I came to the conclusion that O gauge is going to be too large and too expensive for getting back into the hobby. I have a brother-in-law that I helped build a large shelf table for. He and his family run HO trains and they are very cool. I have seen some N gauge displays at the local train show and love how you can pack so much into such a tiny space without sacrificing too much realism and features. I decided to give N gauge a go and see if it suits me. I have a lot to learn as Lionel is a 3 rail AC powered track and N is two rail DC powered track with the option to use something called DCC. I’ll share my learning in this blog as I discover all the nuances and rules that go with modeling in N gauge. I did some research into N scale manufacturers to get an idea of how they rank in terms of quality and price. I came away with the idea that Kato makes some fine engines and really easy to use track called Unitrack.
I decided to get a starter set to get a taste of what N scale is like. This was close to the holidays and sales were going on. I found a cool Kato N scale starter set with a Canadian National loco and some freight cars, an oval of track and a transformer for under $200 so I bought it. The CN loco seemed appropriate as CN runs right through Champaign-Urbana and I can see the tracks from my office window. Amtrak shares those tracks and I can see the Amtrak station too. So the CN starter set was fitting in more ways than one.
The starter set arrives
Wow, N scale is sure small! The Kato starter set was packed incredibly well in a reusable storage box. Everything assembles and disassembles easily and the locomotive runs like a dream. I’m really impressed with the quality of the Kato starter set. The freight cars look a little out of scale but that might also be my unfamiliarity with actual true scale. I’ll need to pay more attention to the next freight train that goes rolling past my window. Getting the cars on the track without using the rerailer gizmo can be a little tricky and I find my hands aren’t as nimble and stable as they once were but I’m getting the hang of it and practice make perfect. With a sample size of one - I decided to go ahead and build a layout in N scale using Kato Unitrack. At least for the first layout :)
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