Why I may Upsize my Order to HO

Figured it was time to think it out in the open air. I am considering upsizing to HO. Just airing out my thoughts. Seeing if I may have missed a major point or am perhaps misguided. There are obvious advantages to both scales. I am focusing purely on myself here and how those scales impact me. (self centered individual)

Pro's and Con's as I see them for me:

Pro's
Bigger, easier to see, and work with.
The coupling uncoupling on an engine (is this MTH only?)
I have scratch built models at this scale before.
Lighting at this scale will be easier
Seems to be more a modeling scale. While N can fit
Track is less fiddly, and things don't knockover as easily. (truth?, fallacy?) (I am a bit heavy handed, even though I have painted historical figures in Z and N scale with a brush and have good brush skills I am not known as delicate).

Con's
Not as much mainline run or space for a yard.
Bigger Curves / turn around area for a loop

Even:
Cost. While a Good loco may be around 2x the cost, the layout will not hold as many so even if I have 2/3rds the locos at a higher cost other things will offset.
The Cars seems to be about 50% more for new good stuff. Again if I have half the cars, (actually less track spacing means fewer tracks, couple that with longer cars = probably about 40% the cars).
Buildings, I will be able to scratch build easier at this scale. Even if I bought kits the price difference doesnt seem bad at all.

Bottom Line:
I really like the idea of the Locomotive Couplers in HO.
I like it not being so fiddly to work with.
And the idea if a kid bumps the table I won't have as big a disaster.

 

Sounds as though you have already made up your mind. WELCOME TO HO!

 

For what its worth here's some more thoughts.

IF I was starting anew in HO I would use the higher end cars,one or two high end locomotives and I would stay with a modern design switching layout following Lance Mindheim's disciplines with lots of details,quality vehicles and structures.

 

I agree with Larry. I have done N, HO, and 2R O. I have purchased some of teh recent Exactrail high-end boxcars at about $26 and the free-standing details make these a work of art. Same goes for my Intermountain Procor cars. N is fun to run but HO wins the detail race, even over 2R O such as Atlas Master Line, straight from the factory that is.

 

My two cents here.

Fifteen years ago N scale detail was as good as H0 scale detail for the most part, Specifically any N scale car had details as good as good an Athearn Blue Box (except for those gross N scale roofwalks). But then the detail began to improve. It improved a lot! The H0 detail, over time, improved a lot more than N scale detail so the H0 cars today are indeed much better detailed than the N scale cars today, in general. And, based on the size of the models, they should be better detailed.

Other factors listed in the original post will be given different priorities by others, hence the different preferences for different scales.

So there.

 

I'm now building H0n3. There're the same good points like with H0 but you have shorter trains, smaller radii and steeper grades.

Wolfgang

 

I took a look at N scale a few years back. Started building a small test layout but I decided to stick with HO.

N scale is nice if you prefer more long trains and mainline running. You can fit a lot more in the space and those long trains aren't extremely overwhelming in space consumed. I've seen some REALLY nice N scale layouts over the years that model things like the Corrizo Gorge, The moffat line, and even eastern prototypes.

HO scale is nice if you like details and are more focused on detail and switching. Don't get me wrong, I've seen N scale switching layouts, but in the big picture I think HO still out performs in slow speed switching. HO tends to have a wider variety of items available and more company's to back it. The new rolling stock coming out with the RTR details is superb! Engines have become some of the smoothest running things I've seen, and they sound and look terrific.

I think HO is just about the right size, not too large, not too big.

to answer your question about the remote couplers. That's Limited to MTH and a select few company's (none others right now?). I would steer away from MTH for now, I haven't seen too many that liked DCC operation for extended periods.

 

See that you've incorporated the Southern logo in your signature and if that means anything believe you'll find a lot more Southern (or southeastern for that matter) engines and cars in HO. True, about ten years or so ago it appeared that P2K and Atlas were going to pay some real attention to said roads in N - didn't really happen.

With P2K going to Walthers, you may see one or two (out of 30 or 40) releases for SE roads.

I've stuck wwih HO (not that I have a thing against N) but do know that the variety is in HO.

p.s. Plus scale size rail.

 

Honestly in looking I have seen little in HO for Southern. I could obviously be looking in all the wrong places.

I am not dedicated to Southern it serves my region (well did).

Personally there are several railroads that I like the schemes of better so I may switch when I switch. If I can find some prototype. Naturally I like a lot of the western railroads paint schemes and I prefer Eastern Railroad Cities. Shrug, Christmas is coming, I have kids, so I have some time for such complex decisions. Although I am really leaning towards going a bit free lance and building a train or two from railroads that I like. I mean that's the point of the hobby modeling what you like. It would keep my interest to say build a SP Black Widow train. Then start building a CN, a PRR, a NYC, etc. I imagine the kids would want a Hogwarts express, so...

I have quite a collection of N scale Southern. 2 Kato E8's, 4 GP-7s, 1 SD-35, 4 F A/B pairs, and a bunch of coal cars and gondolas. But I won't be tied down just because I have it.

I still haven't fully decided to change yet.

I started painting up a few buildings in N and HO. I really need to get the SAME building in both scales so I can really compare painting and detailing. I set out an N and HO train side by side. The HO is soooo big. When I look at an 8 car train its huge especially when I look at the space. But then I knew that. Then I bumped the table and the N train lost two of its 14 cars and the HO just sat there. When I got up this morning I looked down at the HO and though looks good. Looking at the N I bent way over and thought yeah not bad.

So I guess my gut is in the HO. I am just a bit reserved about how much less space there is for the train. So till I have a working plan for the layout in HO that I like I am not making a move. In the mean time I will probably get a structure and start working with it.

(When I refer to an HO train, its from the late 1960's. My parents train before I was around. A rivarosi steam enginge that needs TLC and a Tempo Sante Fe F unit, and an assortment of box cars.)

 

I got started in HO back in 1973 with a train set for Christmas. I had a layout for about five years and quite a large collection of locos and rolling stock. There was a hiatus of a couple of decades, but I had kept the original loco from 1973 - which decided the scale when I re-entered the hobby a few years ago. I don't regret the choice. Since I like painting and detailing, I prefer HO because it's a lot easier to work with (major kudos to those who do this kind of work in N or Z scale...). And when the eyesight starts getting cranky about my age... you know how it goes, or you should know soon...

 

N has spoiled me. Track planning in HO is a challenge.

Turning the stuff around, that is a kicker.

Well, I haven't given up, but going O around the ceiling sure is starting to get tempting.

 

I made a 10 year switch to N during HS, college and early post college. Really wasn't a switch, I just focused on N.

In theory N should be where my heart is, I like modern, I like long trains, I like big scenery. But the fact was that I had more HO stuff already, I am as you suggested you are, a bit heavy handed. When my LL GP20 hit the floor for the 3rd time I called it quits.

So, to assuage my issues with wanting big trains from HO. I joined a club with a layout big enough to run reasonably large trains.
I don't see HO as more expensive, because I prefer to by the lower end models and detail them as needed (not much) I still look at hobby shops and swap meets for BB/MDC and old Walthers kits for modern cars.
I build Accurail kits. I shun expensive stuff like Exactrail. And that has kept my investment relatively low.

 

YoHo:When my LL GP20 hit the floor for the 3rd time I called it quits.
---------------------------
Yoho,That can very well happen in HO..

I recently dropped my upgraded Athearn SW1500 and needless to say the shell is totaled.

That's a $110.00 lost.

So,in order to recoup my lost I rebuilt a older BB SW1500 by using the interior and the newer drive.




This project still has some minor detailing and touch up painting.

 

I got into HO because I'm into steamers. You just can't match the variety of locos, rolling stock, and just plain "stuff" in any other scale that HO scale has to offer. Just about anything you can imagine, someone, somewhere, is making it in HO: and if you can't find it, there's a wide array of scale construction materials available for you to make it. I still think N scale offers more if you have a very limited space for a layout (I'm in the same boat myself) but to me the locos are the star of the show. It's more important to me how they are presented on the layout, in terms of its design, then how much track I have to run them on. I'm also into DCC. When I first got into it, I had visions of running about ten trains at the same time, but in reality I'll be lucky to squeeze in enough track to get three trans rolling. So it's a trade off.

 

I'm right with you on that. I am awed and impressed with the amazing detail available on the new high-end HO rolling stock but the stuff is almost too detailed. And certainly too expensive for me. I really enjoy sifting through the old rolling stock at train shows to find unique and fun items to massage back to life.

 

Scale is a weird thing. It's really personal how someone gravitates to a scale. if it's your thing then do it.

I have a n scale layout half built. I have an ho outdoor layout half built. I have some Lionel O scale stuff for laying out on the floor. i used to have G scale stuff but gave it to a friends kid; wish I hadn't now. My advice is not to paint yourself into a corner right away.

The main thing is to stay focused on what ever it is that makes you happy and is fun to do right now. I mean right now, your tastes may change over time.

 

I'm running N and Z because of space limitations, and the constant need to keep the track squeaky clean is a real pain. But, there's a lot more of it, in scale feet, and I do like long stretches of uncluttered scenery, so I stay. But an around-the-ceiling HO layout is a persistent itch...

 

I'm way too deep into HO to even think of changing scales. Every so often the allure of fitting twice as much railroad into the same space gets me thinking about it, but then I look at the N scale oversize couplers, the oversize flanges and the oversize rails and I think "nah". Besides, even if those things didn't bother me, they're still too small to model with (to me) and HO just looks better.