O gauge or not

[Andymsa]

Hi all,

 

for some time I fancied building a small O gauge, I got my eye on the Dapol dmus. But having an extensive Ho layout I’m wondering would this be a distraction. ?

 

andy

[Pete the Elaner]

Of course it would be a distraction....

...which could develop into an addiction.

I don't see anything wrong with that though.

Edited October 27, 2019 by Pete the Elaner
Spelling

[brossard]

Agree with Pete, a distraction and addictive - beware.  I had to search to find the Dapol DMU and I think this is it:  https://www.Dapol.co.uk/index.php?route=blog/post&post_id=78

 

Already nearly a year overdue.  Heljan have announced some DMUs, eg:  https://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklist/1000399/1000590/1000673/0/heljan_o_gauge_1_43_scale_dmus/prodlist.aspx

 

I switched about 3 years ago and love it.  All my twee stuff has been sold off.

 

John

[Fenman]

I am also moving to the dark side... 

 

I’d dipped a toe in the water buying a couple of 0 gauge locos that had caught my eye; but it was Darstaed’s new Mk1 suburbans (they’re gorgeous and just so wonderfully heavy), and Heljan’s Clayton announcement which have tipped the balance. I’ve now sold off >90% of my 00 stock.

 

After spending a little time with 0 gauge, 00 all seemed so small. And 0 may look expensive, but you need so much less of it to make an impact. 
 

Paul

Edited October 27, 2019 by Fenman

[rob D2]

Not ( for now )

too expensive , too big, too inaccurate ( a lot of the diesels )

[F-UnitMad]

6 hours ago, Andymsa said:

Hi all,

 

for some time I fancied building a small O gauge, I got my eye on the Dapol dmus. But having an extensive Ho layout I’m wondering would this be a distraction. ?

 

andy

The O Scale would be a Slippery Slope. And you are right - the HO scale would be a Distraction.

Enjoy the plunge.

Edited October 27, 2019 by F-UnitMad

[brianusa]

Move up to O!  With the price of some OO items rising fast, O scale is now a definite alternative.  Years ago, I moved even further into the dark side to tinplate (for want of a better word) both American outline and Hornby.  Never regretted it, in fact as one gets older its a definite plus after trying to manipulate the fiddly stuff with OO....

     As notre ami John en Quebec remarques (close?), I sold off all the twee stuff, as well but certainly never missed it.  O is a whole new way to enjoy our trains!

    Brian.

[brossard]

Cheers Brian.  All Dapols fault of course.  Browsing through Hattons and found the 08 - did some quick math (we get 20% VAT knocked off) and realized it was actually affordable.  No looking back.

 

I have spent a fortune since then but I'm careful to try to plan trains now instead of buying everything in sight.

 

John

[davefromacrossthepond]

Whatever you do, do not, I repeat, do not get yourself a Parkside kit.  I did that.  The next thing I know I got a second.  Then, just a piece of track for the wagon to sit on.  No big deal.  I can quit at anytime.  A couple of more pieces of track so that wagons can be pushed back and forth.  Then a Dapol Terrier so that I don't have to push them. Now I'm planning a layout on Anyrail.  Yeah, just one kit  . . . . 

[Andymsa]

I should of been more clear. I’m not intending to get rid of the ho layout, it was just a different theme I wanted to model and do something different.

[Ray H]

I'm slightly ahead of you.

 

I have a reasonable size OO gauge layout around the garage walls and have just commenced the build of the baseboards for a small O gauge layout that will sit in the centre of the U shaped OO layout. My current intention is to retain the OO layout but who knows!

 

I blame being the member of a club with an O gauge layout and having a colleague from my work days living not too far away and who has an O gauge layout extending into his garden.

 

Good luck

[F-UnitMad]

10 minutes ago, Andymsa said:

I should of been more clear. I’m not intending to get rid of the ho layout, it was just a different theme I wanted to model and do something different.

Bold/italics added. You may not be intending to now, but start in O Scale and you will, laddie. You will....  

[Andymsa]

Sounds like I might have to join O gauge anonymous to deal with possible addictions 

[brossard]

56 minutes ago, davefromacrossthepond said:

Whatever you do, do not, I repeat, do not get yourself a Parkside kit.  I did that.  The next thing I know I got a second.  Then, just a piece of track for the wagon to sit on.  No big deal.  I can quit at anytime.  A couple of more pieces of track so that wagons can be pushed back and forth.  Then a Dapol Terrier so that I don't have to push them. Now I'm planning a layout on Anyrail.  Yeah, just one kit  . . . . 

 

....and my friend bought a Parkside O gauge kit, by accident he claimed at the time.  I did a swap.  Now I have a load of them, Slaters too.  Layout being worked on.

 

John

 

 

[Dava]

There are good deals on O gauge, Heljan AC Cars railbus less than GBP300, 05 for 187, Dapol NQP 08, Terrier, 3F locos at shows for 150. RTR wagons from 40. It's the golden age...!

[davefromacrossthepond]

Actually, in all seriousness.  I do think perhaps the best way to explore O gauge is to start with a wagon kit - Parkside, Slaters, etc. - and a single piece of track.  This would allow you to "explore" O and if you decide it is not for you, you'll not have yet gone "all in" and have a nice display piece.  I have to say that although I've been an HO/OO guy for more than a few decades, I found working with O a whole "new" experience.  Not better, not worse, but different.  Yes, each kit will cost more, but the time I spend on each makes the dollar per hour cost about the same and even perhaps a bit less expensive (your milage may vary).  

Bottom line, if you are wondering, then try it.  Stay simple at first and go from there!

[Allegheny1600]

I have 'gone 0' about three, maybe four times now.

It all started back in my youth when a dear friend dragged me down to the Silk Mill industrial museum in Derby and I got involved with the group who were (re)building the old Derby museum layout. Great guys and a lot of fun was had building track the old fashioned way, pinning chairs to sleepers, dropping the rail in then keying it with real wooden keys.

I was even given a couple of Slaters kits to build!

Every few years, I get seduced by the mass and presence of 0 scale, trying British, German and American outline before returning to the UK again.

If I wasn't a butterfly who likes to ring the changes every now and then, I could stay 7mm but swapping and changing in this scale can be inordinately expensive. That's why I have largely gone back to H0, where the space taken up by fleets of stock from multiple countries takes up a lot less room too.

If you have LOTS of willpower, you may be fine dipping your toe in as it were but please do note: Everyone above is saying that you may well switch over entirely - wise words!

Cheers,

John.

[The Johnster]

My feeling is that you must be either fish or fowl, and that trying to be both will lead you to be unsatisfied with either.  That said, many modellers have more than one layout in different scales and gauges, and different periods and locations.  I am firmly wedded to 4mm in 00, located in South Wales during the BR steam era, and have been for about 50 years, because I like the size and availability and because I don’t know enough about anything else to model it. 

 

I have a holistic view of things, and the social history, geology, and climate of the area, along with visiting Valleys rellys in my childhood, all influence the layout.  Such matters are incidental to the gauge, scale, or standard one models to, but are quite important to me!  

[Andymsa]

Hi all,

 

thanks for all the wise words, and will certainly take note. One thing I can be sure I won’t get rid of the HO layout I have spent too much time and effort already and I do like running as been said the different emu,dmus and long freight trains I can run. With O in the same place I couldn’t get wide enough radius curves I feel. But it is possible to get a small end to end in the garage or even a smallish exhibition layout possibly or even run track in the garden. But for now I’ll put on hold until thought through more but that said I’m so tempted by the Dapol 08 shunters from tower models especially the weathered one, having driven the real thing for many years at least I won’t need to pump the header tank up lol.

 

andy

[brossard]

A shunting plank would be the way to go here.   There are a couple of lovely layouts on RMWeb (Trebudoc is just 9' long). 

 

My 08 has a Zimo sound chip and tops out at a scale 20MPH.  The only time I've had to use the 28 step option on my throttle.

 

John

[Steamport Southport]

I've dabbled with O Gauge.

 

The main problem is space. Unless you've got plenty of it you are going to be restricted to very small layouts. Are you happy watching your trains travelling a couple of feet and not even getting up to a reasonable speed before it goes into a fiddle yard or whatever? Do you get bored easily?

 

Just be aware of the negatives as well as the positives.

 

 

 

Jason

[Andymsa]

10 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

I've dabbled with O Gauge.

 

The main problem is space. Unless you've got plenty of it you are going to be restricted to very small layouts. Are you happy watching your trains travelling a couple of feet and not even getting up to a reasonable speed before it goes into a fiddle yard or whatever? Do you get bored easily?

 

Just be aware of the negatives as well as the positives.

 

 

 

Jason

hi

 

yes I do get bored with slow up and down, but I do have my HO layout to relieve that boredom if I got fed up with shunting. As been suggested a small shunting plank might be a good way to go and is quite a good viable option for me. So my thoughts are a small  country terminus station with some sidings, stock wise a 08 and dmu bubble car and two car Dmu and some appropriate wagons. It would be Dcc controlled as I have a spare command station. I did see that there is a modular o gauge section here but has not been active in awhile is there still such a user base for this or something similar like fremo 

 

andy

[birdseyecircus]

1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said:

I've dabbled with O Gauge.

 

The main problem is space. Unless you've got plenty of it you are going to be restricted to very small layouts. Are you happy watching your trains travelling a couple of feet and not even getting up to a reasonable speed before it goes into a fiddle yard or whatever? Do you get bored easily?

 

Just be aware of the negatives as well as the positives.

 

 

 

Jason

To be fair that can apply to any gauge. 

You only have to look in the micro layout section here to find trains travelling several inches.

 

Paul

[Nearholmer]

"I’m not intending to get rid of the ho layout,"

 

You know what the road to 0 is paved with, I presume?

[woodenhead]

2 hours ago, Andymsa said:

yes I do get bored with slow up and down, but I do have my HO layout to relieve that boredom if I got fed up with shunting. As been suggested a small shunting plank might be a good way to go and is quite a good viable option for me. So my thoughts are a small  country terminus station with some sidings, stock wise a 08 and dmu bubble car and two car Dmu and some appropriate wagons. It would be Dcc controlled as I have a spare command station. I did see that there is a modular o gauge section here but has not been active in awhile is there still such a user base for this or something similar like fremo 

 

Already in one paragraph you have grown your little dabble in O.

 

Sentence two: shunting plank

Sentence three: small country terminus

 

Shunting plan 8 feet

Small country terminus 9+ foot.  A two coach DMU is going to be three foot long.