Utterly stunned by "N" gauge...........

[alcazar]

Just come back from a Murder Mystery Weekend in Stratford on Avon, (yeah, I know, but it was an outing for our pub-quiz team and we enjoyed it;)).

 

On the Saturday we had a free afternoon, and I found a model shop near the bridge in central Stratford.

Went in for a browse and glanced into a Graham farish "N" gauge display cabinet.

 

All I can say is that I stared, transfixed, for around 45 minutes. I can't BELIEVE how much "N" gauge has come on. Finer wheels, LOADS of detail, incredible finishes, modern image, older diesels, steam, loads of choice of wagons.............WHEN did it get like this?????????

 

I started railway modelling around 1977, and just couldn't get on with "N", steamroller wheels, poor detail and such a limited choice. And now this.

 

Here I am now with my modelling cupboards full of 7mm kits to build and I'm poring over "N" gauge adverts.

 

Please, someone, talk some sense into me before I do something stupid like actually BUY an "N" gauge model, "just to look at, or display, you know?" Because we ALL know where THAT will lead...........

[alibuchan]

I know the feeling!!

 

I went the other way firmly in to N and dabbling in 00, saw 0 gauge and got bitten, badly!

 

00 gauge went and the 7mm came in to my life.

 

Alistair

[Chrislock]

Comfort yourself in that 7mm is the gauge we'd all have if we had the space.

If you have the space, there is nothing to touch 7mm.

I'm toying with the thought of an O gauge brass kit I saw at the Ally Pally... salivating might be more appropriate...

Regards

Chris

[F-UnitMad]

... we ALL know where THAT will lead...........

:D British N scale has indeed come on leaps and bounds recently... years ago I ran both US-outline N scale, and US HO and British OO. After a house move I only had room for one 'Gauge', and a bit reluctantly went for HO/OO- since British N scale was so poor, it was a no-brainer. These days it'd be a much harder choice to make... if I hadn't already gone O scale, of course...

[Karhedron]

Bachmann bought the Graham Farish line about 10 years ago and there were some improvements with finer, blackened wheels etc. However it was the entry of Dapol into the N gauge market that really revitalised it. Although they have had the odd QC issue they were the first to start making RTR N gauge to modern standards. Bachmann upped their game in response to this competition and we now have some healthy rivalry which is excellent news for us. We also have Ixion and Peco in the RTR segment meaning it is a great time to be modelling N gauge.

[Allegheny1600]

Hi there,

Can't help you, i'm afraid!

I have simply TONS of very nice 00 and H0 stock and a large layout for it all, yet i love 0 gauge - for the sheer physical size, mass and detailing thereon, you can't beat it!

I help out on an excellent modern N gauge layout and you're right - modern British N has come on so far, it's unbelieveable and always sets me off again, every time i operate!

All i could say, seeing as you already have some 0 gauge,

Build kits/locos/a diorama of some sort in 0 and do a nice scenic layout in N. That should tick several boxes for you!

There!

Is that so bad?

Apart from the fact that your other half would probably be annoyed with me! he, he!

All the best,

John E.

[Edwin_m]

The new toolings launched since 2006 or so are almost all excellent - these cover all the main diesel classes but steam is a mixture of new models with some of the old clunkers on shopping trolley bogies still on sale.

 

To me, N gauge allows trains of reasonable length to run in a landscape and is a good scale for people who like operating a railway. The new toolings allow this to happen without always noticing horrible errors in the trains. The only think you can't really do is on-board sound, though even that is possible with some models.

 

On the other hand the size and relative lack of RTR support means O is more for people who like building and/or detailing their own locos and rolling stock - the larger scale makes it easier and/or more satisfying and you don't need so much!

 

[provocative]Support for both N and O is improving, does this mean 00 will be caught in a pincer movement eventually become a minority interest?! [/provocative]

[Etched Pixels]

[provocative]Support for both N and O is improving, does this mean 00 will be caught in a pincer movement eventually become a minority interest?! [/provocative]

 

If house sizes continue to shrink then this doesn't seem an unreasonable long term proposition to me - in Japan N is the norm.

 

There are still some challenges - N sound is challenging still, N and smoke units is "interesting" and N and garden railways isn't a good mix it seems.

 

I find N a little bit too small (although its my scale of choice by far) - it's a shame something in the 3mm range didn't survive and prosper as a commercial scale.

[porkie]

I must admit ive been modeling N gauge since the late 90's. And if I wanted a detailed item like whats around today RTR, I would of called N thusiast resprays or CJM.

 

Hats of to Farish and Dapol for bringing the scale on par with OO without a big price increase

[DavidB-AU]

If house sizes continue to shrink then this doesn't seem an unreasonable long term proposition to me - in Japan N is the norm.

Many people just don't realise the size of the Japanese N market. Kato considers the USA to be a small market!

 

There are still some challenges - N sound is challenging still, N and smoke units is "interesting" and N and garden railways isn't a good mix it seems.

I would argue that smoke units in any scale is a bad idea. Who in their right mind could possibly think that depositing vapourised oil all over the track, trains and scenery is a good idea? Not to mention breathing the stuff.

 

N and Z have been done in the garden without any problems. Just like any other scale it comes down to laying the track properly and keeping it clean.

 

Cheers

David

[Etched Pixels]

N and Z have been done in the garden without any problems. Just like any other scale it comes down to laying the track properly and keeping it clean.

 

Cheers

David

 

There is a bit more to it than that - an O gauge loco isn't stopped by leaves on the line, buried in a spot of snow, or derailed by a passing beetle, the wagons don't fill entirely with water if hit by a passing raindrop or two, and the shiny tanker wagons are too big for a magpie to fancy.

 

I'm sure you can run T in the garden but can do and works well are different things.

[Sailor Charon]

Comfort yourself in that 7mm is the gauge we'd all have if we had the space.

If you have the space, there is nothing to touch 7mm.

 

Well, if we had the space and the money... Oh yes, and the kit building ability. Mind you, even I managed to build a not-too-bad 4MT tank loco.

[David Rickard]

If I had the money, I'd be buying real locos and sections of disused rail...

 

But that's the dream that never will be.

[Dave777]

[provocative]Support for both N and O is improving, does this mean 00 will be caught in a pincer movement eventually become a minority interest?! [/provocative]

 

Interesting thought, although I wonder if there’s too much invested in OO for the situation to change in the next few decades...?

However, I can see another manufacturer coming into UK N gauge as the market grows and thus becomes more attractive, and I also envisage more OO modellers dabbling in N gauge by having a layout in the scale (while not swapping over completely).

In O gauge, if someone takes the plunge and does detailed RTR wagons to go with stuff like the Heljan Mk I coaches then I can see that becoming more popular. It’s still primarily a kit builders scale, but once you can produce a layout with RTR items it’ll solve one of the ‘barriers to entry’ for the scale – price being the other of course. The big question mark around RTR O gauge is if the investment that’s been made by the likes of Bachmann and Heljan over the last few years is paying off in terms of sales. If it isn’t, they won’t hang around in the scale for long.

[Barry Ten]

Comfort yourself in that 7mm is the gauge we'd all have if we had the space.

If you have the space, there is nothing to touch 7mm.

Chris

 

Not sure about that. I do like 7mm, and even have a little bit of it ... but there's something about the

smaller scales, call it the "modelness" of them, perhaps - the very fact that they are small is to me very

much part of the fascination. I get a buzz from N that I don't get from 7mm, or even 4mm - both of which

bring their own, very distinct buzzes.

[46444]

Morning,

 

I agree with the views on this post.

 

I'm a die-hard OO man, but in the past few years I've started taking an interest in N.

 

Like others have said the appearance of Dapol in the N gauge market has certainly hotted up things.

 

Resistance prooved futile with the release on the Ltd Edition Dapol 153 from Kernow in 'St.Ives Bay Belle' guise. I've now ordered one of these and a Farish Arriva 150 and am in the process of building a my first N gauge layout based on St.Keyne on the Looe Valley Line. Nothing complex-just simple and hoping to capture the units running in countryside.

 

I'll start some blog entries soon with fots.

 

Who knows? This could lead to a new approach to my modelling!!!

 

Cheers.

 

Mark

 

 

[Glorious NSE]

The big question mark around RTR O gauge is if the investment that’s been made by the likes of Bachmann and Heljan over the last few years is paying off in terms of sales. If it isn’t, they won’t hang around in the scale for long.

 

Thought Bachmann (with their RTR brass) had dropped out, but if Heljan weren't making a profit would they have continued to release models? My suspicion is that if RTR O scale was a dead duck then Heljan would be milking their original tooling for every livery possible and not introducing any more, that doesn't seem to be what's happenned.

 

Back to N, yes some stunning stuff available these days...the scale has come of age.

 

Anyone else remember the Lima deltic and Mk1s where the coaches were modelled to the bonnet profile of the loco? Wierd!

[F-UnitMad]

 

Anyone else remember the Lima deltic and Mk1s where the coaches were modelled to the bonnet profile of the loco? Wierd!

Oh yes!!! and they never described their AC Electric as an 'AL6', which it was... always an 'AL1', which it wasn't....

Mindyou, the comparison of standards against 1970's Lima can be done in all three scales from N to O; Four if you count their first "HO" UK stuff....

[Steven B]

If you have the space, there is nothing to touch 7mm.

 

Not 100% sure about that. I've seen plenty of N gauge models (locos, rolling stock & buildings) that have more detail than some of the O Gauge stuff I've seen at exhibitions.

 

The Future's bright, the future's N Gauge!

 

Happy modelling.

 

Steven B.

[Colin]

My main scale will always be 4mm/00 (I've invested far too much to make a complete change to another scale) but to satisfy my interest in German railways I've built up a small collection of N scale locos and stock, which is finely detailed and which runs beautifully.

Up until recently I'd always dismissed British N (IMHO locos such as the Farish Hall - admittedly a very old model - and their rebuilt Bulleid are just plain awful) but if I were starting again I'd possibly consider N, especially if I were modelling the post-steam era.

[46444]

Morning,

 

I received two parcels yesterday, one from Hattons and one from Kernow.

 

Both contained my first N gauge purchases. The Farish Arriva 150 and the Dapol/Kernow Wessex 153 'St.Ives Bay Belle'. Well on opening up the boxes I certainly wasn't disapointed.

 

The level of detail is excellent and the running qualities on my layout and through dead frogs is superb.

 

I'm hooked!

 

All chipped now having been run in and on with the layout today.

 

Cheers.

 

Mark

[Coombe Barton]

As you get older the facilities start to disappear (I DID NOT SAY FACULTIES even though others may think so!) like sight and dexterity. I've been in 4mm long enough to be able to work out the maths and construction in that scale and find it's 'just right' for me in modelling and handling. O is just too large for my space - I'd be only building models, not operating them as I'd wish. So it's a compromise between modelling and operation. 2mm is just that little bit too small, even though I'd get the operation I'd not get the fun out of the building.

 

But if I won the lottery it may all be different. If that were to be the case there's always Gauge 1 .....

[Steven B]

2mm is just that little bit too small, even though I'd get the operation I'd not get the fun out of the building.

 

 

The smallest part on a OO model is no smaller than the smallest part on a N Gauge model. Get hold of a couple of N Gauge wagon kits and have a go. You might be suprised...

 

 

 

Happy modelling,

 

Steven B.

[2mm Dabbler]

The smallest part on a OO model is no smaller than the smallest part on a N Gauge model. Get hold of a couple of N Gauge wagon kits and have a go. You might be suprised...

 

Happy modelling,

 

Steven B.

 

The 2mm Association publicity stand sells a trial pack consisting of enough Easitrac parts for 150mm of track and components for a 16t mineral wagon or LMS van; this includes an etched chassis. An inexpensive way for an individual to determine the appeal of N/2mm, even if just out of curiosity.

 

Michael

[Coombe Barton]

The smallest part on a OO model is no smaller than the smallest part on a N Gauge model. ...

The smallest part on any model is the one you can manipulate to put it on (as I build my own stuff) so the level of detail is potentially more on the larger scales.