HO vs N. A devastating comparison

The last few days I spent a quite some time with track planning. I planned two very comparable layouts, based on Palmetto by Lance Mindheim. My first version is in HO. As I am used to this scale and I was pretty sure that this is the scale to go. Then I tried the same (or similar) in N scale. There are #10 turnouts available for the Atlas code 55 track. Awesome!

The result is devastating. I created a N scale version that is 25 % shorter and uses only 60 % of the real estate. Additionally it uses #10 turnouts instead of #8. The scene has a much more generous look and might cope with more rolling stock without unrealistically cluttered.

I am now in a scale-selection-crisis. I have excluded N scale due to my crafting skills – or better the lack of them. I thought my space would allow my to create some interesting HO scale layouts and operations. I’m sure it does. But I must acknowledge that I like the Idea of this spacious scenery and “tiny” trains a lot. I will visit a FREMO americaN meet in two weeks and hope to experience some nice, prototypical operations. I will have a look at the models and their quality. My kids will accompany me and their opinion will certainly be part of my considerations. That might tip me over in the either or other direction scale.