Problem! what to do ? 00 Gauge or N Gauge ?

[Woggle]

Hi once again everyone

Back in early 2011 I came back into Railway modeling after my retirment, I started to build my planned Layout in a small spare Bedroom we had at that time? my layout was to be based on a countryside Colliery layout circa 1945/60 I started with very good advice from the Wise and Vastley Experienced members of the Forum on such things as small Radius,Period Locomotives, Rolling stock etc, since then I have Built a large L shaped Base Board, second hand track and the main Item the Colliery Pit Shaft Head stock (Hornby) and a good serlection of tools ( I am an ex time served Joiner/Shopfitter/Model ship builder) my Big and major problem now is my old spare Bedroom now has to be converted back into a Bedroom early next year! for one of our older Granddaughters so that she has her own room when she comes to stay with us on Holidays and Week ends etc.
Not to be beaten and give up I have opened up an old fireplace alcove in my old Bedroom and can obtain a space 45" x 30" with a front shelf extention on the right hand side facing of aprox 60" x 12" ?
I now have the problem of do I carry on working in 00 Gauge and trying to cram in a lot into a smaller layout? or make a conciouse decision and go down to N Gauge and still have the room for a better Layout taking into consideration the following things for working in this Gauge!! Mainly the finer Detail,My age! 71 next year, I also wear prescribed Varifocal glass's and I know that you can wear a Magnification visor? But would I still be able to get the right period Locomotives/Rolling Stock/Colliery Headstock? and Finance!! as I am now a Pensioer etc etc.

All advice will be most welcome and greatly appreciated, as I do want to be able to carry on with my Hobby in some form? and some day acheive my Dream! Thanks to all

Woggle <I:-))

[TK421]

A tough choice, I've bounced between n and oo and still can't decide, although it's currently down to oo midland and n gauge german. But starting again is always a pain, weeks of selling stock on fee-bay, and then deciding what new items you want, because you've started from scratch and there's so many nice models out there If the room is to be only used on occasion and not all the time, could you adapt your current model to be stored away (maybe in the old fireplace?). From the sounds of it you certainly have the skill to do the woodwork and a few adaptions could save your months of hard work.

[Woggle]

Hi TK421

Thanks very much for your reply, but I have to strip everything I have built so far out of the spare room so their is no chance of making anything portable in that room, so I will have have to start and make do with the proposed space I can gain from the Alcove in my Bedroom and go down that road, so I have future decisions to ponder and make?

Best Regards
Woggle.

[Dad-1]

Hi Woggle,
Very Difficult .....
I would say most of us have struggled with that choice.
My decision was based upon what I feel comfortable handing and modelling.
Although I can so easily understand the benefits of 'N' all the associated scenic
work is too small for my liking, so I went '00'.
Yet I still agonise over what you can pack into limited space with 'N', I would be
tempted to suggest going 'N' with so little space, even then 45" x 30" is small.

It can also depend on just what you have in '00' already as good model railway
stuff is not cheap with 'N' costing just as much. I'm lucky in having a decent
size garage to work & store stuff in, but it means winter running is more or
less out of the question.

'N' has improved so much since I started into railways back in 2008 that it's
becoming a very acceptable option ....... Good luck !!

Geoff T.

[TK421]

so I have future decisions to ponder and make?

Most certainly if you go down the n road as Geoff says the quality is amazing, although I did find valve gear on farish locos to be a bit temperamental at times. If you can't go portable n is probably your best bet, oo is going to be limited and could make something enjoyable difficult to achieve with the space provided.

Of course there's always the garden for OO

[ste234]

If the space you have is that small, I would definitley go with N gauge. To be honest, the only thing you may struggle with vision wise is the small scenic details, people, cows etc!
There is plenty of choice in N gauge now aswell, just check out the likes of Hattons website!

[whynot]

FWIW, I have to say that with advancing years (the main reason I have not opted for N!), I'd go for 00. Plan the layout in modules from the off - know exactly HOW the 45x30 and 60x12 will be incorporated into something...larger! Obviously the key is designing the whole so that the smaller parts can both fit the eventual "plan" and in the meantime also be worthwhile and operable in themselves. Easier said than done I know - but may be worth the effort?

[poliss]

The people who have chosen 00 will tell you to go for 00 and those who have chosen N will say go for N. I'd say go to a shop that has both and see which you prefer.
There's also Z and T-Gauge if you like really long trains.

[Dugie Diesel]

Ive had an oo layout for about 3 yrs but it had to be broken up due to an house move which left me without a layout for just over a year. I had a little space available so i thought id try N on a board approx 40x28 to see if i could get on with it, also as a trial because the possibility of having a larger layout per given space was very attractive. However i must admit i just couldnt get to grips with the N gauge setup. I found the plastic and card kits easier to build than i expected despite their size but watching the loco and rolling stock moving left me disappointed, nothing to do with the quality or the detail but oo gauge has a "weight" and a feel to it that gives an impression of the heavy engineering of the real thing. Im quite sure an O gauge modeller would feel the same about OO. Personally i love to just watch train run at times on a continuous circuit but if i had the choice id sooner have an OO end to end layout rather than an N gauge loop.

[Adi.p]

For a small shunting layout I'd just stick with 00. You can keep your stock and N gauge costs the same as 00. 00 has a hands on aspect, where you can see a locos pistons pumping or a small shunters coupling rods going round and round. That to me is what sets them apart. Diesel layout look better in N than steam.