O Gauge is in your memories and your heart'. You won't be happy with HO in the long run. You don't have to go crazy. A small 4 X 8 can be as much fun as a larger layout.... Good luck'...
@CNJ Jim posted:I'm trying to decide that myself right now. It's not easy. I have much less space than you ... narrow point-to-point type layouts. I could do so much more with HO.
I have two Atlas CNJ RS-1 engines sitting on the table here ... one O and one HO. I keep staring at them for a week now. O is so much cooler! Much better sounds, much less fiddly. Easier to work on, detail. Heft. Etc etc etc.
I'm going to sell all my HO stuff. Just need a little nudge.
Garden State Model Railway Club in North Haledon? If so, I've been debating joining myself for a while. I have a decent little fleet of quality CNJ HO stuff. It would be cool to be part of a club like that. I just don't have the time now. Maybe when I retire, whenever that is.
And, of course ... just a ways south of them is NJ Hi-Railer's O scale club in Patterson.
So many trains ... so little time.
I was talking about The Model RR club in Union/Springfield off of 22 (HO). Worthwhile checking out over the holiday season, they have open houses every year, and they created a huge expansion a while ago, well, that is kind of moving along with my home layout, that rate of speed.....
.
Ah, retirement, what a thought......
My dream layout has always been inside the Walmart distribution bldg on I-35. The bldg is about a 1/8 mile long and a couple hundred yards wide. I would maybe have four loops of track running 1/4 mile for each loop. Track detectors every 50 ft or so with a status board like the subways have. Sidings every 200 ft where trains get automatically switched into by the presence of an oncoming train. Plenty of block signals, banjo signals crossing gates etc so you could climb the tower and view all the lights that each train is activating along thw way. Or you could be just sitting in a lazy boy with a cold drink watching the status board and waiting for the 6:10pm 773 NYC Hudson passenger train to arrive. You'd need some 132 stations or 253 block signals to stop and hold the trains at stations.
Of course you'd need tubular track so you can literally hear the train coming.
Until then I'll make do with an upcoming 24x30 layout made up of 4 U shapes of track.
@Mike in NC posted:... thinking about size, and being a Godzilla fan I wondered if I could get a scale version of the beast for my train room.
If you go by the original Japanese movie, Godzilla would only be about 3.5 ft tall in O- scale👍😜
Postwar Lionel doesn't need wide radius curves, it runs just fine on the O31 tubular metal track that it was designed for. There are a lot of modern trains such as MTH's RailKing line, LionChief Plus etc., that have scale-like performance and features. These also don't require wide-radius curves.
If you do go wide-radius, your track design will be limited to a perimeter oval with some stuff in the middle. Personally, given your space, I would forget the wide-radius curves and stick with the trains you have. You might invest in new Atlas O36 if your postwar track and switches are in poor condition. Either way, there's plenty of fun (and realism) to be had!
Edit: And to address your last question, no I would not trade it all in for HO. Totally different beast with its own set of problems, challenges, and rewards. Once you go big, you can never go back!! My $.02.
@Ted S posted:...I would forget the wide-radius curves and stick with the trains you have. You might invest in new Atlas O36 if your postwar track and switches are in poor condition. Either way, there's plenty of fun (and realism) to be had!...
Yep, there IS still plenty of fun to be had! I was kinda stuck in a rut a few days ago. Without being too corny, the support I've gotten from 20-30 strangers here has gotten me back on the tracks, it really has.
The trains I have will almost all run on 30" turns. I've been thinking/planning this table in my head for years and I'm trying to avoid buying new gear since I have so, SO much already.
I do have a couple dozen sticks of ol' lionel 10" O straight & curved track that will probably get turned out for xmas or be the first thing on the table once it gets a top board. I already have a probably 250 or 300ft+ of used Gargraves flex AND a box and a half of unused/fresh flex along with 20-plus 100" radius Gargraves switches. So I was gonna try to start with those. Some of the used track will likely require so much work that I'll maybe retire maybe half of it to display things on shelves.
Sheldon (Big Bang Theory) is something of an expert on this subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCTzWZulcwg
I think I'd try to leave more spacing for the accessories you speak of. Instead of dead-end tracks, I'd try to make some double-ended sidings to install some of the accessories.
I know there are O scalers out there who are pretty good about keeping it "scale" and realistic but I've always considered O to be more about toy trains in respect to operating accessories, etc. and HO, On30 and N scales to be more about building a scale representation of the real thing. Just my opinion.
@BucksCo posted:I know there are O scalers out there who are pretty good about keeping it "scale" and realistic but I've always considered O to be more about toy trains in respect to operating accessories, etc. and HO, On30 and N scales to be more about building a scale representation of the real thing. Just my opinion.
Jack,
I hope you're not saying that, try as O Scalers might, true O Scale can't match up to the quality and detail found in N, HO and On30.
Or, is it more like "Unlike N, HO, and On30, when I think of O the first thing that pops into my mind is 3 Rail Traditional toys, and not true scale."
(This might get a little sticky ...)
Mike
Mike,
Finescale can be done in any scale. I've seen Large scale 1:20.3 layouts that were incredibly well done but if you note the name of this forum it's 3-Rail Traditional Toy Trains. That heading to me means 3 rail O gauge trains which in my own opinion means closer to postwar toy type than a truly
scale layout. As I stated - just my opinion.
O scale is my opinion “user friendly”, except where the issues of scale size and paint colors are concerned. Some are a little bigger or a little smaller, some a little darker , some a little lighter….you must do research to be sure you are buying what you thought…..these seem to be the major issues on the forum…..but what do I know
@BucksCo posted:I know there are O scalers out there who are pretty good about keeping it "scale" and realistic but I've always considered O to be more about toy trains in respect to operating accessories, etc. and HO, On30 and N scales to be more about building a scale representation of the real thing. Just my opinion.
And your point would be?
@gunrunnerjohn posted:And your point would be?
Rhetorically speaking?
It's akin to wearing a "Lionel" T-shirt while attending an NMRA meet.
My point was that some folks switch over to HO in order to create a more realistic layout.
@BucksCo posted:My point was that some folks switch over to HO in order to create a more realistic layout.
Because they can't do so in O?
Or perhaps because it's easier or less expensive to do so in HO?
Just trying to understand.
Mike
@dkdkrd posted:Rhetorically speaking?
It's akin to wearing a "Lionel" T-shirt while attending an NMRA meet.
So, Lionel people aren't welcome at an NMRA event? Gee, that's news to me. 
@gunrunnerjohn posted:So, Lionel people aren't welcome at an NMRA event? Gee, that's news to me.
Welcome?...of course.
Taken seriously in a discussion for our apparent genre-of-interest?...
Here...let me give another example. You may be familiar with that other popular magazine...with little-to-no column space given to O3R. For the many years I subscribed...when in those other genre's...they would put forth a significant effort within their April issue to expound on something so incredible that it made you wonder if they could possibly be truly serious about it...IOW, their April Fool's article. For example, one article with photos from the fully completed/detailed 'layout' put forth the advantages of a Rails-to-Trails branch of the hobby...absolutely no trains, no track...just the towns, countryside, roadbed populated with walkers, bicycle riders, benches, etc., etc., blah, blah. All sorts of advantages...No train/track/wiring/control problems, costs, maintenance, etc.. Excellent for those for whom the best part of the hobby is scenery, structures, terrain, and the like. Very attention-getting. Very well written/photographed. Yes, I was fully taken in.
Well, one April one of the stalwarts of the hobby, Tony Koester, who contributed a regular 1-page opination to each monthly issue, announced that he was transitioning from his forte...HO-extremism...to (gasp!) O scale...but, but, but NOT just O scale,...O 3-RAIL!! Yepper, he had that baby-boomer itch to jump on the revival train of the 3-rail genre with its amazing new models, controls, features, etc., etc., blah, blah. On and on he wrote the most believable rationalization for his departure from HO to O3R. And, as Sheldon would then say.........BAZINGA!!
Yep, 'we' were the April butt of foolishness. Rhetorical. I'm sure the readers from the dominant genre's enjoyed the parody.
Welcome, at NMRA events? Of course.
I don't mind, and I'm sure most of 'us' don't either. TEHO.
KD
@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:Because they can't do so in O?
Or perhaps because it's easier or less expensive to do so in HO?
Just trying to understand.
Mike
Of course you can do it in O - as long as you go 2 rail instead of 3. This is the 3-rail Traditional TOY Train forum which denotes it is dedicated to 3 rail toy trains.
This thread was moved from 3-rail traditional toy trains over to track plans and layout design. I guess I started on the wrong foot.
Anyhow, I have only ever operated conventional pre/post-war Lionel and all this newfangled software and control systems and sound modules and tricky stuff that has come along in the last 30 years is a lot to read-up on and understand, but you folks keep it lively in here
I have been clicking around in Anyrail and the nice thing is they have gargraves 100" switches - and that's all I have, about 24 of them. This is a 'first draft' for my 12'x11' space.
I am open to suggestions and recommendations. What would you do in this space? I have too much postwar everything and gargraves track for this table/area, but I'm trying to fit in a large-ish outerloop with an inner bit for industry-ish switching and save some space for powered accessories and buildings, etc. 
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I painted a couple of (Life-Like, ?? I think ??) SW9's for a nephew several years ago. It's all a matter of your preference.
Looks good! My father and I used GarGraves 100" switches (and track) on the layout we built at his house. They worked nicely with the DZ-1000 switch machines as well. The only modification I would maybe consider would be to join the siding near the ZW back to the inner loop. That way you use it for a passing siding as well. Like you said, even though you have a lot of track you don't have to fill every square inch of table space with it. A good balance between track, structures and landscape will make for a great layout.
Rob
@Ted S posted:Postwar Lionel doesn't need wide radius curves, it runs just fine on the O31 tubular metal track that it was designed for. There are a lot of modern trains such as MTH's RailKing line, LionChief Plus etc., that have scale-like performance and features. These also don't require wide-radius curves.
If you do go wide-radius, your track design will be limited to a perimeter oval with some stuff in the middle. Personally, given your space, I would forget the wide-radius curves and stick with the trains you have. You might invest in new Atlas O36 if your postwar track and switches are in poor condition. Either way, there's plenty of fun (and realism) to be had!
Edit: And to address your last question, no I would not trade it all in for HO. Totally different beast with its own set of problems, challenges, and rewards. Once you go big, you can never go back!! My $.02.
Absolutely!! And as Ted S wrote in his last sentence (!). Quite true Hmmmm…i seem to remember that’s what my sweetheart of 65+ years said after we were married!!
I thought about it pretty seriously until I found examples of layouts in O Scale accomplishing what I wanted to accomplish in O scale. I liked the operating methods that seemed to be common in HO. It seemed like the trains had a purpose. O Scale seemed to me (at the time) to be a lot of super tight turns and high speed action. That caught my attention as a youngster but then I wanted more realism and purpose as I grew older.
So I would say you should figure out what you want from the layout. I did that by looking at a lot of layouts and seeing what got me excited.
