layout size dictates scale?

[Anonymous]

I have in the past modeled n scale
I have about 5 loco's and 36 pieces of rolling stock. I moved into a new house and have room for a 8'x11'x6' layout in my basement. I like seeing trains running while I am doing scenery, and i like the ideas of a double main and at times a triple main, but can this be accomplished in ho scale on a layout of this size. Would the layout have to be point to point? or can i have continous running..I like n scale because of less compression, and also i want to run dcc but my wife likes the idea of smaller scenes, i.e. campfire in the woods, kids swimming in a lake, people sunbathing on a roof in a city...any advice is appreciated

[Anonymous]

Hello njtransit,

Marty McGuirk, former MR associate editor and now VP product development for InterMountain, came up with the best axiom I've ever encountered for the question you're asking: Site, scale, subject.

Aside from the "spaghetti bowl" arrangement, it's not likely you'll obtain much satifying operation or scenic effect from cramming a double-track HO scale layout into that area. My layout room is 9 x 14 feet, and I entertained the idea of putting in a single-track HO scale main line (SP&S, of course!), but opted instead for an HO scale switching layout, and I'm glad I did.

Remember site, scale, subject -- and in this case it sounds to me as if N scale is the better choice for what you want to do.

Regards,

Paul Schmidt
Contributing Editor
Trains.com

[Anonymous]

Stick with N-scale.

The quality keeps getting better and better, and details like what you have listed are certainly possible in this scale. If your wife lobbies for small vignettes, then in N-scale you'll just have that much more room for more of them, thus increasing her appreciation of your layout, right? Seriously, if at a larger scale you quickly filled up all the space with a few vignettes, then you'd hit a wall.

Something like kids swimming in a lake actually requires a lot of room ("context") to pull off right. If the lake is too small, it'll seem like just a pond, which would be covered with scum in the real world and not be something you'd let your kids dip into. Sunbathing on a roof in the city needs a city to work, and cities take up space. Of course, once you have a city, you have a thousand more potential scenes to dress up: what does that glass storefront display, for instance?

Your space is tight, in my opinion, even for a full-size N-scale layout (by full-size I mean more than one distinct town, thus the opportunity to sense travel from place to place), but you should be able to get dogbone turns at each end and have a decent shelf layout. In any larger scale, it would definitely be point-point, unless you could handle a duckunder.

[BR60103]

Check one of John Arnstrong's track planning books. He has some tables of what can put into a given space, not mini-scenes but railroad features. It's based on "squares" which are related to your railroad specs e.g. era, car types, minimum radius. It's worth looking at.
--David

[n2mopac]

I have to agree with what has been offered so far--stick with N scale. All of the details you mentioned can be accomplished in N scale. They may be a bit more challenging, but that just makes modeling more interesting. You can accomplish so much more in this space in N scale. I fear you would feel very cramped with HO in such a space. I know I am a bit biased, as an avid N-scaler, but I originally switched from HO to N due to space considerations, and I am very glad I did. I'll never go back because of what I can fit into a small space.

Ron

[Anonymous]

thanks for all the responses

[Anonymous]

I have to disagree with the majority here. An 8' X 12'space is more than adequate for a double track HO layout--and it does not have to look like spaghetti, either. There are lots of Kalmbach and Carstens publications, full of drawings and ideas. Depending on how you configure it, you can easily have 30" curves or better on mainline trackage. You don't limit yourself to N scale.

[Anonymous]

My first major trackplan was for an 8.5 x 12 ft space in a spare bedroom. It was a twice around single track layout with a reversing loop and a stub end yard so the layout could be operated as an out-and-back. I think this is adequate space for HO but you won't be able to do what you can in N scale. If you are alright with that then I would go the HO scale route because I like HO scale. Maybe you don't care for it as I do, but if your wife likes it, that is worth some consideration too. I don't think you will have much room for operations if you have all the scenes your wife describes.

Myself, I am still waiting for that big basement. Good Luck - Ed