I'm all for N! I started in HO back in the early '70s and thought that I'd stay with HO forever. My cousins had gotten into N scale about the same time that I was starting in HO. I was impressed with the small size of N but the detail and the poor operation of N scale locomotives left a lot to be desired. So as the '70s, and then the 80's go by I'm happily modeling in HO. As the 1990's began my parents moved out of state so my HO layout that was in their basement had to be dismantled. Unfortunately I had no room in my apartment for an HO layout so all my engines and rolling stock were boxed up and stored in the attic crawl space. Even though I was not actively modeling I was still visiting my local hobby shop a couple of times a month. About a year after my HO layout was torn down I was in my hobby shop when a customer was picking up an N-scale diesel. The shop owner put it on the test track to make sure it operated smoothly and I was impressed. I don't remember what model the diesel was of, but I do remember it was an Atlas model. After that customer left the store the shop owner showed me some Atlas and Kato locomotives and Micro-Trains freight cars. I left the shop that day with a Kato GE Dash 8 diesel, several M/T freight cars, and a bunch of Atlas track. A quick stop at a local home center on the way home to pick up a hollow-core door and my N-scale journey had begun. I've been in N since the mid 1990's and haven't regretted leaving HO at all. I'm now 55 years old and have no problem with the size of N. The quality of N just keeps getting better and better. The prices have gone steadily up over the years but N is still more affordable than HO. Even though I'm now living in a house of my own, with a full basement, I'm still operating the layout I originally built on that hollow core door! There are plans for expansion but there are several other projects that have priority.
I'm definitely one for N!
Joe P, KC2PJL
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