N for kids?

[Anonymous]

When I was a young teenager I worked in HO, and still have some HO equipment. Now my own kids are growing old enough to appreciate the trains and I'm considering N because of space considerations (of course). My question is, is N too small for kids to work with? My oldest boy (10yrs old) had trouble getting the wheels on the track. A couple of my girls are interested in kit building structures but I fear the small size of the parts might be discouraging to them.

Everyone is excited right now -- we have an N scale loop setup on a piece of plywood and the Atlas locomotive pulling cars around. No scenery. Track not laid so well. But the enthusiam in all the kids, from oldest to youngest, is tremendous! I don't want to dampen them by making it too difficult with N.

Should I stick with N or try to find space for HO?

Any opinions?

[Mikeygaw]

seeing as your oldest is 10, HO might be the better bet for maybe 2 to 4 years, as you yourself said he has trouble getting the wheels on the tracks, the younger ones would have even more trouble, plus who knows what the younger ones would do to something that small

[Anonymous]

10 years old is the oldest boy. My oldest girl is 14. We have virtually all ages from 14 down to 1 year old, since we have nine kids. I figure only the older ones will be actively participating, but who knows?

You might be right, HO would be better. Easier on me also! I find it's harder for me to see details than when I was younger.

Now, to find the space in the house...

[Anonymous]

N and kids is probably one of the greater misunderstood myths in the hobby. First, when you are brousing in toy stores look at the size of Brio and Thomas the Tank and all those wooden trains. Interestingly kids like small. Now go to Wally world and go to the toy section; you will see row after row of toys that fit into a childs hand. N scale is an excellent size for kids.

Now lets talk about rerailing. First you can buy a cheap rerailer that will do the job. But knowing kids, they will pick up rerailing faster than you will probably and be better at it. My son's a whiz at it, I'm not so whizzy.

Considering I thought I had zero talent in scratch building structures, for some bizzarre reason I decided to follow some somewhat complex plans in MR. And to my surprise, I was actually able to do it. N scale structures really aren't that hard to deal with and your kids will be able to handle them. you will also find N scale structures that are "ready to run" - no building. Its a bit pricey but how about Kato's Denny's; I bet they like that.

Its sounds like your new to the scene. People here will give you a hand. I would recommend you go out and buy an old or damaged door and use it for your layout base. You will find lots of track plans on the net to fit in that space (you have but to ask here). Try and find a track plan you can afford and will keep the kids interested, trains running on ovals gets old fast.

[Anonymous]

N is fine for kids - my younger brother had his first N-scale set aged 3, he didn't have any trouble with it at all. However, I'd suggest HO is a better bet - mainly because it's easier to switch in HO and the models are not as fragile

[Anonymous]

As far as buildings in N scale, go to www.the-gauge.com and look for scratch building threads by Matthyro. He builds loads of things out of "cerealboard" - cardboard from cereal boxes. It is amazing stuff! If you or the kids don't feel up to drawing things from scratch, you can always photocopy plans from MR (get back issues - they're filled with prototype drawings, and they're only 25 - 50 cents each) and glue the photocopies onto the card as a guide. With a bit of colour, these "mock-ups" can stand in for a long time!

Good for you to share with the kids!

Andrew

[MAbruce]

I started out as a kid in N-scale, and had no problem - and this was in the early days of N-scale (70's). At first, my parents wondered if it was too small, but soon saw that I did just fine with it.

Now as a parent, my two boys (4 and 7) have N-scale around them because of me. My biggest issue is not if they can handle it, but if they are even interested in model railroading!

[bluepuma]

Most of my favorite toy cars fit my hand when I was a kid, my N scale is not that much larger. It always was hard to get the trucks/wheels on the track with Lionel, my Marx train had only 4 wheels, the "regular train wheels" were printed on the tinplate sides that hung below the body sides to hide the single axle wheels at each end.

The best case is plenty of rerailers, in the case of Atlas, just put one on each straight and one on each siding. I should have bought more with my Kato track when I switched for the train running board.

One thing with boys, some like crashes, and liked crashing trains into things. My Marx loco may have been damaged that way, but by the time I got my Lionel, I wasn't going to let anyone damage my trains by crashing them. I think HO might be a bit cheaper. My favorite place to play with my Lionel trains was on the patio concrete slab, it ran across the back of most of the house, so I set up a loop to loop run of 16+ feet. One real key is bedroom space. Was always frustrated by my O27 trains not having much
more than a loop in even 8 ft. of table, whereas, 3x8 or 2.5x8 would have been a nice layout in N scale. My "shelf layout" was the window sill, until the sun melted a hole through my flatcar. Boy, I felt THAT loss, I didn't know any better, the plastic flatcar was 027 gauge sent away for from the side panel of a Post Grapenuts box with 50 cents. Cheerios boxes had wild west buildings on the back and sides, cut and tape together, near scale. Made others with the white side shirt cardboard he used to get when he
had his shirts done.

Lifelike has some nice N scale sets, SD7 is a good runner. Recommend a MRC power pack. Would that either of my trains at 10 or later at 23 had been as good. The larger and heavier locos make better contact with the track. Just add some 11 Rad. Atlas Track. I liked the LL set I got just for the Loco, often leaving a train running on the LL loop while running others on outside loops.

Used to set up my train, run it a while, then after running it enough for a while over several days or weeks, put it away. It would have been better if I could just have folded a table flat against the wall or taken off loose items, flipped the table for use as a desk or such. - Tom