Do you feel limited by modeling narrow gauge?

[Ghetto Fab.]

So do you feel limited by modeling narrow gauge railroads?

I really like narrow gauge steam trains. Been to colorado a lot. Spent a lot of time around telluride, ophir, silverton and cumbres pass, etc..., but I also like more modern era railroading, the era that I grew up in. I've never modeled a narrow gauge railroad as I allways felt I'd be limited in what I could do. Even if I modeled d&rgw standard gauge in the 80's, I could still through a steamer on from time to time, or that southern pacific engine here and there. I relize most narrow gaugers model it because you want to. My problem is my interests are varied and I'm trying to figure out what direction to go for a future layout.

Thanks,
Kevo

[BoxcabE50]

I'm not sure I can answer your question exactly as posed. But... I have never gone into modeling a prototype such as the D&RGW narrow gauge, just for those exact reasons causing you to feel confined.

So, that is why my narrow gauge has gone the route of HOn30 and more recently, dabbling in On30. There is a certain freedom in those scales. Possibly the best word is whimsy. Yet a person can get into any level of detail desired. They do not fit a specific prototype, however, the modeler can use them to emulate the real thing as desired.

[rg5378]

Do a layout that includes both narrow gauge and standard gauge. Then you have the best of both worlds. HOn3 is expensive though.

[HOexplorer]

I don't model narrow guages for another reason. I'm uncomfortable with the size of narrow guage locos and rolling stock when they get along side a 'nomal' sized building. I just can get over the "look." I even have a couple of On30 locos that just use for photography, no buildings in the photos. Just me. Jim:tb-biggrin:

[SteamDonkey74]

I do not, but then I am a rubber scaler and gauger. I model in N scale standard, On30, and I have a little bit of Nn3 stuff. It appears that my modeling is mostly modular so instead of feeling like I have to build a whole layout representing, say, 1:37 PM on the Milwaukee Road just east of Avery, ID, on June 10, 1958, I can have scenes that I can combine together or that I can pop out and take to a train show.

If I want to run a long streamliner passenger consist then N is a good choice for me. If I want to model a rattle-trap operation in the woods with all sorts of details and such I tend more to On30. I would do more Nn3, perhaps, if the first step to getting just that locomotive wasn't to order a Maerklin Z scale steamer, pop the shell off, and then grab a hack saw. I just cannot bring myself to do it, and there aren't enough junker mechs out there that I can find them cheaply enough to rehabilitate.

[RatonMan]

I am happily in HOn3 and accept the fact that it is an esoteric part of the hobby. I just hope that it stays that way!

[RhB_HJ]

My NG journey started in earnest 30 years ago. Modelling Swiss Meter Gauge - first in HOm and now in IIm - has huge advantages, especially since I restrict myself to a specific era (1969-75). There is only so much that ran at that time and even less that is commercially available in IIm, which means lots and lots of opportunity to kitbash and scratch build. It doesn't get much better than that, at least not in my view!

[TetsuUma]

I tend to model things I've seen somewhere and that have caught my interest as side projects. I never thought I would get the narrow gauge bug until I received a copy of George Hilton's American Narrow Gauge Railroads as a graduation present. Then a visit to the Michigan Upper Peninsula got me thinking about buildiing a narrow gauge copper hauler based on the Quincy & Torch Lake. I plan to build my special interest projects as modules so I can have them out or put them away as necessary.

As for being limited by NG, I think that NG is both limiting and liberating. It's limiting if you want ready-to-run models of your favorite prototype but it is liberating in that you know you are going to have to make things yourself. No counting on a manufacturer's delivery schedule and no making compromises for a model that isn't quite right. I'm not a scratch builder (yet) and the desire to learn new skills is another attraction for me.

Andy
Tetsu Uma