Are we over the Golden Age of N Gauge?

[Capri_sam]

The space argument certainly held true for me. When I got back into model railways (though always 'train sets' for me - I treat the layout very much as a toy to be played with) in my mid-20s I was in a single room in a house share in London (ah millennial glamour!), so the only thing space would allow was a T-gauge layout on an old door under the bed. It helped that 10 years ago T gauge was very competitively priced at £50 for a 4-car DMU with directional lighting - alas no longer.

Then as I got married and settled in my own place, a flat at first, there was a guest room with a double bed which could slide a small N gauge layout under it. Now we've upgraded to a small terrace, I've got a whole loft to fill with my train guff, though going from a 2x1 metre layout to 6x3 metres was possibly ambitious... Our as-yet-unborn kids will be driving before I get my layout done!

[njee20]

Squiddy may correct me here, but square metres does not equate to actual house size, footprintwise.

The lovely lady in Japan who invited us into her home and dressed Mrs Bealman in the silk kimono she had worn on her 21st birthday was relatively well off, and owned a huge house.

However, it was thin and narrow, on three floors, connected by a lift!

Each floor by itself was quite tiny in area.

Hence, unless your model railway is going from floor to floor, available space is tight.

That doesn't really make sense, area is area surely? Yes, ok, maybe we have more open plan living spaces as opposed to 'going up', but that's not conducive to building a layout, where most people will want a dedicated space, like a room.

[Newportnobby]

Not sure I get that. If you're "banished to an outbuilding", ie you have a garage to build a layout in then you've probably got a decent space to use!

I did say mine was a broad brush stroke and, to continue the 'ageist' theme, retired folks like me who downsize to a bungalow (for example) tend to have small gardens so typical shed size is maybe 7ft x 5ft. Having decluttered in order to downsize I would venture more 'senior' folks actually use the garage for what it was designed for i.e. the car (mine tends to have the motorbike, pushbike and still lots of  in it )
I'm not sure comparison with Japanese dwellings can be made as possibly more use is made of 'click and play' like Kato stuff rather than permanent layouts being built in that country. I just don't have the knowledge to be certain.

Squiddy may correct me here, but square metres does not equate to actual house size, footprintwise.

The lovely lady in Japan who invited us into her home and dressed Mrs Bealman in the silk kimono she had worn on her 21st birthday was relatively well off, and owned a huge house.

However, it was thin and narrow, on three floors, connected by a lift!

Each floor by itself was quite tiny in area.

Hence, unless your model railway is going from floor to floor, available space is tight.

Monster helices!!!!

[Snowwolflair]

Not sure I get that. If you're "banished to an outbuilding", ie you have a garage to build a layout in then you've probably got a decent space to use!

I did say mine was a broad brush stroke and, to continue the 'ageist' theme, retired folks like me who downsize to a bungalow (for example) tend to have small gardens so typical shed size is maybe 7ft x 5ft. Having decluttered in order to downsize I would venture more 'senior' folks actually use the garage for what it was designed for i.e. the car (mine tends to have the motorbike, pushbike and still lots of  in it )
I'm not sure comparison with Japanese dwellings can be made as possibly more use is made of 'click and play' like Kato stuff rather than permanent layouts being built in that country. I just don't have the knowledge to be certain.

Squiddy may correct me here, but square metres does not equate to actual house size, footprintwise.

The lovely lady in Japan who invited us into her home and dressed Mrs Bealman in the silk kimono she had worn on her 21st birthday was relatively well off, and owned a huge house.

However, it was thin and narrow, on three floors, connected by a lift!

Each floor by itself was quite tiny in area.

Hence, unless your model railway is going from floor to floor, available space is tight.

Monster helices!!!!

Definitely needs to be Swiss railways 

[railsquid]

- this information from seven years ago suggests we live in much smaller spaces than the Japanese - Typical Size Of A New Build Home: Japan 132.sq.m; U K 76.sq.m.

Cheers
Kirky

Instinctively thought that Kirky's figures were wrong. Two minutes of googling later and I found some
newer figures. Japan 123 m2 UK 85 m2. So a misconception on my part has been cleared up this morning! 

So despite having bigger houses the Japanese prefer N gauge. Good thinking chaps! 

Bear in mind there was no equivalent Hornby or Tri-ang in Japan, so until Kato came along and started pumping out N gauge trains there was no affordable mass "trainset" market, model railways were the preserve of a few niche manufacturers and "proper modellers" making HO and O gauge trains out of brass, and a scenic layout to run things on would probably have been a rarity. I suspect had Kato turned to HO or TT (I believe the latter was seriously considered), those would have taken off, and N scale would have ended up as what Z scale is today.

Squiddy may correct me here, but square metres does not equate to actual house size, footprintwise.

The lovely lady in Japan who invited us into her home and dressed Mrs Bealman in the silk kimono she had worn on her 21st birthday was relatively well off, and owned a huge house.

However, it was thin and narrow, on three floors, connected by a lift!

Each floor by itself was quite tiny in area.

Hence, unless your model railway is going from floor to floor, available space is tight.

You do see a lot of houses like that in densely populated areas, the absolute floor area may sound relatively generous but is inefficiently distributed.

Here at Chez Railsquid on the outskirts of Tokyo we have the traditional two storeys, and I have a room I use as an office (I work from home mainly) which also houses ca. 300x90 cm of layout-under-development as well as a dedicated "work bench" (well more of an old desk piled high with model railway paraphernalia).

However a lot of people live in apartments and don't have the space for a permanent setup, which is where the "plug'n'play" Kato and Tomix systems come into their own.

[Fardap]

"...and I have a room I use as an office (I work from home mainly) which also houses ca. 300x90 cm of layout-under-development as well as a dedicated "work bench" (well more of an old desk piled high with model railway paraphernalia)."

Can't see how you would get any work done in an office that has a model railway in it!     Is it really an office... 

[railsquid]

"...and I have a room I use as an office (I work from home mainly) which also houses ca. 300x90 cm of layout-under-development as well as a dedicated "work bench" (well more of an old desk piled high with model railway paraphernalia)."

Can't see how you would get any work done in an office that has a model railway in it!     Is it really an office... 

Recent conversation with the Squidlet (aged ca. 4.5):
"Are you going to work upstairs today?"
"Yes"
"Are you doing train work?" (the Squidlet has not quite grasped the different between "work" and "leisure activity")
"No, computer work"
"But train work is more fun!"
"Yes, but Daddy only gets money for computer work".

[Newportnobby]

Just to add something most of us know to this thread, since the post above Rapido have announced their N gauge class 28 Metrovick and Kato have announced 2 versions of the class 800 hybrid MU.
Loverly-jubbly.