United4life Thank you for some advice guys. Still debating in my head on the switch or not.
Thank you for some advice guys. Still debating in my head on the switch or not.
You could start out small. I went and bought a couple of freight car kits and a structure kit, just to see how the smaller scale "felt" after all the years in O. You could even do a diorama, Woodland Scenics has a kind-of-a kit deal you can get to make a diorama. Might give you an idea whether HO is for you or not.
You could look into building an HO home layout, but join a local O scale club so you can use your O equipment there.
For track, you cannot go wrong with Atlas. Micro Engineering and Kato also make very fine track. For that matter, yard sale track is fine too, so long as it is nickel silver. Code 83 is the coming thing, it's closer to scale size and very common. Code 100 is larger than scale size but was the HO gauge standard for many years and is widely available and slightly cheaper than code 83. In actual fact, if you paint the rails a good rust brown, rather than leaving them bright nickel silver, the track will look much closer to scale size whether it be code 100 or code 83. Was I starting from scratch and buying all my track new, I'd buy code 83. If I was feeling cheap and buying second hand, code 100 would be fine.
DCC is a little out of my ken, I'm still running plain old analog DC. For a large layout with multiple operators, DCC is the way to go. For a home layout with a single operator, DC works fine and costs less. DCC gives the ability to run multiple trains, at once, on the same track. If you are the only operator, this doesn't help much, I can only run a single train at a time. DCC requires you to install a $25 and up decoder unit in each locomotive and purchase throttle and power supply units for another $200 or so.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
Scenery is pretty cheap in any scale. You can build hills from cardboard strips or wadded up newspaper covered with paper towels soaked in plaster, or in Elmer's glue. You will need more trees, but HO trees are also going to be cheaper...and since you can see less detail, you may be able to make your own at least for background scenes.
BTW take a look at Woodland Scenics foam risers, I find it's a lot easier to use them than to try to hack out playwood to make room for a river or lake.
The G Scale goes under the Christmas tree! G scale is expensive though. The small Z scale set that I am building for a friend is also quite expensive. Overall HO probably is the cheapest as it has the widest selection.
Just think..............if you switched to "G" Scale you could probably spend even less than you have on the O Scale!!!!! :-0
Mark
A prudent selection of prototypes to model/inspire can keep costs down.
Just a caution.
Because the same HO item takes a little more than 1/2 the length, and a little more than 1/4 the surface area, you will need a lot more "stuff" to fill the same layout space. A train of 6 cars becomes 10 or 11 cars in HO. You need 4 times the number of trees, and probably 3 times the number of structures. Given where prices for quality HO RTR equipment and structures are at (and steadily heading higher), your HO layout may cost significantly more than an O scale layout in the same space. OTOH, you can keep costs 50% less by shopping sales, buying used, buying kits, scratchbuilding, etc, quite easily in HO.
I'm not trying to dissaude you, just preparing you for potential total sticker shock.
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
I am moving to a new house. I will be able to build a bigger layout than I already have. I will pretty much have the entire basement. But along with the new house comes more expenses for me. So in order to make my dream layout I am going to switch to HO because its a little cheaper than O. I am pretty excited about it.
Code 83 has pretty much become the standard for HO over the past years. I'm currently building a layout using Kato Unitrack. It's what sometimes called "click" track, there is roadbed and track together and they snap together. I paint the rails and ties so it's not uniform and I think it looks good. Kato code 83 track has a narrow profile similar to real track. It's also very reliable and easy to use, especially after years of trying to get flextrack to come out even on curves!
BTW I made the same change about 22 years ago, after 15 years in O. I thought about going to N, there is a lot of stuff available now in N that wasn't then, and N runs much better than it did then...but going from O to N would be a pretty big (or small?) leap.
I'm just curious. Why the change from O scale to HO?
Welcome aboard.
Mister Beasley gave you a very good lead or several. What follows is my personal opinion, based on my personal experience and biases.
The very first thing you should get is an NMRA gauge - which measures wheel and track dimensions and includes a basic clearance template that was accurate for transition era rolling stock but doesn't allow for the height and side clearance requirements of double stacks and long cars on tight curves.
Since you've been in O scale, you're familiar with the difference between using sectional and flex track. So, the big key to track is balancing how accurate (scale height of rail, detailed appearance of track) you want to be, and what price level you would be comfortable with. Almost any HO (16.5mm track gauge) flex track or sectional can be shaped into a satisfactory model railroad. In almost all cases, Atlas provides the maximum 'bang for the buck,' since they make sectional track (with matching turnouts,) code 100 (cheapest, but too tall rail) and Code 83 flex track (and the two codes will mate end-to-end) along with a complete line of prefabricated turnouts. Other manufacturers produce flex and turnouts that look, and allegedly operate, better - at correspondingly higher prices. Having used several different brands, I don't believe that the differences are worth the cost. However, I am not a museum-quality detailer, nor am I building things to be photographed.
Atlas also has a free CAD program, which is designed to assist in designing a layout using Atlas components. Someone more knowledgeable can chime in with a web address - I have never used it.
Just about everyone has a pet DCC system and/or track manufacturer. Remember that when you start reading the 'compare this to that,' or 'which is best' threads.
Once again, welcome aboard.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Modeling HO Freelance Logging Railroad.
I would 2nd the suggestion to use Atlas flex-track, I use code 83 myself but that becomes personal preference.
No one mentioned switches though, here I would strongly suggest Peco switches, they are about the nicest and most trouble free switches available. More money than the Atlas switches but you also get a much, much nicer and trouble free switch as well.
Far as track, I like Atlas code 100 flex track. Rails are a little bigger than they should be, but it is cheaper than code 83. Besides, I am half blind.
DCC systems, that is a loaded question. Most of us are fans of what we have all ready and we tend to push what we have. Few questions for you to think about. My answer and the reason I picked the one I did.
1 How big will the layout be?
My is 19 X 13 so I want a walk around throttle
2 How many main lines will you have?
I have 3 mains
3 How many trains (not engines) will you run at the same time?
I run 3 to 5 trains a lot
4 How many engines at the same time?
Between 3 to 8 with the MU's. 2 amps should handle 6 to 8 newer engines.
5 Do you mainly just run the trains, or will you do a lot of switching?
I mainly just run them, little switching mainly to clear the mains for new trains.
6 Will you run it by your self, or will there be more than one operator?
Most of the time, it just me.
7 What does your local club if any run?
My club uses Digitrax.
8 Will you use your DCC system to read and change CV's, or will you use your computer?
I use my computer using a PR 3 interfaces and Decoder Pro
9 How many engines do you want?
I have 20 or so that are DCC, maybe another 20 for a total of 40.
10 Budget for the DCC system.
At the time, my budget was around $500.00
One I picked was a Digitrax Super Empire Builder. It has a walk around throttle, easy to run 2 trains on the same main (two engine speed controls that can be used at the same time), with 5 amps more power than I need to run 12 engines, I don't need to read CV's with my system (can still change CV's), will hold 22 engine address with out purging a address (think NCE will only handle 10 address) local club runs Digitrax so I had local support and it came in under budget at $300 with the power supply.
I would all so do a lot of reading, Tony Train Exchange would be a great start. They sell all the DCC systems that I know of. They have a section for people just getting started in DCC.
All systems have there strong and weak points. Today it is real hard to pick a bad system. Good luck on your quest and to the world of DCC.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
These are both pretty commonly-asked questions. Take a look at the "Layouts and Layout Building" forum, http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/11/ShowForum.aspx for track. There are a couple of threads running right now that you will probably find informative.
The "Which DCC System Should I Buy" thread is probably the most common single question that gets asked, by both new and experienced modelers. Check the "Electronics and DCC" forum for that, http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/744/ShowForum.aspx.
There's a box over to your right called "Search Community." It's somewhat quirky, but since there are already existing threads which do a pretty good job of answering your questions, you might want to try it and get a bunch of information without waiting for people to respond.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I am in the process to switching to HO scale. Can anybody please tell me what track is best to use? Also which DCC system is worth buying? I am new to HO so any advice would help. Thank you for your time.