Why Did You Choose to Model N Gauge?.

Started by longbridge, November 22, 2011, 10:06:14 PM

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Philip.

My Granddad introduced me to N gauge back in the mid 1970s, he was very wise  :)

Newportnobby

Quote from: Stuart Down Under on December 26, 2017, 06:48:24 AM
I learnt early on that in N gauge, you should buy any model that fits your theme, because it may not be around for long!

Amen, Brother.
Having missed a couple of items if something I want is announced I always look to pre order it, as chances are there won't be another run and all I find is ridiculous prices on Fleabay.

davidd

Like almost everyone else I have read space is the limiting factor. I am just starting out, but want to cram as much in as I can. :hellosign:

Newportnobby

Hi David, and welcome to the forum :wave:
I would really urge you not to cram as much in as you can and especially to think about what points/trackwork to use as much depends on what you'll be running.

Safety Engineer

My first wife bought me a Minitrix Ivatt 2-6-0 and seven wagons from Railmail in Watford for our first wedding anniversary in 1977.

Before we got married I had a small WR layout on  the dark side, which was disposed of (with regret) to provide finance for something we needed. Whenever we went shopping, we always passed Railmail's shop and of course I stopped to admire said 2-6-0 in the window, little did I know she was going to get it for me, needless to say I still have it for nostalgic reasons.

Martin

Pjlons83

For me it was simply down to available space. To be specific it was the radius of the curves. I knew I had 300mm max (one side of a wall) and wanted an oval to pass through said wall at each end, so after looking into 00 and N I decided on N. From memory there was a tight 00 radius that would have fitted but it would have been a compromise on what can run on it so in the end I went with Kato 282mm radius.

At the time I hadn't even considered scenary, I just wanted a train to run along the edge of a shelf in the man cave, but now I'm getting into the whole Scenic layout thing I'm happy that I made the right choice!  :ngauge:
Gold Hill - my rule 1, "just for fun" micro layout;

Clouds Hill - My first layout currently on hold;

ntpntpntp

A set very similar to this, bought in Fiji in 1974


On my return to the UK I bought a Grafar Pannier tank and a couple of coaches from our local model shop, but sadly the loco didn't live for long.  The cheapo Bachmann set just kept going though, until eventually converted/modified into a theme park railway for my OO layout.
Bought some "decent" N locos in the late 70s, eg. Minitrix Warships and Peco Jubilee, a couple of OK-ish Farish GP tanks, and a few other just-about OK ones eg. Lima 31 and 86.   Eventually lured by the consistent quality of European N in the early 80s and that's been my main theme ever since.
Nick.   2021 celebrating the 25th anniversary of "Königshafen" exhibition layout!
https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=50050.0

The Q

#367
Expanding , on my previous reply.
I first started around 1968 or 9 with the basic triang hornby 0-4-0 , couple of wagons and  a circle of track. This gradually turned into a small layout with scenery. Not very well made.

Joining the RAF, I was a member of a couple RAF clubs as I moved around, all modelling in 00. I did try N but big fingers and a lack of range of models, in N, meant I settled on EM.

Until the usual, girlfriend and life getting in the way.

30 years later  and returning to Railway modelling as mainly a winter hobby, my summer hobby being sailing in ever decreasing circles on the Norfolk broads.

I naturally went for EM gauge, then what to model, that eventually came down to Ludgershall in Wiltshire, which has many family connections. So I started collecting stock and making the odd model....

Planning permission was granted by SWMBO for a shed, since she is getting one end where the track loops back to use as a art studio.

Then came a minor problem.... I discovered in EM, Ludgershall station is roughly 34ft long!!! But by this time I was committed!! . Even the small station Collingbourne Ducis ( near where my mother was born)  being built on the return leg, is 18ft long. I  really do wish I had gone for N ( or 2mm ) that way the shed would have been finished years ago. As it is it took ten years to build a 64 ft shed, time and money being big constraints.

Just one board had been constructed for that layout, when I inherited the N gauge model railway. This means all modeling has now been concentrated  in N gauge, though basic work on the shed internals  is continuing. I'm still struggling with big fingers, and managed to destroy a length of track last week when removing a signal...

Amazingly I'm now, having lived in 7 different places in the meantime, a member of Broadland MRC, which back when I was a founder member in about 1982, was RAF Coltishall MRC.
Broadland MRC has 2 N gauge, 1 00-9, 2 00 layouts built or under construction. With members being involved with G, 0, 00, EM, N, 009, 4ft 8.5 inch gauge and 15 inch gauge.

Having bored you with that lot, you can get board by looking  at the inherited layout Tiree..
http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=38780.msg481393#msg481393

Oh one other minor problem even with the huge size of the shed there is not enough room for the n gauge layout...

violets49

Donald E Meek has presented a number of Doccumentaries on BBC Alba about the MacBraynes ships. They can be found on You tube. Although they are in gaelic, they have subtitles in english. He is also an excellent ship modeller.

Webbo

Quote from: ntpntpntp on December 27, 2017, 08:47:50 PM
A set very similar to this, bought in Fiji in 1974


On my return to the UK I bought a Grafar Pannier tank and a couple of coaches from our local model shop, but sadly the loco didn't live for long.  The cheapo Bachmann set just kept going though, until eventually converted/modified into a theme park railway for my OO layout.
Bought some "decent" N locos in the late 70s, eg. Minitrix Warships and Peco Jubilee, a couple of OK-ish Farish GP tanks, and a few other just-about OK ones eg. Lima 31 and 86.   Eventually lured by the consistent quality of European N in the early 80s and that's been my main theme ever since.

Hi Nick

The Bachmann GP40 shown in your set from 1974 was one of my first N scale locos (Santa Fe #890). I have kept it in part as a reminder of how far N scale has advanced over the years. Rapido couplers (replaced by me with Kadees), greatly oversized handrails, a non-crisp paint job, and a motor that had quite a lot fewer poles than 5. The metal gears made a growling motion when running, but at least the locomotive was never prone to split gears.

Despite the less than brilliant offerings in N scale at the time, I persisted with it mainly due to the opportunity to build more layout in less space. I love all scales and have HO, OO, and G scale running as secondary circuits to my main N scale set up (which has some UK N gauge sneaking on to the tracks from time to time).

Webbo

The Q

Quote from: violets49 on December 29, 2017, 01:28:24 AM
Donald E Meek has presented a number of Doccumentaries on BBC Alba about the MacBraynes ships. They can be found on You tube. Although they are in gaelic, they have subtitles in english. He is also an excellent ship modeller.
I've come across his articles on line about Macbraynes, I'll look for the videos thanks.
My brother is fluent in the Gaelic  I know but a few odd words.

bearhugger

Space was a big (pardon the pun!) Consideration for me, decided on a DCC set for ease of controlling multiple locos. I currently have a 4 x 3 foot baseboard so I can have an outer and inner loop and am looking to put some sidings in too. Want to have a little mix of freight and passenger trains.

Newportnobby

Hi Bearhugger, and welcome to the forum :wave:
Do you have any particular era/area you're modelling?

tgv_obsessed

The short answer is "because the man in Beatties in Kingston Upon Thames let me buy 2 curved points and some curves of either 2nd or 3rd radius, when what he should have sold me were some normal points, the return curves and a few straights"

But the truth was he prefered to just fleece a ten year old of his christmas money rather than give advice. Thats what OO scale is all about. Fleecing children.

This is how it should have happened

Me: Can I have these things please?
Mr Shyster: Oooh did you get a trainset for christmas? Which one?
Me: Yes I got the R.790 Inter City set
Mr Shyster: With that set, I'm not sure what you're buying will work very well. Lets go through the catalogue and see what you're trying to do
Me Ok then- Ok then I can probably draw what I want.  it I'm good at drawing!
Mr Shyster: Ah you see the curved points need extra sections to fit together and the curves don't really match up anyway.
Me: Oh (dissappointed)
Mr Shyster: But not to worry, these normal points are the right ones- and they cost less too- you can buy some more straight track
Me: Thank you Mr Shyster!

But instead, Mr Shyster lived up to his name, and i spent all my christmas money on track that I didnt want to use.
So naturally I have hated OO trains ever since.
running in is so you get used to the noise, oops, to bed the gears down properly

violets49

Quote from: tgv_obsessed on March 08, 2018, 09:33:27 PM
The short answer is "because the man in Beatties in Kingston Upon Thames let me buy 2 curved points and some curves of either 2nd or 3rd radius, when what he should have sold me were some normal points, the return curves and a few straights"

But the truth was he prefered to just fleece a ten year old of his christmas money rather than give advice. Thats what OO scale is all about. Fleecing children.

This is how it should have happened

Me: Can I have these things please?
Mr Shyster: Oooh did you get a trainset for christmas? Which one?
Me: Yes I got the R.790 Inter City set
Mr Shyster: With that set, I'm not sure what you're buying will work very well. Lets go through the catalogue and see what you're trying to do
Me Ok then- Ok then I can probably draw what I want.  it I'm good at drawing!
Mr Shyster: Ah you see the curved points need extra sections to fit together and the curves don't really match up anyway.
Me: Oh (dissappointed)
Mr Shyster: But not to worry, these normal points are the right ones- and they cost less too- you can buy some more straight track
Me: Thank you Mr Shyster!

But instead, Mr Shyster lived up to his name, and i spent all my christmas money on track that I didnt want to use.
So naturally I have hated OO trains ever since.

Having experienced Beatties, but thankfully not as a ten year old, I can appreciate this, But my experience with them was not that they were shysters just that they knew hee-haw about the goods they were selling. (Buy this one, I don't know what it is but its more expensive that the other one!) It was little surprise to me when they went belly up! I don't think I ever bought much in Beatties. Any simple enquiry was usually met with a blank look and an attempt to convince you that what they were holding was what you wanted. I've often criticised 'Modelzone' but at least the staff had some idea of what they were doing. Only thing Beatties were good for was EFE 'seconds' for repaints and Conversions.

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