Crisis of faith

[listerboy]

I'm having a bit of a crisis of faith at the moment. I've found myself looking at OO-9 more than 16mm/Ft.

Anybody else done/doing that?

[steamie1]

It could be the weather has been bad over the winter. Might be worth considering putting some of the line undercover i.e. running past a lean too or in and out a shed. All forms of modelling are good. 009 is tiny and fiddly with a near scale look, horses for courses. Cute but.....

[Peter Butler]

Two sugestions.......
1. Try looking at 16mm through binoculars reverse way round. This will give the impression of 009 without additional work or expense.
2. Put a test track of 009 in the garden and see if it works in wet conditions.
That should do it!

[andymctractor]

I was 009 before I started in the garden with 16mm/ft. I still have lots of 009 stuff and intend to build at least one more layout in that scale.
However, I've been looking at 7mm/ft narrow gauge as the scale is more manageable as I get older yet is small enough to do indoors.
There is nothing to say you can't do 009 and 16mm/ft. In fact I first experienced 16mm steam in the garden at an 009 group meeting when the host took us out in his garden for lunch.

[Catweasel]

I did 009 many years ago and was put off by unreliable and restricted choice of chassis. Ended up building my own split frames and 8mm gauge! Moved to 16mm and found it a great scale. I don't have a line of my own for security reasons,the modern world being what it is,and have now moved up again to 7/8th scale indoors. What a challenge that is. Big little loco's and stock. Not a lot is needed for a good bit of fun.

[Andrew]

Two sugestions.......
1.  Try looking at 16mm through binoculars reverse way round.  This will give the impression of 009 without additional work or expense.
2.  Put a test track of 009 in the garden and see if it works in wet conditions.
That should do it!

And 3. Solder two wires to your rails, connect them to endless switches etc in a crazy maze of complex circuitry until you can't remember what switch does what, or indeed if any of them do anything at all - then raise steam and trundle about to your heart's content without flicking a single switch...

or 4. Spend all summer building your 009 line, then, in the autumn, spray your trees yellow, then brown, then pull all the leaves off. Remember to repaint the sky in the backscene grey from time to time and tip a watering can over the whole lot for that special "after rain" feel - keep the doors and windows open too to recreate changing weather, you don't want to miss out on all that lovely steam in the cold weather. Oh, hang on...


Stick with it! Garden railways are magic! Reading some good books on the subject might help. Or just running a train in the sunshine...

I've always found that having a strong idea of what it is you're building helps make it seem real and "alive" - even if that changes several times as you actually build it. Sketch trackplans, set yourself hyperthetical shunting puzzles, doodle station buildings. And if all else fails, buy a new engine - that focusses the mind!

Good luck with keeping the faith,

Andrew.

[philipy]

I've tried N gauge in the garden and I've tried 00 in the garden and neither were really satisfactory, so I can't see 009 being more than the worst of both worlds.
However by coincidence I was in Howes of Oxford this morning, to get some paint, and they have some very tasty looking O gauge stuff in the display cabinets - I did find myself wondering.....!

[kandnwlr]

I know lots of people who have a smaller scale layout somewhere as well as 16mm in the garden (or the cellar, like me). I got the small scale stuff out of my system by building a Gn15 branch line for the K&NWLR and then rediscovering electricity, soldering, dirty rails and rolling stock that blows over if you sneeze too closely to it. I wouldn´t get rid of it though. It´s also part of our broad church, even if we have narrow gauge as a common set of beliefs. Not so much a crisis of faith then, more the lure of a nonconformist (rail) service.

[listerboy]

Thanks for the replies. It's easy to forget about rail cleaning & soldering when the batteries are on board!

[MDLR]

I gave up 009 for a number of reasons: I was bad-temered when I built something because the bits were so small, and if I dropped a bit on the workshop floor I (a) couldn't see it or (b) couldn't pick it up! Going up 2 scales helped a;; three - my first Coopercraft 16mm models (because that was all that was available locally) basically fell together (as they do) and i even scratch-built a flat wagon!

[jay1976]

I still have a 009-hoe scale railway..Actually off to get it out of storage at the weekend its a inverted figure 8 with 2 stations and is 7X3 foot make from frame and mdf top can just be carried by myself..Had loads of fun with it but a little boy and 009 dont really mix..I find faller wagons and locos mix ok with small kids as they bounce if dropped from waist height with nothing more than a dent in the floor,009 dropped from same height will have tears in your eyes and 100 parts scattered on the floor..
And to be honest I have had a few times of thinking was it worth going into the garden but then I go outside and play and all ok..

[Big Jim]

It's your hobby do what you want!
I find I flit about a bit. I have 7mm NG stock and lot of 00 hidden away. I also build the occassional 0 Gauge kit.
A change is as good as a rest as they say.

Mind you 16mmish scale in the garden is easier on the eyes and can be a lot cheaper than smaller scale stuff.

[Catweasel]

As mentioned in an earlier post, I'm looking at a 7/8th scale micro layout and it's huge compared with 16mm. Just drawn out a small workshop building (scale 12x 8 ft.) and it was a bit of a shock. A figure scales out approx. 6"! Phew. Plenty of scope for detail.