Portable Or Permanent? Small Or Large? Small Scale Or Large Scale? Narrow Gauge Or Standard Gauge?

[Mountain Goat]

All these questions we need to ask ourselves if we are going to build our next model railway, especially if we are starting from scratch. Most of these decisions depend on the circumstances that we find our selves in. Sometimes finding space is not easy, but at least there is the garden as a possibility (Remember, if one is using the garden all control equipment MUST be kept dry. Basically, any equipment that has a mains supply feeding it needs a sheltered enviroment like a shed, and it is best to consult an electrician if one is not sure).

But lets assume we want to make an indoor layout. (Many of the same questions can be asked about an outdoor railway as well).

Portable Or Permanent? Small Or Large?

All of my past layouts except one have been made permanent, or semi permanent (E.g., on an 8x4 sheet of chipboard when a teenager). However, as I have had to take down a permanent layout because of a room change or at one time in the past when I had a good job, I went for a mortgage and bought a house. Later I found I hit a bit of a crises and quit the job and sold the house and paid off the mortgage.  Now every change like this in my life meant that as far as model railways are concerned, a bit of a disaster. So..., as even now future relocation is planned, to build a permanent layout is not an option. So for me a small portable layout is the answer. One that I can bring with me if I move in the future. They say small is beautiful. Well. One thing I have noticed is that track cleaning hardly takes any time at all! Where on my last permanent layout, if I was to clean every rail before I commenced running (And I needed to as running was averaging once every other week), it was taking me around 35 minutes each time, so having a small layout has its luxuries! Another advantage to it being portable, is everything is easy to work on. It is like working on the engine an old car like a Citroen 2CV or a Triamph Herald or Vitesse. The 2CV.. A few bolts and the wings come off and it is just engine and the chassis with its front wheels! (I have never owned either vehicle but have longed to have such an easy car to work on, though my current car is not too bad... Though if a bulb goes... "Why do they make these cars so awkward?" I've seen worse!) Permanent layouts can be quite a pain to reach wiring etc., and those occasions where one has to clime under to solder something where safety glasses are not enough.....!

Small Scale Or Large Scale? Standard Gauge Or Narrow Gauge?

Whilst for some of us we already have answered this as we have chosen a scale and gauge that we prefer and are building our layout to fit our scale and gauge in the space we have available, I will assume here that we have yet to make a decision. 

Now there may well be other advantages of certain scales and gauges, but lets consider the size considerations. We may be posed with the following question. 

"Does one decide on using a small scale which blends in well with the size of the space we have from the scenic perspective, or do we use a large scale where we can see things better for painting and maintenence...?" As though we may not like to admit it, there are times like old cars... That our locos may not be as sprightly as they once were so may need opening up... Or delicate parts may fall off and need fixing back on etc. Generally the larger scales can be easier but they can reach the point where one may need heavy equipment in the much larger scales like 1 to 1, but those are anotjer subject and are not likely to fit in our chosen space we have for our hobby.

Now we can all answer this question from our own perspectives and we all would be right, as there is no real wrong answer, and if we take things to the extremes, we can have a very large model run on a very short piece of track and what is stopping us if that's what we desire? The funny thing is with this hobby is that I have seen some modellers enjoy their lovely DCC sound locomotives so much that they just want to play with the sounds and lights, and as their loco has hardly moved while they are having their fun, one wonders why they made a layout at all? Why not stand the model on a short tracked display plinth that is DCCified, and enjoy at ones leisure as building a layout maybe detracting one from the love of the DCC gadgets fitted to ones locomotive. One can join a model railway club to see it run. For me though, I like to build things and while I have been there and done that and still have the equipment at the moment, I am enjoying DC where I can experiment with my home made controllers... It is whatever one is happy with and that is fair enough!

Going back to layouts, if one decided that a larger scale is more desirable, then consider the advantages of narrow gauge which by nature was often used because it was built to turn round sharp curves... Some real railways had to use narrow gauge for this very reason! To construct a line in standard gauge through the terrain they were trying to get through would involve so many tunnels and cuttings, let alone bridges and viaducts, that just the thought made some come to their senses and decide to use a narrow gauge hugging the side of the mountainous terrain as the only viable solution. One can certainly use narrow gauge to represent this in model form and in a small space too! My layout curves quite sharply to the point where I am questioning if I should use bogie coaches at all, as the short 4 wheel coaches tend to avoid the visual overhang that bogie coaches give... My couplings are made to cater for sharp curves so this is less of an issue. But to give an example of a large scale in a small space, my layout under construction at the moment is a 7mm narrow gauge oval (With two passing loops etc) in a space of just less then 7ft long by 2 ft wide, so it is doo-able in such a large scale. Now I could have opted for the 009/h0e route or even standard gauge and going with N, but I really prefer large and chunky... And to me, 7mm narrow gauge is the smallest scale which gives me the "Chunky" feel. As my buffers are made from metal,  I can hear the little tapping sounds as they come together. It is to me a satisfying little something which adds to the character of the scene. 

 

But whichever one goes for ENJOY! And don't take your self too seriously in what you do. We are supposed to be having fun! So if you enjoy ading intricate details, go for it. If you don't leave them out. Stick to an overall scene. If you just like collecting models and are scared to damage them on a layout, buy a display cabinet and enjoy them! Why not get DCC and electrify some lines in the cabinet, and maybe add some backscenes and sit back and enjoy the scene. Some of the models lit up are quite impressive in their own right!

If you love watching express trains running at speed and have limited space inside, have you considered the garden? It might be what you've been looking for all along!

We are all different. I want people to think outside the box and consider what scales, gauges and concepts may suit the individual the best. I feel there are many in the hobby who have become stagnant because they started with a trainset (Which is still the very best way into the hobby) but they did not really think about what they themselves liked or wanted out of it. And therefore, they have stagnated and need a rethink. I reached that point when I was into 00 gauge. I had the thought that I could replicate everything I saw in B.R. pass as a child. (Before that I was into GWR but though I studied and studied and knew all facts and figures that I needed, it was hard to think of the scene as preserved railways run a mix of everything...) But B.R. blue era for me painted a scene. What I had not realized that even though I was accumilating so many locos and stock that I was considering switching to four figure addresses on my DCC equipment, hardly any of it ever came out the boxes when to paint rhe scene I wanted needed to have such a large layout that it was really unobtainable without starting a whole club of dedicated 00 gauge B.R. blue era enthusiasts to collectively achieve the goal. And then I left a well paid job as I hit my first burnout, and I had to sell my house to avoid going into debt, and I realized how much of a mamoth task the dream had become. 

So we need to make our dreams achievable and workable to give us the satisfaction and enjoyment that we desire. 

Since I decided on a different idea and I changed to model in 7mm narrow gauge, I have been enjoying myself soo much, that I am not even too bothered if I don't finish my little layout, as I am in no hurry because I am getting so much satisfaction and fun out of scratch and kitbuilding to my own "That will do" brush painted style, that I can't believe that I didn't change to model in 0-16.5 before. (I did very briefly when I was in my teens but went back to 00 as I was looking at garden railway possibilities. I also briefly tried SM32).

 

But to conclued... If you have stangnated have a think of the aspects that you do and don't enjoy. It could be time for a change! And whatever direction you are heading into, make it practical and achieveable so you can start to really enjoy the hobby! Don't look at others. Look at what you like to do. And what is wrong with collecting those little battery operated trainsets for a fun aspect of the hobby? You may have more satisfaction and enjoyment from one of those then some people seem to get in a lifetime! Haha! And why not! It is our choice of what we love to do. Only we know what thrills us. We are all different. There are no rules or limits except to keep us safe and well. And we need some enjoyment in life. So why not!

 

[DCB]

Good advice mate.  Everything has trade offs.   Setting achievable goals, avoiding burn out, not expecting anything to live up to its hype.   There is no real need to have a fixed or portable layout indoors or outdoors, you can have them all if you scale back your expectations of what each one will deliver.  If moving house or room in the house is a possibility then design the layout so it can be broken down and rebuilt, principally make sure the wiring has suitable connectors between boards, and or colour coding.

If you have too many locos or too much complexity maintenance takes up all your modelling time.  You spend 35 minutes track cleaning on DCC before running, , I clean track once in a blue moon and even run trains outside in the rain on DC, and outside in the snow on battery power.

The developing technology of Onboard battery power R/C controlled from your phone will make life a lot easier for many folks. My eyes and dexterity are too bad for N gauge, I don't have room for O, even outside I can't use more than 2ft radius curves in places so I'm stuck with OO, some models I have owned for over 50 years are still in everyday use.

But I agree there is no right way or wrong way to do railway modelling (as long as it complies with the Great Western Rule Book of 1944.)

[Nearholmer]

3 hours ago, DavidCBroad said:

I don't have room for O, even outside I can't use more than 2ft radius curves in places

This will probably only add to the whirlwind of alternatives under discussion here, but both 0 gauge and G-scale (45mm gauge) can and do work happily down to 2ft radius, if you choose the right things.

 

Modern coarse-wheeled 0 is very specifically designed to work down to 2ft, and a very few locos will go to 18”, so provided you are content with those wheel standards, happy days, because you can have a 9F or a Duchess do it (it looks silly, but it works fine!).

Loco on the left good for 18”,, the one on the right 24”.

 

(Excuse the dodgy rail joints; this is on a shelf in the study, not my layout)

 

Likewise LGB’s basic radius is 2ft, which again looks silly with big locos, but fine with small ones, little 0-4-0WT and 4WDS.

 

 

I now find anything below 0 scale too hard on my eyes and somehow not chunky enough to feel railway-like, but have been able to create layouts in spaces that people would consider fairly small in 00 by using the above.
 

 

 

 

Edited June 20, 2020 by Nearholmer

[Sotto]

This video was a bit of an eye opener for me- I had always assumed oo gauge needed minimum radius 18 inches- ie diametre 3 feet. With care, obviously not so.

A small oo roundy roundy just for fun is now on my list!

 

 

[Mountain Goat]

17 hours ago, DavidCBroad said:

Good advice mate.  Everything has trade offs.   Setting achievable goals, avoiding burn out, not expecting anything to live up to its hype.   There is no real need to have a fixed or portable layout indoors or outdoors, you can have them all if you scale back your expectations of what each one will deliver.  If moving house or room in the house is a possibility then design the layout so it can be broken down and rebuilt, principally make sure the wiring has suitable connectors between boards, and or colour coding.

If you have too many locos or too much complexity maintenance takes up all your modelling time.  You spend 35 minutes track cleaning on DCC before running, , I clean track once in a blue moon and even run trains outside in the rain on DC, and outside in the snow on battery power.

The developing technology of Onboard battery power R/C controlled from your phone will make life a lot easier for many folks. My eyes and dexterity are too bad for N gauge, I don't have room for O, even outside I can't use more than 2ft radius curves in places so I'm stuck with OO, some models I have owned for over 50 years are still in everyday use.

But I agree there is no right way or wrong way to do railway modelling (as long as it complies with the Great Western Rule Book of 1944.)

 

Just to clarify one little point. My last layout was 00 gauge in DC. I then half converted to DCC (I say half as even after spending a lot on DCC, I still did not have enough decoders or had fitted them all!) 

 

So the 35 minutes of track cleaning was with DC. I never did get to have a DCC layout despite plans for an indoor and an outdoor 00 gauge DCC layout.

 

When I turned to model in 7mm narrow gauge, I turned to DC because of my budget needs and also because I missed it. There is far less messing around. I am the sort of person that if there is a DCC setting to program, I will spend ages fiddling! So for me, turning to DC was the answer.

 

Edited June 20, 2020 by Mountain Goat

[Mountain Goat]

5 hours ago, Sotto said:

This video was a bit of an eye opener for me- I had always assumed oo gauge needed minimum radius 18 inches- ie diametre 3 feet. With care, obviously not so.

A small oo roundy roundy just for fun is now on my list!

 

 

 

Here is my 7mm narrow gauge layout (An example of size. 2ft x 7ft). 

I have a lot more work to do on it. The circles are where the platforms are going to be. They are just to reduce the weight a little. The layout has legs though the legs are folded up so I could work on it.

 

 

[Sotto]

Yes, I'd already seen that in your narrow gauge thread. I like it! 

I have been experimenting- the Budget Model Railway people seem to thing you are limited to very small locos in their 18 inch diametre layout- although they do comment that an old Triang Hymek will do it. Actually various older models will do it- especially the old short coaches and short DMUs contemporary to the Hymek. Of course you still have to hide the bends or it looks daft (not sure I care about that) and clearance is an issue, so 0-16.5 is a great solution.

[Mountain Goat]

I would use a 2ft wide board rther then turning in 18 inches as it gives a little more to play with. It is still space saving. 

By keeping to 4 wheel short coaches which tend to be the length of a Hornby 4 wheel coach or just over, and using nice little 4 wheel waggons... And 0-4-0's or short wheelbase 0-6-0's it is very do-able in 0-16.5. 

The good thing is about narrow gauge, is that it looks plausable as one tends to associate narrow gauge with sharp curves. 

00 gauge also can be made to look convincing if one sticks to short 4 wheel coaches as it is the overhang and underhang effects of bogie coaches which cause the undesirable visual issues associated with sharp curves. 

Obviously if using 00 gauge one needs to be selective in what one runs, just like one needs to be in 0-16.5. 

The thing is, I often see critical comments given by those using 3rd radius curves or larger in 00 gauge and they say things like 1st radius curves are unprototypical, yet if they want to follow prototype practices, they are a bit hypacritical as they need a 24ft wide board with a checkrail just to do that, so they are compromizing quite a lot anyway... So one may as well make ones railway fit the space one has just like they have done! 

The key to it all though is to make it work visually. Obviously there is no point making it all work visually if trains don't take the sharp bends... But the art of compromize is illusion, and if one can pull it off one has done well!