Why Did You Choose to Model N Gauge?.

[poliss]

Whatsisname hasn't had any problems with Hornby about him uploading all their old catalogue images, and Arnold are part of Hornby now.
http://www.hornbyguide.com/default.asp

[Pete Mc]

I got my first train set as a boy when I was about 7 or 8.It was a hymek with 4 wagons and a brake van,with an oval of track and a siding.It didn't have an electric controller,instead it had a controller which sat on top of 2 6v batteries.My uncle,who was an electrician built a proper controller and this is how I started.It was a oo gauge hornby set and a few years later,for christmas,my brother and I were given a 5x3 double track layout on a baseboard.It was a twin track layout with a goods yard and two top sidings.This was replaced a couple of years later by an 8x8 layout with a central operating well.It had electric points and instead of two tracks,it had 3 continuous loops.As well as this,we had a selection of new and used loco's ajd rolling stock such as a hst,an apt,mallard,j72,GWR pannier tank,peak and the hymek.The Mallard,APT and some of the rolling stock are still in my dads possesion at his house.
After a couple of years with this layout,my brother lost interest in model railways and became interested in snooker so it was decided the layout had to go.I have to admit though,for a few short months,I did enjoy playing snooker,until my brother started beating me.He is almost 3 years younger than I am,and he started to get good very quickly.So I lost interest in that and seemed to be somewhat listless.I didn't take up drink or drugs and father many children like so many young lads do today though,I just got on with things and life.Left shool,got a job,a bird,married her,divorced her,had some more birds,didn't marry any of them though and we arrive at the time of about 18 months ago.
My mum had to have a liver transplant due to an auto immune disease and was in a very bad way.Having been moved from St James's hospital to our local hospital,my uncle whi built the two previous layouts had a stroke and was in the same hospital as my mum.So both my dad and I decided to visit.He visited my uncle and I visited them both.This carried on for a week or two,but when I went in to see my uncle,he always had Railway Modellor and Hatton's catalogues on his bed side.I had a look at these and all of a sudden,fire reignied in my belly.So for the next six months I planned a layout.
I didn't decide on n gauge until august of last year when I realised a 10x4 ft board wouldn't fit much oo gauge stuff on it,so n gauge it had to be.
A decision I don't regret at all.As a single chap,I have a 2 bedroom house that had a spare room full of accumulated rubbish,I cleared the room out and discovered the ideal place for my layout.It was here that my layout began.It is a 10 ft by 4 ft continuous run twin track run,with an upper station area and TMD.The track starts off from a 10 road storrag yard and goes around the board 3 times beforw it returns to the storage yard.I can run full 8 coach rake hst's,rull rake deltic's,24 wagon tank and hopper formations and is exactly as I wanted it to be.It took an awful lot of track to make it and the scenics will consist of mainly townscapes mounted above teack level.There will be a cutting at the front with the 4 parallel lines appearing and disappearing into tunnel mouths at each end.It is currently dc operated,but in the new year I will upgrade to dcc with a NCE Powercab with my loco's,hst's,deltics,classes 47's,37's,58,56,dmu's and rtc class 24 being chipped with sound decoders as well as time goes by.
The main reason I chose n gauge is obviously space and now I have a kittke experience in n gauge,I wouldn't go.back to oo fir a gold pig.
I love  
Sorry to bore you,this is my story.
Pete

[tim-pelican]

I had the idea of a model railway bouncing around in my head on and off for a few years, but never had the space or the conviction that I was being anything other than silly.

When we moved at the beginning of the year, I had more space in the conservatory, and started thinking I could do some kind of shunting plank in OO, but I didn't know if there'd be enough interest there to keep me going.

Finally, I went to a show and saw modern, exhibition-quality N-gauge in action.  Seeing what can be done, and how good those models look - and a much better size in context than sat on the shelf of the model shop next to their OO brethren - has inspired me to have a go myself.

[H]

Bought an Arnold Rapido catalogue from Bakers model shop, Gillingham in 1971.

I remember Bakers Model Shop in Gillingham in the early 70s. I used to go to school at the then new Gillingham Technical High School (from 1967 to 74). It's now called Rainham Grammar I believe.

H.

[bbdave]

It was purely space with me but having now looked at OO i much prefer N it looks more realistic for some reason OO look like toys to me.

Dave

[michael]

because oo is for 7 year olds!

in all seriousness, like many others its the space. sometimes I wonder if Id be better off with oo because of the better choice and IMO better value but theres no way I could build penzance in my garage without making some major sacrifices!

[spurno]

because of my father in law who is now no longer with us.i just want to finish what he started.he never quite got there.
also space as i only have the spare room.8ft x 7 ft.

cheers

alan

[Dave F]

It started off as a space thing because I only had a small corner to build a layout in. But now I've emptied out the loft I can be more ambitious and try and create a landscape around the railway.

Dave

[matteos]

My Grandfather modelled N Gauge and I inherited a lot of his stuff and I have gone on from there.

[poliss]

I was around when N gauge was invented, and you say your grandfather modelled it. Makes me feel very old.  :'(

[mr magnolia]

spent many hours while at high school standing at the bus stop with nose pressed against window of a model shop that had unimaginably expensive n gauge matters in the window (1970s). Kept it on the back burner for another few years until my 50th came along and a bunch of peeps bought me a 00 set that I immediately had to swap for the 1:148 stuff as it just looks so much better.  Small and working - satisfies the engineering interest.  Just need to keep my girls interested in it to help maintain the family acceptance! 'our' layout is in the main bedroom and from time to time life can be arranged such that mrs m can drift off to sleep to the gentle sound of small trains roaming their circuits.

[GWR-Kris]

i started off with OO gauge, i do enjoy it, and prefer OO for some aspects such as there is more stuff out there. But i chose N guage as you can fit and do alot more with the same space.

[James C]

It was purely space with me but having now looked at OO i much prefer N it looks more realistic for some reason OO look like toys to me.

Dave

Similar with me... I had an 8 x 4 OO layout and just didn't have the space, so sold most of it and switched to N, and I feel that the models are more models, and less toys.

I do regret the bit more effort required to chip to DCC some of the models though, but every year more and more are being released with a socket, and to be fair anything is possible so far it seems with regards to chipping.

[bluedepot]

why oh why did i choose n gauge.... i must be mad...


tim

[jyoungs]

Like many others I started with an oo set in the 1970`s !!!(the hornby freighliner one with an 08 and 2 container waggons, with extra track and a brake van) this was set up on a board and gave many happy hours over the following years.Then I discovered motorbikes and girls and the set was packed away. Several years ago I was looking in the local model shop and saw some n gauge locos, I was interested and kept thinking about it over the next few years. Then with my 50th birthday looming I bought a couple of model railway magazines and kept on dropping hints like "cor - I really would like one of those" and left the mags open at the "n" stuff. All the family clubbed together and bought me a selection of track and rolling stock and the rest, as they say ,is history - I`ve lost track of how much I`ve added to it and how much money has been spent!. Incidently I still have my original oo set complete with the triang system 4 track and it still works (after a fashion). The amount that can be fitted in a small space is just an extra bonus.               regards, jon.