on new models in 'Rail Express' is particularly guilty at times. He picks out the most trivial details, as though he is trying to make you feel guilty for even thinking about buying a particular model. :mad:

Just picked up on these thoughts. Been to most gauges between 7 1/4 and N (not to mention 6 inch scale steam wagon) but at the moment am more concerned with 'M' scale. This is a relatively unknown scale since the 'M' stands for 'My', this is the only way I can think of describing 1 inch scale on 45 mm gauge track (LGB). An original running on 21 inch gauge formed the basic idea but mostly at this time due to retirement and space LGB track out in the garden and it is surprising how much can be got into a space 10 feet wide and 30 feet long which ioncludes 3 ponds and a stream.
Steam powered of course.
John

Trev,
All the points were manually operated and I made sure that they were accessible through the gap at the front of the layout although some were "just around the corner" so you had to operate them by feel:) . It worked quite well until there was a derailment which fortunately didn't happen too often. The worst possible scenario was occasionally caused by our old friend "the N-Gauge coupler"........If some of the stock became detached from a train climbing up to the upper level it would roll back down to the storage sidings at high speed resulting in total chaos:eek: It would then be a case of removing all the stock and starting again.
My new layout has a similar system of storage sidings beneath the main layout but I now have a bit more space to play with so access is easier.
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