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When I was younger (30 years ago) I starting collecting N-scale box cars. Then I had a little HO. I even dabbled in true-O scale. Now, I am starting over! (I have nothing at present)
Being older and using reading glasses I need larger equipment. I didn't like the expense, turning radius, and difficulty in acquiring O-scale rolling stock.
Now, I am ready to sell some items from my "other" hobby and start up again. I have a little 10X8 room (no, it is not a cell) that I could use exclusively for model trains. I'll start out with around $1K.
I would like to model at least one working train. Maybe a freightyard, or cannery, or coal mine, or factory...and one passenger train. I like early deisel as an era.
I am 60 in a few years and feel like maybe I am "starting out" too late. A little encouragement from some of my peers would be great.
But my larger question is about scale. Do any serious modelers get into Lionel? Am I barking up the wrong tree here. I like realism but prefer something "bigger". Should I look at O, O-27, or go to HO?
I have always loved trains and am excited about this. Any serious encouragement and/or suggestions are appreciated. THANKS! And, I am glad to be here!
Welcome Hokkmike!
There a lot of tri-focal glasses watching this forum. I'm guessing that many of us model the 50's and 60's from memory, not books.
I'm going to suggest HO (1/87 scale) to you as the most available equipment and as most efficient use of available space and monies.
Us "HO'ers" find equipment and details large enough to see and work on for kits and scratchbuilt components. I have glued more parts to my fingers than on the "N" scale structures that I was working on. Ready to run engines and rolling stock are readily available in HO for most railroads and time periods. Lots of pre-owned "stuff" is available from many sources, and several discount retailers.
"N" (1/167 scale) is not as detailed, offers fewer varieties(but growing fast). and is harder work with for the myoptically challenged modeler. Almost the same pricing as HO.
"S" scale is 1/48th scale is easier to see, but harder to find with limited producers. It will limit your modeling space flexibilty somewhat and is not budget friendly.
"O" 1/27 scale is the Lionel train size that most of us life-experienced kids played with under a Christmas tree layout. You would have little room to expand for more realistic operations in your room. Your budget could be seriously challenged to finish a working layout.
Pick an era and geographical area to model- 1890's Colorado for steam engines hauling cattle, ore and lumber; modern mid-west for diesels hauling coal, chemicals and grain; or 1950's West Virginia steam and diesel engines hauling coal, automobiles and White Lightin. The hobby becomes more affordable if you don't buy what you cannot use on the layout.
N scale lets you do a lot in a small space but is hard for you to see (it is hard for me to see and I am still young. HO is a very good comprimise. O scale is great but can be really expensive. A great alternitive is ON30 (O scale trains on HO track showing Narrow gauge) See this link for some insperation. http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=69
For those of us, or most of us, near 60, not only is it hard to see small things, but it is hard to both handle and to repair them. If I were starting over, I'd seriously consider either S or On30. I find the full O guage beautiful to look at, but the space requirements mean that one is restricted to sharp curves in most cases. That spoils it for me. It's a personal thing, though, and we should each make up our minds with hard evidence, trusting in our own senses.
I think S scale is 1/64 - i recently looked into buying trains for my son to go with his hot wheels cars and i thought i read that S scale and hot wheels are both 1:64. knit picking aside, i am of the mind that its never too late to make your dreams come true. When i recently got into modeling i thought i was too young and my friends would laugh at me...some of them did, but guess what, those same friends are now at my house on the weekend trying to figure out if they have space at their houses to start a layout. I am a novice but for what its worth I would go with HO for much of the reasons PinkFloyd already outlined. Whatever you decide remember this board will readily answer most of your questions. there are a great bunch of guys here with probably a millennium of combined experience (that’s obviously an exaggeration). I have found it immensely useful in my 1 year of experience. have fun and remember to post photos of your progress.
I am 46 and Dad is 70 and we both put on our focals and work the HO scene. Neither of us has any great problems with it and it is budget and space friendly. Good Luck and have fun.
Thanks, all, for the responses so far. On a lark I purchased a Spokane, Portland & Seattle double door box car from Ebay in 0-27 to see what I think. I will make a couple of trips to some locally great trains stores and see what ideas they have to get me started!
I am in my 30's and model in HO. HO has good avalibility, lots of good ready to run products and you could build a nice layout in your space. My layout isn't much bigger.
Atlas has introduced a lot of new products in the O scale line. I would like to build an O scale switching layout someday. I don't think O would work out real well in your space.
Just my random thoughts.
I didn't start building my present layout until I was 61 so don't let age stop you. I'd rather be in N scale because you can get so much more operation in a small space. Unfortunately, I have a hard enough time getting grab irons in the right place in HO now so that's probably the smallest I can realistically go.
With a space that's only 8x10, O scale or even O-27 is probably out of the question. Even with really sharp curves, you'll only have room for about a loop of track and that's about it. For small rooms, HO shelf layouts are a really good way to go. You can have a two foot shelf around the room with two 4x4 "blobs" at either end to give you enough room for 22" curves if you want to make a loop. If point to point running or switching are more your thing, you don't need the blobs. You'll be surprised to find out how much scenery and operations you can get in a two foot wide shelf.
I'm 63 now and started with with model railroading two years ago. I choose N-scale because I want to see long trains running with two or more locomotives in a limited space. And even when there isn't a space limit I like to see a train with 50 cars passing by. I bought the SP Morning Daylight train and with all cars that train in 2.7 m (almost 9').
I don't have perfect eyes any more so I need to use magnifying glass for some works but I would not want to go H0 anyway. I find the rolling stock in N to be very good and have a lot of details.
Don't be afraid to choose the scale YOU like best.
Although I have a heavy investment in HO, I have also accumulated a small collection of O scale equipment. I just can't resist the size of these beauties! Right now, I'm building a goodly-sized HO layout, but I keep thinking that when I get it in respectable running condition, I'd like to see what could be done in O. I've done a bit of research and have discovered that O can be done in 8' x 10' or other small spaces: see, for example http://www.legacystation.com/OScaleLayouts.htm
P.S. If I could find someone to take all this HO equipment off my hands in one giant lot, I'd switch to O scale in a heartbeat. I just can't bear the thought of having to try to sell off all my HO stuff one piece at a time. I might get cold feet halfway through.
Hokkmike- Remember that all the advice on this forum is worth about 1/2 what you are paying for it!
You will get lots of different opinions from people with different backgrounds and experiences. Some of us have learned about our layouts through colorful language and prayers like, "Lord, why didn't someone tell me about that 9 more times?" I belong to a club and have learned from other people's mistakes, too. I have shown leadership ability in that area.
There is only one person to make happy about your layout and that is YOU.
If you decide to put a G scale Garden Railway in you 8' x 10' room, we will doubt your sanity and give you more free advice?
This is a fun, time-intensive hobby. We wouldn't want you to get too bogged down in details and not have enough fun to sustain you until you are completely hooked like most of us.
Mikey
I don't know what it is about me and trains. Always has been a fascination. When I lived in W VA I used to go to Grafton and sit for hours and just watch.
I am excited about getting started.
I am weighing all the advice. As soon as I sell some items from my other (politically incorrect to discuss it here) hobby I am going to get a starter set and then add to it. I'll try a simple multi-train layout. Maybe two independent loops. One freight, one passenger.
