Beginner O gauge publication help

[MrRodrigez]

Hello there modellers!

 

I am about a week deep into the RMWeb forums so excuse me for being a little inexperienced in topic creation but I am still finding my feet. I am currently in Canada on a winter season that's coming to an end and to make matters easier for my return to England I am planning on creating an Ex-LNER post grouping layout. Whether that be a shed, station or goods yard I haven't decided yet but my modelling skills are very basic. I have modelled briefly in OO but never in O gauge but I'm standing tall  (6ft 6 is my actually height anyway) ready for the challenge and look forward to assembling some basic kits before I get into heavier stuff.

 

My question to you helpful people is what would you recommend I read and/or research to get the best out of this new experience? I have spent some time looking at threads associated with the O gauge guild and the feedback seems to be very mixed and doesn't make me want to instantly pay for a membership. Are there any essential books that you O gauge experts have to refer back to? Is there a specific magazine you think I should subscribe to? (I've always been a fan of Mode Rail Magazine but never spent much time look at O gauge as I was modelling OO at the time).

 

In terms of great inspiration I have just brought 'LNER passenger trains & formations' and 'LNER sheds in camera' from Amazon which should be waiting when I return.

 

Hope someone can help,

 

Dave

[Dava]

Sure, I happen to be in Canada also, building a micro layout out of foamboard

 

The G0G has Small Layouts vol 1 on its website in the Publications section, you can buy vol 2, they're both worth having, I've found membership worthwhile when in UK & able to get to shows.

 

Nigel Adams did Layouts for smaller spaces which had several in 0 & is worth having

 

The Peck setrack points will make small layouts easier when they appear

 

The Walsworth models Sentinel Y1\3 is a good starter kit in 7mm as its complete & fairly simple for under 100 UK pounds

 

My tablet doesn't like copying links but hope this is useful

 

Dava

[MrRodrigez]

Sure, I happen to be in Canada also, building a micro layout out of foamboard

 

The G0G has Small Layouts vol 1 on its website in the Publications section, you can buy vol 2, they're both worth having, I've found membership worthwhile when in UK & able to get to shows.

 

Nigel Adams did Layouts for smaller spaces which had several in 0 & is worth having

 

The Peck setrack points will make small layouts easier when they appear

 

The Walsworth models Sentinel Y1\3 is a good starter kit in 7mm as its complete & fairly simple for under 100 UK pounds

 

My tablet doesn't like copying links but hope this is useful

 

Dava

Hi Dava,

 

Fantastic help so thanks very much!

 

I will look into everything you've suggested my friend.

 

Dave

[3 link]

Hi Dave,

 

Try 7mm Modelling  Part one ( An introduction ) and Part two ( Building a layout ) by Gordon Gravett.  Fantastic value with lots of pictures and diagrams, it certainly gave me a head start into O gauge.

 

Martyn.

[Phill Dyson (onslaught832)]

Hi Dave,

 

Try 7mm Modelling  Part one ( An introduction ) and Part two ( Building a layout ) by Gordon Gravett.  Fantastic value with lots of pictures and diagrams, it certainly gave me a head start into O gauge.

 

Martyn.

I agree Martyn, these books were invaluable to when I first ventured into the world of 7mm. I also found inspiration in Jack Ray's ' A Lifetime With O Gauge' too

 

Phill 

[hartleymartin]

My recommendations would be:

1.) Buy some LNER wagon kits. Slaters and Parkside Dundas do a nice range of plastic kits which are not hard to assemble and make very good models. Just remember that there were quite a few "common user" wagons owned by various companies so it won't be wrong to have a few GWR, LNER, SR wagons in the mix.

 

2.) Once you have made a handful of these kits, you'll get a feel for working in O scale, then you may want to purchase a locomotive kit. The J71 kit from here would probably be the ideal, but build at least one or two etched brass wagon kits first. You can probably get away with glue-and-screw construction, but some soldering would be good. I'm absolute rubbish with soldering so I avoid it where I can. You could probably convert one into a good representation of a J72, as they only had a slight difference in the wheelbase (2") and they were only 1" longer in the frames, the main difference being smaller wheels (4'6" for the J71 and 4'1" for the J72). This represents dimensional discrepancies of about 1.3 and 0.6mm respectively.

 

3.) Have an R-T-R locomotive to help you run some trains whilst you are working on your LNER one. The Ixion Hudswell Clarke is a good choice, as one ran with LNER numbers, absorbed from the GCR at the big-four grouping. LNER 5278 is the locomotive. Dava did a nice conversion of the RTR model to it's GCR condition.

 

According to the LNER info website, 5278 had 3'1" wheels (Ixion have 3'3") and it had 12x18" cylinders, but the Ixion model is based on a version with 13x20" cylinders. The major external differences are the slightly smaller driving wheels and the slightly raised buffers.

 

If you're willing to overlook a scale inch or two here and there, you can make quite a good model of 5278 with a new chimney, repaint and numbering. There are numerous detail differences which Dava took care of on this conversion, but you can make a quick-and-easy conversion with a repaint and numbers. You might be able to twist his arm and buy some components such as a new turned chimney if you ask him nicely enough!

 

4.) Coaching stock is not my area of expertise, but I imagine that there are plenty of good kits out there to get you started.

 

Best of luck, have fun and remember that it is YOUR model railway and that YOU are the only one who has to be happy with it.

[JimF51]

Hi Dave.

How new are you to railway modelling? You state fairly new to OO, and new to O. Did you do and Canadian or US before?

I've been in modelling since the 70's, but only had a interest in UK for the last few year, and only really started looking at modelling same last year. During that time, off and on as life allowed, I have looked at 2mm, 4mm and 7mm, reading as much as I could. I'm actually going with 4mm EM gauge, after a ex-pat gave me quiet a bit of EM stuff he had accumulated but never used. I was seriously heading towards 7mm, until I lost my layout space, and then received those items.

Anyway, here's a list of books I have acquired, that may help, depending on where you are in modelling:

Kit Building for Railway Modellers vol. 1 and 2 by George Dent

Etched Loco Construction by Iain Rice

Locomotive Kit Chassis Construction by Iain Rice.

I'll also agree that the two 7mm books already mentioned above are very useful.

The Rice books are a bit dated, but still excellent 'how' to' books, Dent's books are much more recent.

I'm a member of the Gauge O Guild. I do think the quarterly magazine is now worth the membership price for us overseas. Lots of good modelling info, and lots of inspiration. All back issues are available in pdf form, to members, and access to the forum can be useful, too.

I had decided, for ease of purchase, to just use Peco O code 124 track and turnouts, despite what I had read about a few minor dislikes folks had with the TOs. Then I found a reference to improving said TOs, in a back issue of the GOG Gazette. I gave it a try, it was a fairly easy fix, and would definitely have gone the Peco route if I had stayed with O.

Hope some of the above helps, good luck with your venture.

Jim F

 

ps: the four books I mention are not 7mm specific, and most examples shown are 4mm, but the do cover all the different techniques and skills one needs.

[81A Oldoak]

Some more good titles for 0 Gauge beginners authored by Trevor Booth and published by Silver Link are:

 

"Baseboard Basics and Making Tracks" ISBN 1 85794 006 7

"Creating the Scenic Landscape" ISBN 1 85794 023 7

"Locomotive and Rolling Stock Construction" ISBN  1 85794 038 5

 

The three volumes follow Mr Booth's design and construction of his  "Platt Lane" his layout inspired by Great Moor Street station in Bolton. The layout portrays gritty, northern muck n' brass rather than the bucolic, weed infested serenity of Colonel Stephens.

 

I could make some recommendations about RTR locos, but as a matter of good taste and gentlemanly behaviour,  I shall refrain.

 

Regards,

Chris Klein

[The Nth Degree]

Hello Dave, welcome. Which part of the LNER are you modelling? I'm an East Anglian fan myself, but I'm about to offload a huge pile of generic East Anglian books (mostly steam) and replace them with more specific titles. If that interests you send me a message and I'll write you a list.

Steve

[MrRodrigez]

Fantastic guys,

 

Thanks very much for the feedback. In answer to a few of your questions:

 

JimF51 - I am simply doing a working 6 months in Canada and I'm leaving for England in the next month, so I have basic knowledge of electronics in DCC, baseboard building, track laying (set track) and basic scratch building in OO back in England, no modelling for North American railroads. My inspiration to model in O gauge is based around the level of detail I want to achieve, especially with steam locos after watching a Youtube video on the Warley clubs 82G. Not to say I'm going to dive straight in and try and achieve that high level of modelling Warley have achieved but I need to start somewhere. I think with some of the comments above I will start with a basic goods yard to shunt wagons around so I can get my head around modelling in this scale but still have fun.

 

The Nth Degree - Not too sure what area of the LNER and I appreciate the suggestion but I'll pass at the moment as I am currently still doing my research on the LNER with books on Gresley & Thompson as chief Engineers by the Oakwood Library (very interesting I must say). I'm learning a hell of a lot but then again I was born in 1990 so it's safe to say I'm learning with passion as oppose to refreshing my memory of iconic events in history. 

 

 

One thing to note is I have a tendency to dive in, spend lots of money and after a year give up on things so I'm taking a much more open approach at doing my research and embracing every mistake, error or hick-up I may experience for this venture. All of your reply's are hugely helpful so I thank you and hope to be a apart of this community in the future!

 

Dave

[Donw]

The price of Guild membership gives you access to the Gazette Archive. all the issues. You can print off things that interest you. Not a bad bargain.

 

The other thing I would suggest s to lookat some of the threads on here some good modelling and you can ask questions

 

You mention leaving for England if you are here by the 9th of May the ALSRM show at Reading Leisure Centre will be of interest.

Don

[Graham Hughes]

The Gauge 0 Guild also used to produce some very good guides to various aspects of modelling in 0 Gauge that were an excellent source of information for beginners. (I don't know if they still do them. it is a long time since I was a member.)

[steve fay]

There's a great selection of 7mm layouts and projects on here both in the 7mm plus pages and on the kit building and scratch building pages. With plenty of helpful people with knowledge of all aspects of modelling be it kit building layouts wiring track ETC.

There's nothing like a bit of prototype inspiration to get you going. I like to search through YouTube for archive videos or preservation era stuff and there's usually some good models on there too.

[Poggy1165]

The problem with the LNER is that it was quite different depending on which area you choose. Most minor lines still used pre-grouping locos and coaching stock well into LNER days and sometimes BR days. (Wagons are less of a problem but you should still have some old stuff, but it can be very mixed including many foreign wagons (SR, GW, and particularly LMS.)   If you're not bothered as to area it may be best to look around and see what is most readily available. Offhand I think the former GE area might be easiest, but if you went for that (for example) you would find it hard to justify many locos from other bits of the LNER - there are exceptions. The same is basically true of the other sections of the LNER.

 

In other words, to be convincing, you need to start by deciding which section of the LNER you want to model, and take it from there.

[hayfield]

Dave

 

Might be an idea to join a club which has an 0 gauge section, and I would not only put together some wagon kits but also try and scratch build some buildings just to get an idea of space required, perhaps the odd pieces of track may also give an idea of how much space is required