# Why do you choose the scale you have???



## CF-DRG (Apr 13, 2020)

I just had a friend remove his whole HO layout (had to remove an old oil tank in that room for house insurance compliance ) from a 12x12 room.. He sold all his running stock and buildings etc .. And is now starting over in On30 ( logging / mining layout ).. I thought , that will be a bit tougher to get Shay's,Climaxes, and Heislers.. But he assures me it's out there...I get it, O scale , he will be able to get more detail, but a smaller scale layout though, in the same room.. My thinking is..
N scale - I have limited space and still want a "big" layout ( and lots of items available ) 
HO - most popular and lots of items readily available ( that's why I chose it, especially for the geared steam stuff ) 
Here's where you can enlighten me, Oh great modelers of bigger scales...
S - I don't get it , seems very rare and items aren't as easily available.. show me a "S" scale Shay I can buy today , and I'm onboard with you..
O - More detail and somewhat a lot of available items but not as much as HO , and needs more space ( radius on a turn)
I haven't even gotten into the narrow gauge stuff either or the 3 rail..

Why did you choose the scale you model????


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I went with O-scale, the choice was rather easy for me. Since I like to repair/modify the stuff, and I'm not as young as I used to be, O-scale is easier to work on.  I also had O-scale as a kid, and the idea stuck with me.


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## BobT (Mar 27, 2021)

Simple. Dad worked with HO.


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

O gauge for me. For a few reasons. We had a small O gauge layout when I was small, but I don’t really remember it. I do remember the O gauge setup my uncle had in his attic. It had NYC ABA F units and matching passenger cars. I was very impressed. My wife got me a Lionel O27 starter set in the early 80s. A gift that she sometimes regrets. Since then, I’ve been building my layout and my roster.


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## yankeejwb (Nov 30, 2021)

For me, it's weird I guess but I've always felt like O gauge looks too toylike. Maybe it's because so many of the layouts I've seen in that gauge weren't weathered much, a lot of shiny plastic. 
HO has such a wide availability, small enough to fit a large amount of railroad in limited space, but big enough to still see everything to work on. As I age that's becoming even more important. I almost switched to N, but between what I already have invested in HO and my deteriorating eyesight, decided not to.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

I like the intermediate size of HO. I can have a decent size layout with intricate detail that I can see. Many more options in HO scale too.


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## J.Albert1949 (Feb 3, 2018)

*HO.*

Not too big (O scale wouldn't fit well in the relatively small area I have, 4x8 with an L-extension).

But not too small to see or work on (as N scale would be for me).

Also... more choices with HO than with any other scale.


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## Chaostrain (Jan 27, 2015)

HO because my wife and partner has issues with eyesight due to diabetes. 

Was N so I could get more in less space and still have great availability of stuff.


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## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

N gauge due to the small scale and being able to do more with less space.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

My first train set in 1968 was N gauge, moved to H.O. in 1986, but now collecting a few N gauge pieces again as well….

Why? Personal choice, no reason at all really….


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## Zante (Dec 9, 2021)

N scale, for two reasons:

the most obvious, space. Can get plenty of trackage and landscape and detail is still pretty good

less obvious, the availability of trains. I want to model Japanese rail, and there is little available in H0 (which here would be the most obvious choice). Plenty in N scale.


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

First train set was HO Marklin in 1963, when I was 11. We returned to Canada where I grew up, went to college, got married, had a career, and retired at 52, not having done much more than work, camp, learn about classical music, get an advanced degree, and learn to sight read music. Oh, and raise three girls. 

Retired, and began to think about a hobby. Had been busy for six months moving, settling, mastering the new garden and property. Wandered into a hobby store in early January and saw a BLI Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo 4-6-4. The nice guy put some track on the counter and fired her up. Six minutes later, I was a few hundred poorer and on my way home with the engine and a huge smile. 17 years later, I'm still in HO and enjoying it very much. 

As we age, our ability to open our irises lessens. This means less of an aperture, which presents the aged person with two distinct problems: less light coming in to activate sensors, but also less definition of what we're seeing due to the small aperture. Aperture = resolution. Resolution is the ability to separate two small bits that are very close, like double stars. So, we aged folk require a lot more light to see clearly, plus bifocals that also have magnification built into the prescription. This is why we favour the larger scales...they're easier to handle, but they're also easier to appreciate visually.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

For which instrument do you sight read?

I've been playing piano since I was six as a young kinder in Deutschland.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

3-Rail O is just what my first train set from my dad was so it's what I've continued to collect for the majority of my collection. 

That said, I've also dabbled in collecting examples of the other major scales (just because). The smaller scales definitely have some appeal considering I live in a one bedroom apartment which leaves little room for the space that my O gauge stuff requires to set up, but I'm too deeply invested in O scale to turn back now.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Never say never...

Get a sleeper couch and the bedroom becomes Depot Central. That is, unless you're married, then all bets are off.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

MichaelE said:


> Never say never...
> 
> Get a sleeper couch and the bedroom becomes Depot Central. That is, unless you're married, then all bets are off.


Definitely possible but I prefer to not let my hobby take over my life quite that much 😁

At my previous apartment I actually had a different take on that. My bed came from Ikea and has a mattress frame that hinges up to reveal a storage space underneath. I used it to fit in a small floor layout that could be left up without taking up the limited living space in the rest of the apartment. I've since moved and my current apartment has a bit less closet space so unfortunately I've had to utilize the bed for its intended storage purpose, but it was fun while it lasted.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Very nice. Just goes to show that with enough motivation and desire you can have a railroad anywhere if you really want one.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

santafe158 said:


> Definitely possible but I prefer to not let my hobby take over my life quite that much.
> 
> 
> > Funny you should mention that part of it.
> ...


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## Bluwtr (Feb 28, 2021)

I went with N because I like the "lots in a little" concept, but also, the small scale has always fascinated me. It's weird, but I think Z is too small though. With N I can get almost as much stuff as HO but just have more room to use.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Twice the stuff.


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

MichaelE said:


> For which instrument do you sight read?
> 
> I've been playing piano since I was six as a young kinder in Deutschland.


For voice. I sing bass in a choral society, and have never learned to read music, nor to play an instrument. I did start to play the chanter when I was in Grade 4 many years ago, so that I could play the bagpipes, but that went by the way upon my return with my family to Peru, South America, after the 3 month holiday in Canada.


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## Jscullans (Jul 8, 2019)

I chose ho scale because it seemed like there was more “prototypical” steam locomotives. In real life I’ve never saw a steam locomotive running only on static display but I’ve always been fascinated by them. I chose to model the atsf because I remember watching the warbonnet dash8 and 9s running the main line through the town I live in. I have a 10x16 layout that takes up one of the rooms in my basement. I bought my house with the intention of a railroad. Little does the better half know but as soon as the boy is old enough to spread his wings and go off on his own the main room in the basement will be part of the layout too. Hahahahaha she calls me the basement troll


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

I had an old handme down O27 scale train when young. When I got to High School, one of my friends was building an HO layout, he used a large table covered with Homasote. But his father had an around the room Scale O layout that was a joy to watch. He also ran the local Hobby shop. With all this I chose HO and built a dual control open frame layout in our basement. So virtually using neither as a starting point! First locomotive was a Varney Dockside. I've build several layouts in the intervening 60 years and will probably build one more. I like the building, wiring and electronics and have never made to the scenery part on any of the layouts! Why HO? I have no idea!


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## Severn (May 13, 2016)

Ho is fairly good on cost, it seems the biggest market overall. The prototypical details seem to best the others. The digital control system is standardized so it's independent of any one company. there's non us model offerings which appeals to me. And it's fairly space efficient. I also have a fair amount of o, and a tiny amount of n. I actually line them all ... unfortunately. I've toyed with getting g but have none.... yet.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Actually, HO not only seems like the biggest market, it *IS* the biggest market….


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## Madman (Aug 22, 2020)

No matter which scale you model in, a very detailed layout can be achieved in the tiniest of spaces.

page-43-november-2005


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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

Thanks for that link, Madman. That's what I'm trying to achieve in N scale.


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## Ron045 (Feb 11, 2016)

For our family it is "O". I did not care much about trains as a boy or young man. Darling Wife wanted the kids to have trains when they were born. She had "O" as a kid. I figured they were big and durable and the kids could easily put them on the tracks.

19 years later, the kids are grown and I'm deep into it. Thought about HO for a time, but now as I age and eyesight is diminished, "O" continues to work for us. Like GRJ I can't imagine working on smaller stuff. My sausage fingers have a difficult enough time with working on "O".

While there is quite a lot of choices for "O", I recognize I could probably get anything and everything in HO. But I figure if "O" doesn't have it and I want it bad enough, then I make it. I get a lot of satisfaction with kit bashing, scratch building and painting & decaling trains. My layout is 15x33 and it is nowhere near complete. I can't imagine how much a 15x33 in HO would be bare plywood.

Have Fun.
Ron


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## Madman (Aug 22, 2020)

Ron045 said:


> For our family it is "O". I did not care much about trains as a boy or young man. Darling Wife wanted the kids to have trains when they were born. She had "O" as a kid. I figured they were big and durable and the kids could easily put them on the tracks.
> 
> 19 years later, the kids are grown and I'm deep into it. Thought about HO for a time, but now as I age and eyesight is diminished, "O" continues to work for us. Like GRJ I can't imagine working on smaller stuff. My sausage fingers have a difficult enough time with working on "O".
> 
> ...



The cost to outfit a layout that large, in HO seems like it would be much more than "O" gauge. Way back in the seventies, when I returned to trains after several years away from the hobby, Girls, marriage, house, kids, etc., I started with a Lionel set. In those days, realism was more important. After a couple of years, I delved into "N" scale. About a year later, I was back into "O" gauge. In the early nineties, I switched to "G" scale. It's amazing how much bashing can be done in that scale. A few years ago, I got back into "O" scale. The large scale trains were and still are in my garden, albeit greatly downsized. My "O" gauge layout lives in the heated and cooled attic about our garage. And it's an all round year hobby now !


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## Tom47 (Dec 8, 2012)

I got my first train for Christmas in 1954, it was an American Flyer S gauge I have just stayed with S and it is bigger than HO and smaller than O. I just like the size of S gauge.


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

Because a) you can repair O-guage locos, not so much N-gauge, which I had for years when space was at a premium.

I also like the detail and size of the locos: a detailed UP big Boy is 34 inches long - very cool.


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## 5kidsdad (Nov 28, 2021)

I have N scale. This way I can fit more into a smaller space. I don't weather anything yet. Ops are fine. Lone wolf operator. My twin 7 year old sons have HO. Easier to set up the tracks whenever they want to play with them. They can place them on the tracks & couple them by themselves. They have their Santa Fe warbonnet scheme while I model NS. Keeps everyone happy.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

N scale locomotives are very repairable….you just need good eyes and fine motor skills…..😁


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## DalesParts (Jun 26, 2021)

HO, S, O and G. Cause why not?


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## 5kidsdad (Nov 28, 2021)

Old_Hobo said:


> N scale locomotives are very repairable….you just need good eyes and fine motor skills…..😁


I have the eyes yet, my hands shake a little but I make it work. Remotoring is getting easier.


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## AlastairLC (Jul 18, 2021)

S scale is the perfect size for me. O is too large, unless you live in a warehouse; HO is too small with too many derailings; and N is ridiculous. There are plenty of options for trains and track. The only problem is finding buildings that are actually S, despite how they’re advertised. I went with HO buildings and they look fine.


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## HowardH (Sep 18, 2020)

Biggest thrill as a little kid was opening an American Flyer set at Christmas. Those into S are sometimes differentiated as either “scale modelers” or “toy collectors” - I manage to show a bit of each on my layout. Sure, stuff is scarce - not the gauge for those with a detailed vision who simply want to go out and buy what they need to fulfill it. But that’s part of the fun - nothing like stumbling across an out-of-the-way hobby shop, asking for S, getting a blank stare but then maybe, “We might have a few things in the back room - been gathering dust for years.” Heaven.


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## Tranz4mr (Sep 3, 2013)

I started with my Dad’s Lionel Standard Gauge set that he picked up as a kid repairing trains for a NY department store. We moved to 3 rail O after an uncle gave us his late prewar set. That grew into a large postwar O layout. After I moved to Colorado I started repairing and collecting O gauge. Narrow gauge was and is a big deal here in Colorado so when I was left an HOn3 layout when a friend past away I was all in. Now I repair Lionel O trains and transformers while building and operating HO and HOn3 layouts at home, at my club layout on my former employers property nearby and at several friends layouts. I just moved to a new home with a large basement so a 3 rail hi-rail layout is being planned.


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## VTtrainguy (Jan 18, 2019)

HO for my "big" (by my standards) around the (small) room modular layout getting under way, and N for my planned coffee table project. Both loosely themed on Vermont's long defunct Barre & Chelsea RR, whose ROW rail trail runs through this area. Been cherrypicking eBay for years for rolling stock and structures. Consolidations and GE 70 tonners, wood sheathed box cars, granite flats, riprap gondolas, milk and petrol tankers, and one very distinctive combine coach RPO for the mixed train daily.
I like both scales, and at 75 can still work on N scale, including decoderizing locos and installing Micro Trains couplers and wheels. Lights, lenses, and miniature forceps make it possible. Oh, and don't forget the digital soldering station!
Y'all have fun now, hear?


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## Mark C (Jul 11, 2020)

I chose N scale for several reasons. Initially when growing up I had a very small space in our tiny apartment (2'x3.5') so I could actually have trains go round and round. I could have stretched to 3' but that just would've given me a tight circle in HO and nothing else. The quality of that equipment (circa late 70s) was pretty poor, but still absolutely fascinating to me when I think back of looking at those tiny cars in the local Woolworths or at hobby shops.

Fast forward to the last couple years, I finally have a room to dedicate and started building "a real layout" in a 9' x 15" finished basement room. I got it going pretty far when a larger room opened up (15' x 13'). Well after debating for a week or so (and starting to doodle what could be done in the new space) I did what any self respecting crazy person with the model train virus would do -I salvaged the built up areas and spent the next 6 hours taking everything apart. 

The reason I'm sharing this recent background (all happened in the last few weeks) is because 15 x 13 is indeed enough for a decent or even pretty nice HO layout. Many have built great things in less space. That fact definitely gave me pause, for all the reasons previously cited about eyesight, ease of handling, availability, etc,, HO has always lingered in my mind. The problem I've always "suffered from" though is that while that is all true, for me it comes down to, "yeah I could make a great HO layout in 15 x 13, but *JUST THINK WHAT I COULD DO IN N GAUGE*"

Therein lies the eternal struggle. If I had a ranch house with a 25 x 40 basement, then I could do HO. Yeah, but..... just think what I could build in N.............
If anyone is aware of a cure for this disease, please send it to the CDC. I fear its too late for me...


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## Flyer4ever (Mar 26, 2017)

Well, since no S scaler’s have chimed in, I’ll toss my story into the ring. I was 12 in 1955 and woke up to an American Flyer 4-4-2 steam engine set on Christmas morning. My cousin, also 12 and living with us at the time, found his right next to mine, but his set was pulled by a UP diesel switcher. We had a few fun years playing with those combined sets together. 
Fast-foreword 57 years……one afternoon I walked into a large antique store with my wife, called “Nasty Jacks”. After moseying around for awhile I walked by the counter and noticed the real cool Pacific Steam Engine and Coal Car sitting in the counter with two large grocery bags behind it, (yep it was a 283 American Flyer) and the bags held the rest of a complete Mountaineer set, all in decent looking condition.
The price on it was $250…the lady owner noticed me looking at it walked over and said, “we just dropped the price on this set to $150 today and I haven’t had time to mark it down yet”. I looked down at it again and blurted out, “I’ll give you $100 for it!”, she looked right back at me and said, “Sold!”. 

So, that’s how I started to regain my love for American Flyer trains. Since that day I’ve come to realize how special these trains, built by Gilbert, really are, and I’ve been able to build a pretty nice empire over the last 9yrs. It’s a great scale, not too large and not too small, so easy for us old guys to maintain. 

American Flyer locomotives, rolling stock and accessories are plentiful on eBay and other sites on the internet. Plus, there are several new AF-compatible loco’s, rolling stock, and sets out there now that have modernized, added to, and improved the scale. Yes, it’s more challenging than other scales, but if you enjoy the hunt and the satisfaction that you’ve done something special like I know I have, then S scale is the ticket!!!


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