If having room for a layout is the issue, then even HO, in my opinion, is NOT a
good size since even something as small as a table-top type layout (a
respectable one) cannot be built on a standard 4X8 sheet of plywood without
excessively tight radius curves and still being cramped for space. I KNOW this
for a fact as I have designed multitudes of HO scale layouts trting to cram as
much as possible on them to suit people's requests. See for yourselves :
http://www.trainweb.org/seaboard/layouts.htm
It seems to me that TT scale (falling between HO and N) would be much better
suited for layouts of ANY type, especially table-top layouts, and yet still be
somewhat detailable. N and Z are just too small for serious
detail-'modeling'... and even TT isn't all that easy to detail, it is just the
smallest I would EVER consider going to. But HO definitely falls short of
being "small enough" to enable it's modelers to have space for a 'respectable'
layout... at least for detail-oriented modelers. Toy train sets are a whole
other story...
John Degnan
[email protected]
[email protected]
----- Original Message -----
From: ctxmf74
To: [email protected]
Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2012 12:01 PM
Subject: {S-Scale List} Re: Modern Diesel
The difference in S and HO production numbers is the size. HO is physically
small enough to support more modelers than S can. Not everyone has room for an
S layout so lots of folks go with HO or even N scales. S can gain market share
especially from O scale modelers looking for a more user friendly size for a
layout but it's a time consuming process. No one is saying "don't make new
stuff" they are just saying don't expect too much too soon. The most useful
traits an S modeler can have is patience and flexibility to go with what can be
found at the time. I can't build the exact layout I'd like with the equipment
now available but I can build something. One might have to model the 1985 now
instead of 2005 for instance then update the era as newer equipment becomes
available. If equipment mattered more to me than size I'd go with HO as I can
buy almost anything in HO size, and in fact I've bought lots of new HO stuff
just to see if I could be happy with an HO layout and for now my more limited S
selection still wins the battle....DaveBranum
