Newbie - dumb question?

[PhilR]

Hi,

It's 20 years since I have done anything with this hobby, in our last house I had a 30 foot by 20 foot railway room with an OO gauge layout. When we moved house I reclaimed all the track , rolling stock,controls, buildings etc but I have limited space now so it's not practical. Plus I want to try DCC as it is new to me.
With this wretched virus continuing to restrict what we can do I have been looking at starting an N gauge layout but am unsure whether it will be for me so was hoping to get some sort of starter set but they seem impossible to buy - out of stock everywhere I look. So I thought about building it from individual items but engine availability seems sparse as I only intend to start with a small branch line and therefore only need an 0-6-0 tank engine which again all seem to be out of stock or on pre-order with an unknown delivery date.

Is there generally a supply problem?

Phil

[Nigel Cliffe]

Model railways have had a boom in the virus.  Lots of people who can't go on holiday, stuck at home, decide to "build that model railway". 
Add to that, a number of significant manufacturers having shutdowns, in both the UK (notably Peco, shut for a long time in the spring) and in China (where nearly everything ready-to-run in locos and rolling stock is now made).   

Manufacturing of locos is now "batches" every few years.  A maker runs a batch of some thousands at a factory in China, then starts to sell them.  Some years later, they might do another batch.  So, things "in the catalogue" might not exist in the shops (either not arrived yet, or its sold out and none left at that shop), and that's without the virus problems.   Its very different to 25 years ago, with stuff made in the UK in a fairly continuous low volume trickle from factories (be they Hornby or Farish). 


Net result is a general shortage of stuff in all scales.  Try smaller shops, they might have stock. 

- Nigel

[PhilR]

OK thanks.
I'll keep on looking.

Phil

[Newportnobby]

Welcome to the forum, Phil.
I suggest if there's anything in particular you're looking for then post details and see if anyone can help. As has been said above, demand has outstripped supply owing to the virus problems.

[chrism]

There are several GWR Pannier Tanks in GWR or BR liveries and a few ex-LMS Jinties in BR liveries listed as new on eBay at present. At least a couple that I've looked are being sold by shops, haven't looked at them all though.

[zopadooper]

There are several GWR Pannier Tanks in GWR or BR liveries and a few ex-LMS Jinties in BR liveries listed as new on eBay at present. At least a couple that I've looked are being sold by shops, haven't looked at them all though.

Welcome to the forum.

Although they are not tank locos I would recommend trying a Union Mills loco which are available from their factory on the Isle of Man.  They are good and solid and seem to run on anything, which can't be said of some locos.  They do need DCC conversion but a number of people will do that for you.

[ntpntpntp]

@PhilR    Do you have a particular country and theme in mind for your layout?   

You can get very good quality start sets from the Continental manufacturers eg. Fleischmann, Minitrix and Arnold.  In the UK I would consider Continental modelling a bit of a "niche within a niche" of N gauge, the sets that are out there in some UK shops don't fly off the shelves as quickly as British N sets. That's not because there's anything bad about them (personally I consider them better quality than British N).

[PhilR]

I do have a specific theme in mind. Close to where I live there used to be a GWR branch line, part of which is now a heritage railway, and there is an excellent 2 volume book set that gives massive detail on everything from the detailed track layout at stations thru to individual staff members, customers, working patterns - the whole lot.
I would like to model one particular station and it's associated goods yard. Passenger traffic was never very high - an auto trailer was used in conjunction with generally a class 2021 0-6-0, occasionally a 48XX or a 54XX. Now I can possibly modify something to suit but as I said in my first post I'm from the OO world and am not sure if I'll be able to do that in this smaller scale. This single track line was worked as 1 engine in steam so no signalling needed but I want to start with DCC because I just know that it will grow and I'll end up connecting this branch line to the mainline and all that entails :-)

Phil

[port perran]

There should be no problem picking up a Dapol 14xx (58xx) or a Farish 64xx(54xx) or for that matter a Dapol Prarie or 57xx pannier. All would suit a rural branch line as would tge Union Mills 22xx Collet.
Anyway, welcome aboard and good luck with the build.

[mickeyflinn]

A quick search on Arcadia Models website brings up this page;

http://www.arcadiarail.co.uk/products/grahamfarish/index.php?page=4&type=All&themes=All&orderby=pricedesc

Are these of any use?

[PhilR]

Could be. I'll have a look - thanks.

Phil

[Bornin1980something]

I think DM toys in Germany have some British locos in stock. Being in Germany, they probably didn't sell out as fast.
https://www.dm-toys.de/en/list/manufacturer/Dapol/category/rolling-stock_locomotive-steam.html

Now, if you want to start with DCC, I won't recommend union Mills, as they weren't designed for it and are very difficult to convert.

[ntpntpntp]

@DM Toy's prices may not be competitive for British N compared to UK shops, so carry out due diligence and search around.  I have a German friend who usually asks me to buy and ship things like Peco points over to him as he says they're cheaper 

[gavin_t]

Welcome aboard. 

Fairly new to all this myself Although I started last year before this current storm of uncertainty kicked off!
What starter sets are you having trouble getting hold of?
My local shop John Dutfield model railways offers mail order as well as a physical shop. Think they had alot of the starter bits and bobs in stock last time I was in there the other week.
Also if you don't mind a bit of second hand stuff there have been a lot of GWR panniers etc coming up for sale on the various well know sites. Although admittedly not all DCC

[PhilR]

Hi

Something like this :-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Graham-Farish-370-080-Countryside-Coal-Set-with-S-D-J-R-Jinty-DCC-Ready-N-Gauge/324346841859?hash=item4b84940b03:g:EVYAAOSw2WBfSQhB

as it has DCC already fitted. That will let me know if I can get on with a new, to me, smaller scale, and to play with DCC.
If that is OK then I'd then get a GWR 0-6-0 and have a go at putting a decoder in it.
After that, assuming all is going well I'll build a branch line, hence I'm looking for something with a few wagons and a tank engine initially so that it's not all throw away, with extra track, scenics etc etc.

I'm going to investigate building it up on a piece by piece basis as well and 2nd hand is fine for odds and ends but I'm a bit uneasy forking out £235 for the 2nd hand set in the link I posted. Maybe I just have to bite the bullet on it.

Phil