eye surgery

[Anonymous]

I'm new to posting to forums so don't get aggrevated at me if this isn't the right place to do this. I've got a set of n gauge that I can't see well enough to mess with anymore. I had eye surgery in august & since I was home decided to build that n gauge layout. It's just too tiny to do at this point. anyone who's interested in swapping a like amount of HO equiptment for N gauge please email me at [e-mail] & we'll talk about it - Gabe

[locomutt]

First of all Gabe, [#welcome] to the forums![:D]

I had to have eye surgery last year,and really couldn't,or didn't
do any modelling for a couple of months. Trust the surgery went
well and you are good to go.
I think the move from "N" scale to a larger one is good,given the
circumstances;but possibly maybe larger than HO?

I model in "O" scale (surgery had nothing to do with that),I've just
found it to be easier on my eyes period.(for almost 30 yrs)[:)]

[dknelson]

Here is a suggestion out of left field: at the Trainfest train show here in Milwaukee a couple of weeks ago there was some S scale for sale. There seemed to be a nice variety and the quality looked good. This was not American Flyer tinplate but real scale model trains.
If I was starting totally over I would think seriously about S (at age 52 my eyesight is "average" but even some HO work is getting a bit difficult)
Dave Nelson

[bcammack]

I know what you mean. I've got macular degeneration in my right eye and have always been horribly nearsighted as well. I'm staying in N for the present, but I do rely on very bright lighting and an OptiVisor for fine work. Otherwise I'd be useless in this scale.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I second what dknelson says! I have HO and have had HO for 36 years, but as a former American Flyer tinplater (50 plus years ago) I have always thought S was a "near perfect" scale. The problem has always been that it is such a minority scale that not much has been available outside of the Flyer tinplate line. That appears to be changing. The new lines of O two rail scale stuff (Bachman and others)look VERY interesting as well. I wish you the best recovering from your eye surgery.

[Anonymous]

Can't help with a trade but hope all goes well with your eyes and of course, Welcome!

[Anonymous]

I'm an HO modeller and also consodered changing scales, to O scale in my case.

This was after I had eye surgery myself, six times on the left eye, which unfortunately, wasn't successful and I went blind in that eye. At the same time, I had a retinal detachment in the right eye, fortunately, that was successful in that I can at least still see and can (just) pass the driver's eyesight test.

Having only one eye now makes things like soldering and such rather difficult due to lack of depth perception. Luckily, my colour vision is still 100%, though I have a little trouble with very pale yellows and pinks as, unless I can compare them with white, they to look white. As I also earn a living as a sometime stage lighting designer, vision is somehwhat important to me. :-)

Bright light and an OptiVisor help for the modelling, as does a good dose of patience and knowing when to walk away from a modelling project before lack of patience results in the model ending up being thrown against the wall.

You can see how I get on by going to: -

http://www.highspeedplus.com/~rogertra/

[IRONROOSTER]

I would also recommend considering S scale. I have been in the scale for 10 years now. I switched from HO to O to S. I find the pieces easier to see and handle than HO. It requires less room than O. This site does a good job of covering what is in S http://www.trainweb.org/crocon/sscale.html
Enjoy
Paul

[Anonymous]

It's interesting to see (ho,, ho) how many other modellers there are out there with similar problems to mine.

I had a detached retina operation 18 months ago and now have reduced sight in one eye but the other one is still good. My modelling is in 4mm (UK) and HO (US) and with a magnifying lamp manage fine.

The answer is to get some good lighting and a magnifier.

Good luck with your sight & the modelling.

steve