Hello from Mansfield!

[Andy_C]

Hi all.

I’ve registered here as I’m at the beginning or revisiting a hobby I did as a child. I ran OO and N gauge, before music got in the way!

My lovely wife has authorised a bedroom layout in a room with a useable space of around 8ft 6 inches x 8ft 6 inches. I’ve been watching lots of YouTube stuff including videos on both OO and N gauge. I’m conflicted as to which scale. Era is easier, as I want a combo of steam and diesel. I guess the question is do I want to run realistic full length rakes? If that’s the case then N gauge possibly would be better.

I’ve looked at the old Mansfield Railway station. The station was a straightforward 2 platform affair, but had lots of goods traffic, with coal and loco sidings, and a lovely viaduct straight after the station when heading west.

Anyway, any help and suggestions will be very much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Andy.

[IanS]

Welcome to a great forum.

As to scale, the downside to N gauge is it is small and as years progress your eyesight and manual dexterity may wane. If that's a lot of years off then ignore this statement, but if years are catching up with you then consider how you'll manage in a few years time.

[Mountain Goat]

Plusses and minuses to each scale and gauge.
Smaller scales are generally by nature going to be more space friendly, but larger scales tend to have both a greater reliability of running due to more weight and surface contact between the wheels and track, and are also easier to model in such as painting the things etc, etc.

There is a compromise to be had in the form of narrow gauge, and though I do take things to the extremes in 7mm narrow gauge which is the narrow gauge of 0 gauge (0-16.5) in that I can have my trains turn through 180 degrees on a two foot wide layout, and a loco and five 4 wheel coaches in 7mm NG is the same length as a typical bogie diesel or a steam loco+tender with just two bogie coaches in 00 gauge, so it does demonstrate what is possible in a larger scale by turning to narrow gauge. Admittedly I use smaller narrow gauge prototypes (If one can call them prototypes as I am a freelance modeller) to get round my curves, but I do find it the answer to my modelling needs.
I will also mention 009 which is the narrow gauge of 00 as another option as 009 now has a steadily increasing commercial support.

Whatever scale and gauge one chooses, enjoy! Do some research first before jumping in as this hobby is not cheap! But have fun!

[Walkingthedog]

I have an O gauge layout around the walls of an 8x8ft room. Depends what you want to run.

[Mr Bones]

Welcome to the forum. Friendly helpful bunch on here.
I considered N gauge, but with my eye sight and the dexterity of a handcuffed crab I decided OO was a safer option. I still fumble everything, but at least I can see what I'm fumbling

[Walkingthedog]

Apologies Andy I didn’t say welcome.

[Andy_C]

Thanks for the responses and comments! I’ve a few diy jobs to do before the room will be ‘released’ to me to commence.

Proper planning prevents poor performance, so I’ll commence some thoughts and research.

I would like the layout to be a loop (I’m not yet up with the modern abbreviations), but I’ll need to devise some kind of lift out bit rather than keep crawling under one end.

I’ve seen the threads on baseboards, and the problems having a hinged board can create.

I’m also not averse to gradients. Again I’ve seen the 1 in 30 calculations etc, and this being more risky with curves.

Lots of things to ponder.

[Mountain Goat]

1 in 30 is the max reccomended gradient in 00. It actually varies from scale and gauge as some scales have heavier locos compared to what they pull and also have better traction and others can have worse and of course it varies from loco to loco and the best advice comes from those who model in the gauge and scale one wants to consider. Also a thought is the height needed for stock to fit under bridges and therefore need to climb if one has one track climbing over another, but one good idea is to build an open frame design where such a gradient is needed and lower one track and raise the other so that both tracks where one passes over the other will only need half the gradient to do this.

[Dave S]

Hi Andy,
I can't welcome you as I'm a newby here too, returning to hobby after 50 years away.
Watching youtube there is lots with sound, but it seems internal space is an issue, so a seperate topic, but N guage wold be harder I believe.

I've read posts in the pasts where age can bring on shaking hands, and failing eyesight so looking ahead as contingency, OO guage.

On space, it's always a limiting factor, so favour multi level so its not the same train looping and can have hidden sidings for storage.
If have lower level say 2 inches down (66 inch slope) bear in mind upper level may have point motors on underside, to be avoided.

I've done a hinged flap before and checked youtube yesterday to see if methods are same.
I used flap hinges and had to mount them on blocks either side to prevent the rail squeezing on itself, but the videos didn't have that problem, not sure why.

Key thing is to line up perfect/solid, maybe locating pin non hinge side.
Power can be carried by passing slack cable from hinge side.

I'm doing mine in the loft - could you do the same?
Given current house trend, cost of improving loft can be considered an investment rather than hobby expense.
Dead/eves space can be utilised, but loft ladder access where ladder isn't in way may be an issue.

[bulleidboy]

Hi Andy - Welcome to the forum. A great place with lots of help, information and fun. I was given permission to use the small bedroom (10x7) back in 2013 and have a end-to-end layout. With hindsight a round the room layout might have been better, the problem with a small space is that if you want reasonable radius curves (rather than 3rd/4th radius) you need space and this then shortens the straight sections. I have a lift-up section across the door, only because it gave me another three feet of board/track (I crawl under at the moment). Unless you are doing a proper job on your loft, one problem will be temperature - freezing in the winter and like an oven in the summer. Whatever you decide keep us posted. BB