I'm die-hard N-scale, but I drooled over the G-scale C44-9W's which I thought would be cool for display, but just couldn't plunk down the money for it. Then I was going to buy an O-scale UFIX Coalveyor for display since they are an important piece of the road I model, but I couldn't find a shop that had them or would order them....including at least 2 different Atlas O dealers! So I gave up.
I noticed in a previous post the referral to USA Trains.............I'm just getting started into G scale and wonder if USA is as good or better than LGB? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Forgot to ask about Aristocraft. [ March 17, 2006, 12:43 PM: Message edited by: Bayaar ]
You might want to see if you can pick up copies of the August and October 2005 issues of Garden Railways magazine. They ran a two-part article on painting and detailing an Aristo-Craft SD45. P.S. Disregard the URL for my railroad after my signature. I've moved to http://www.trainweb.org/nasrr/ - I need to update my account information here.
G-Scale is really not that much more than N-scale. A nice G-scale loco can be had for $150-200 and you can buy a G-scale Aristocraft 2-8-2 Mikado for $249. That is not much more than the newer N-scale steamers. Track is expensive and if you are going to run outdoors, it is very wise to use the Aristocraft stainless steel track. You have to be much more diligent cleaning brass track than stainless and stainless doesn't cost that much more. I think stainless averages about $3 per foot. As far as freight cars go, some MT cars are in the $30+ range and many nice G-scale cars are less than $60. Someone asked about LGB. I did a lot of research before I got started in G-scale and LGB is hands-down the best for reliability and durability if you run outdoors. You can even run them in the rain or snow. Granted, LGB does not have as much detail as Aristocraft or USA Trains. I bought an LGB 2-4-0 steamer with sound and about 8 LGB cars and I really like it. The other big plus to LGB is that any loco they make can be used on 4' diameter curves. Any 6 axle diesel will require a minimum of an 8' diameter curve. That is a big consideration when calculating space. Some big online G-scale shops are www.lgbpola.com, www.trainworld.com, www.charlesro.com and there are others out there. A nice G-scale website is www.mylargescale.com. All of this is strictly my opinions and nothing more. [ April 12, 2006, 01:51 PM: Message edited by: Dave ]
From another point of view..... I have been modelling in 1/29th scale for about five years now (two years outside and three years inside) and I have NO engines or rolling stock from LGB. Some track and most turnouts yes, but nothing else. While LGB has started to produce North American outline models, and manufacture them in China along with Aristo and USAT, they remain slightly on the 'toy like' side of the hobby. They're very rugged but lacking in the fine detail that most modellers enjoy in HO or even N scale these days. Some folks say this is a good thing because they will be running outside. Well, what has that got to do with anything? Anyone with a history of using smaller scales will know how to look after their models and a little warm sunlight doesn't smash handrails and remove air horns. Derailments? Just lay your track properly as you would indoors. As an aside, I have reduced my Aristo engine fleet too zero, not because they don't work well but because they tend to make products that aren't correct for my layout location and era. USA Trains products are far more detailed and the GP9's and SD40-2's are just what I need for prairie my railroad. I've never had a problem with any of them. Oh yes, they also ran well outside, summer or winter, rain or shine, for two years with no trouble. There are photos at www.wvrr.ca
Hi I'm into a summer long project converting 50+ cars and 6 engines to 930 Kadee couplers. Boy, do they look great! I wish I had done this at the start but at the time I felt I shouldn't spend the extra $$$ to equip the then much smaller fleet. LSOL had a real good deal last month so I did a survey and bought everything I needed all at once. If there are one or two cars not done by the end of summer then they go on ebay. Also writing a book based on the website, which in turn is pretty much based on railroading along any similar prairie subdivision, as well as starting another book based on the Wainwright sub itself. Heading out to the Edmonton show in September and that will include a week of research railfanning. BTW, the website has a crappy home page now, sorry, because I just flipped over to a new host. Everything there works but it looks bad. Fixed soon. Thanks for asking. If your ever in the neighbourhood.... Dave
This has been real interesting reading, mainly because I'm planning on getting a pair of live steam locos, if all goes according to plan, in 12 months time. I love to get a shay or two, Accu-Craft, I think, otherwise maybe a Roundhouse British NG loco or two......
Go for it. I've been to two 'live steam' back yard railways and booth were fascinating to watch. One guy was doing some complex switching with a small, English outline, 0-6-0 with radio control. He made up quite a nice train of 6 cars and processed around the layout. Very nice but it's a whole new world of issues. Seems like work to me. Dave
2 SD45s in Mandarin orange & white, with an F9B in the middle......now that there's power! Of course, you'd need an extended-cupola caboose to go with it as well........
I recently switched from On30 to Large Scale and have found many prices for Large Scale are actually cheaper than for O or HO. Granted, I'm modeling an indoor narrow gauge logging line around the perimeter of a small room and model from a model railroader's perspective, but USA Trains has many standard gauge supplies and many supplies are suitable for both narrow and standard gauges. I never pay MSRP and shop for equipment online at Ridge Road Station, St Aubins, Trainworld, Texnrails, and many others. Large Scale supplies are always available with huge discounts. For detail parts, Ozark Miniatures has a huge selection and are available from Ridge Road Station at prices cheaper that their HO or O scale equivalents. In addition to the Large Scale equipment that runs on #1 Gauge track, I am using some of my On30 and HO supplies to model a Gn15 branchline, which is G scale that runs on HO track! Because the gauge is the same, I can still run my favorite HO and On30 locos on it - it may not be to scale for HO or O - but it's fun.
"I'm planning on getting a pair of live steam locos, if all goes according to plan, in 12 months time. I love to get a shay or two, Accu-Craft, I think, otherwise maybe a Roundhouse British NG loco or two......" mosslake, I "defected" to live steam from n scale about a year ago. Live steam is totally different but a lot of fun. Running a train is much more involved -- a single train keeps you plenty busy. I have all Accucraft NG steamers and I really like them. Here are some recent images from my slowly developing layout:
Guys, basically Accucraft has produced many of the Rio Grande narrow gauge locomotives in 1:20.3 scale live steam (C-16, C-21, K-27 so far, K-28 and C-19 next year). They've also put out quite a bit of prototypical 1:20.3 narrow gauge rolling stock. My live steamers are butane gas-fired and run 45 minutes to an hour on a full boiler/fuel tank. (Lots of gauge one live steam discussion over the last few years over at www.mylargescale.com ) You can either run the engines manually (as I do) or install R/C systems to adjust the throttle and Johnson bar. Operation feels a lot more prototypical: everything must be manually controlled (unless you go R/C), including turnouts and couplers. So a typical switching operation involves walking up and down the train to perform coupling operations, watching the boiler pressure (although the engines have safety valves, of course), stopping to manually throw switches as a brakeman would, etc. Here are a couple more pictures from last year:
I've been considering an outdoor G Scale as well. I'm currently in N-Scale. as a kid I started with Lionel - still have my plastic Lionel (for around the Christmas tree) set as well as my Dads metal set from his childhood (thanks for hiding it Dad as it is in nice shape and would not have been if you let me "play" with it when I was a kid), then I got into HO, then N, had HO and N scale for years. right now I'm all N scale with some old HO stuff in boxes. Eric, those steamers are amazing! also, one of my favorite N scale e-tailers also has G scale. not sure how their prices compare, but for N scale, they were always one of the lowest price places. http://www.wholesaletrains.com/GProducts2.asp?Scale=G&Special=0 I like steam. Bachmann has a lot of attractive G scale Steam locos. I like the Shays, the G spectrum 2-8-0, etc. but, I assume that they are the same "Bachmann quality" as the other scales? or are they decent?
Well, here it goes for me too. Got this in a trade the other week and now kind of have the bug to start a small outdoor railway. Now, it is a Bachman 4-6-0 and it seems to run quite well. Any comments, tips, or suggestions on getting started?:shade:
