When we lived in North Wales we had a large outside rear garden around which I ran an "00" model railway, as well as a smaller "00" table top one that sat on top of our 7' by 4' Pool table.

I now only live in an Apartment in Tenerife - and the extensive outside garden area is  "communal" property part owned by everyone who purchased an apartment on site.

If I lived in a private Villa with it's own grounds I would probably put a "00" sized layout in it again as I still have quite a number of "00" engines, but for any indoor layout I am now a committed "N" gauge fan no matter how much space I had to play with. 

An old YouTube video I did of our former home shows the large garden we used to have and if you look closely you can just see snatches of the "00" track that ran round it, and I have included below a still image of one part of the garden railway, plus the video referred to which features more the Pool Table top layout.

What became of the garden railway I don't know as we left it for the new house owners to decide what to do with it, but I advertised and sold the indoor layout.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L09xLyK6c74

if i was totally loaded I would probably start O gauge in the garden and OO / HO gauge in a double garage too...!!!  but I'd continue with n gauge as well...

when you see all the different liveries and the super detail in new OO these days it is very tempting, but n gauge has got a lot better too, but less available...


tim

Quote from: bluedepot on October 05, 2014, 07:34:45 PM
when you see all the different liveries and the super detail in new OO these days it is very tempting, but n gauge has got a lot better too, but less available...


tim

This is my dilemma!!! 

I like the way N gauge allows you to set the railway in a landscape, even if you don't have a lot of space.  To get that same effect in 4mm you need to have a lot more space and also to stand much further back from the layout.  So even though modelling in N is a lot more difficult than the larger scales in some respects (for example, achieving reliable operation) I'll stick with it as long as my eyesight is good enough to see what I am doing.

If I had a space 60' x 20' for a layout I'd still be working in N, I'd model Riccarton Junction and its approaches. From a 'trains in landscape' point of view, it would be awesome.

Quote from: TommyD on October 05, 2014, 07:58:40 PM

Quote from: bluedepot on October 05, 2014, 07:34:45 PM
when you see all the different liveries and the super detail in new OO these days it is very tempting, but n gauge has got a lot better too, but less available...


tim

This is my dilemma!!! 

OO gauge now has incredible detail... but, so has N gauge to a much greater extent than in the past.

It is easy to see the detail on OO gauge and it adds a lot to the attraction of the scale.

N gauge also has incredible detail and looks as good as OO, at a distance. It looks real...

I think that is the crux of the matter. If it looks convincingly real to a normal human being with normal eyesight then it must be good... Yes??  If you are an old f**t like me whose eye sight is struggling to see if its a steam or diesel loco then N gauge is truelly wonderful.

Bob Austin

I would not go back (although I do have an oval of Kato HO to run a Pendolino and my late father's Blue Pullman on)

OO would be a lot more work and cost for me I like modern buildings and sky scrapers and express trains like ICE and Eurostar. The amount of space that I would need to replicate my layout design on OO would be too much for me to manage and the layout would also become very much taller.

I also think that OO requires a higher level of detail than N. For example, in OO, I would want to put passengers in the trains but in N, particularly those trains with darkened glass, I can just about get away with it. Similarly with buildings. Plus with OO stronger materials are needed to support the buildings if using Scalescenes.

I'd like a little more space, so that I can run 20 car Eurostars and have more main lines but not too much space that it becomes unmanageable.

I am experimenting with T but it is a hard scale to work with. Trying to put an eight car ICE3 on the track is very difficult  So N is the best scale for me

Well, your question implies we all did leave, and from what has been said I think you can safely say some of us never did !  I'm certainly in that camp.

My N incursion is by far eclipsed by my (& SWMBO's) collection of OO - and will likely remain that way; not because I don't like N (I wouldn't be here if I didn't  ) but because of the very specific layout I'm (very slowly  ) making.  There just isn't that much extra I need (or want, come to that ...), and what there is tends not to be produced.

OTOH, it must be said that I have a lot more "real layout" in N than in OO !!  But that's because it's a damn sight easier to relocate an N layout when you move than a OO one ...

I started "playing trains" with a Hornby O gauge, then went OO because they were more realistic at a price I could afford. When we moved to Suffolk from Derby modelling went on hold, because I was working all hours, then as things calmed down I only had space for N, first with U.S. outline then as British models started to get better and more of them I changed to my first love, B.R. Eastern.Three years ago we moved to a bungalow and I was allowed to join the garage to the house and with a space of 18ft X 8ft to use was tempted to return to OO. This gave me pause for thought and I sat & thunk what I really wanted from a model railway. I decided that, apart from the modelling side what I really liked was to sit back and watch the trains go by so I decided to stick with N as even this space was not enough to run full length trains in OO. That said, if space was limitless and money too I would probably go back to O or even Gauge 1 and run live steam, however we have to live in the real world and do what we can with what suits our circumstances.

Quote from: TommyD on October 05, 2014, 01:33:28 PM
Hey all,

Ive seen that there are some "why did you choose N" threads on here,

Personally i chose N only because of space,

My question is for those who chose it for the same reason, Would you go to a larger scale if you had the space or are you firmly grounded in N?

Interested in hearing your thoughts, ive just acquired a large shed and was considering OO but the pull of N is still too much! (does OO look like a toy?)

I've only recently been introduced to N Gauge, I personally don't like the larger scales, so I'm sticking with it.

I've modelled in N and OO concurrently for many years, however I moved a year or so ago and my new flat has less room to store a layout in OO so have been concentrating on N.

However there's more choice in OO of pursuing my aim of a collection of named locos after places where my family and I lived over the years, because quite a lot of the named locos, or in some cases loco classes, aren't available in the smaller scale, also there's less choice of nameplates available in N.

I've whittled down non-core larger scale stock in favour of workaday N scale locos and units.

When we looked at buying this place in 1999 as a holiday home to be retired to, I had 1 x minitrix 9F and a 00 western with 4 coaches oh and a "00" 9F weathered (my pride and joy from the 70's). This place had / has a 14 footish square foot store room.  I remembered my teen years, loco 6 coaches wow and that was in a loft space over 18 foot long.......

NO CONTEST just ran a 21 coach train, it looked wrong but it still took 3 minutes to go around.

HOWEVER IF I had the cash I would be tempted to the BIG stuff. my fantasy of an "O" gauge 08 dragging a cold beer on a lowmac from a hidden fridge in the summer persists.

Jerry

Iam very much rooted in N gauge with owning two layouts and collecting locos for over 25 years. This is down to my father getting me involved at this scale. I also very much still love this scale however I DO Dabble in OO gauge owning x6 locos.

This is a recent fascination with me. I wish to get these locos 'chipped' and sound fitted, the reason is because I cannot do this with N as my collection is too large and converting from my DC to DCC would make me bankrupt.
Instead I can get/make a decent sized shelf layout in OO and get a couple of
Locos running DCC with sound all for a few quid thus quenching my thirst for sound chipped DCC locomotives.
I can have the best of both worlds!!

Pengi: you got an old Triang Blue Pullman?  You kept that quiet!

Jerry: 08 with a beer... 

Like Komata, I moved into N from 009. Now I'm sticking with it as I have too much invested in the gauge.

Plus, as I've said before on this forum, and to fellow members when I briefly met them in Wigan, 00 models just look like plasticky toys to me. They just do, even when weathered.

Bealman

Oz-N or 'the usual suspects'?