THIS is why...

[chicken45]

6. The respect points system.

Just kidding on reason #6, and only half serious in my initial statement.

Good, cause remember we have video proof of you hating on the respect system IRL to @tom mann .

[casmmr]

Dave, or Dr whatever it is today, you must remember that Model Railroading is FUN.  When whatever scale you are currently in no long supplies the FUN, it is time to move on.  I  am glad that we still get to follow your adventures in HOn3.  When if ever you feel the need to move on from there, it will be exciting to follow where the FUN leads you.  May you continue to have success in your modeling and have FUN.  later, Craig

[OldEastRR]

The second reason I joined TRW (and really like this forum) is its N-scale-bias. If you all move up in scale, I'm probably out of here.   

Reason's peteski likes this forum:

1. The member pool is small enough to keep the number of daily posts manageable enough to read most of the new posts without spending hours on the forum.
2. N Scale bias (even thought other scales are welcome).
3. It is not your father's forum, if you know what I mean . . .
4. High number of participating  s.
5. I like you all (most of the time). 
6. The respect points system.

Just kidding on reason #6, and only half serious in my initial statement.

I sorta agree. This became my favorite forum because of the many N scale layouts being built, designed and run on were intriguing. Now the Juniata is gone, along with the Seaboard Central 2.0, "The C&O in..." and the LIRR,  DKS and Lee are in suspended animation, ",  the Mahoning Division is off in the netherworld, the TransCon PRR dismantled with no restart date planned, leaving us only Ed's Conrail dream. And how long before that's dropped for HO or left to languish? No offense to HO, but that scale holds no interest for me. Never has. Maybe because I went into N (from Lionel) just as it was starting and I was 17 it seems much more comfortable to me. Horribly Oversized is a good name. Just because you can get a bazillion things in HO you can't get in N isn't much of an incentive for me.
Engineering Reports section is one I don't visit much anymore.

[Missaberoad]

I came here to see Tom Mann's head in a Jar...

[seusscaboose]

I come here for the Bacon

[Dave V]

I sorta agree. This became my favorite forum because of the many N scale layouts being built, designed and run on were intriguing. Now the Juniata is gone, along with the Seaboard Central 2.0, "The C&O in..." and the LIRR,  DKS and Lee are in suspended animation, ",  the Mahoning Division is off in the netherworld, the TransCon PRR dismantled with no restart date planned, leaving us only Ed's Conrail dream. And how long before that's dropped for HO or left to languish? No offense to HO, but that scale holds no interest for me. Never has. Maybe because I went into N (from Lionel) just as it was starting and I was 17 it seems much more comfortable to me. Horribly Oversized is a good name. Just because you can get a bazillion things in HO you can't get in N isn't much of an incentive for me.
Engineering Reports section is one I don't visit much anymore.

The Juniata Division is still alive and will be even after the transaction.  That said, it's hard to imagine not being able to enjoy or draw inspiration from the work of others just because the scale is different.

[peteski]

The Juniata Division is still alive and will be even after the transaction.  That said, it's hard to imagine not being able to enjoy or draw inspiration from the work of others just because the scale is different.

I agree that many of the aspects of model railroading are scale-independant. But it goes a bit deeper than that. For example I don't care about new H0 releases or product reviews. I also don't care about any discussions relating to fidelity of H0 models.  Those things are usually a large part of a model related forum.  Then of course is the model envy of seeing all the models that ate being produced in H0 but not in N. I don't want to know! 

The other thing that is scale-specific is electronic and mechanical design topics. Most of those are very scale specific. H0ers have lots of available space in their models for cramming in decoders and lighting effects. In N scale we have to shoehorn everything. And Z scale has it even tougher. Then there is the T gauge.

SO from my point of view, losing people from N to H0 is not a good thing for the forum. But it is not the end of the world either. 

[C855B]

... That said, it's hard to imagine not being able to enjoy or draw inspiration from the work of others just because the scale is different.

Welllllllllll... it depends on one's priorities, and, just for discussion's sake here - no right or wrong - in many respects we (you and I) have opposite outlooks. Some things are simply scale-appropriate, and don't translate across. HO is great for detailed models and contained scenes - classic model railroading. N is great for portraying panoramic views in small spaces ( @Scottl 's great work, among others here), creating an ambiance as opposed to a couple of closely-focused scenes which look good to the camera. Railroad modeling, versus model railroading.

I'm sort of like @peteski , mostly ignoring HO. Some great stuff there, I know, and I take "their" level of modeling as a challenge to reproduce comparable quality and detail in N. (Rarely successful, but that's another story.) OTOH, I do draw inspiration from the over-the-top HO layouts such as Greeley, where they have the space for vast vistas. That's rare, but more achievable in a personal layout in N. I've experienced my share of very nice large personal HO layouts, but always walk away with the "boy did he cram a lot of stuff in there" cramped feeling. Negative inspiration, in a way.

[nuno81291]

I'm a professional musician, get paid to use a guitar. I have hand issues related to that and other ailments that fundamentally prevent my ability to enjoy N to the fullest. Everytime I look back at N I have to accept that my hands can not take care of the more delicate mechanical parts as opposed to HO. What I lose in relative space forces concentration, and there are many modelers in HO who are fighting the George Selios style layout in favor of proto fidelity like Mindheim, Schofield and Confalone. I do not have the space to do what they are doing but it is good to learn to live with what you can and see the cost benefit of the scales. Having been a member at one of the best local n scale club layouts I can confidently say I enjoy micro railroading in HO, such as industrial switching and the ability to model more of the rough ROW (Watertown branch at waterworks comes to mind). However the large vistas and relatively space hungry features in HO do not lean it to macro railroading without a warehouse. I am designing a new HO half garage filler 14x22' and resisting the urge to go overboard and refine ideas is half the fun...if I were doing n scale I'm sure I would begin with relatively too large a list of druthers that would need refinement.

[Dave V]

I did get some good news today from the neurologist.  But questions remain, as do issues with my grip and minor tremors.  So...  I could reneg on the deal, stay in N scale to satisfy the TRW faithful, but become ever increasingly frustrated by the difficulty of maintaining my former level of work (to say nothing of my boredom with PRR)...or I could follow my heart, work in a scale that I can still handle to my own standards, and enjoy model railroading more than I do now.

I kinda feel like this is an absolute no-brainer.

Remember too that so many of you are lifelong N scalers.  I was raised on HO and dabbled in HOn3 long before switching to N scale at the age of 28.

If my switching to HO diminishes your enjoyment of TRW I'm sorry.   But I'm not in this for the entertainment of others...this is for me and my enjoyment first.

[wcfn100]

I kinda feel like this is an absolute no-brainer.

Because it is.

Unless you need the cash to get the new layout going, maybe look into some wall cases for your favorite PRR stuff?

Jason

[peteski]

I did get some good news today from the neurologist.  But questions remain, as do issues with my grip and minor tremors.  So...  I could reneg on the deal, stay in N scale to satisfy the TRW faithful, but become ever increasingly frustrated by the difficulty of maintaining my former level of work (to say nothing of my boredom with PRR)...or I could follow my heart, work in a scale that I can still handle to my own standards, and enjoy model railroading more than I do now.

I kinda feel like this is an absolute no-brainer.

Remember too that so many of you are lifelong N scalers.  I was raised on HO and dabbled in HOn3 long before switching to N scale at the age of 28.

If my switching to HO diminishes your enjoyment of TRW I'm sorry.   But I'm not in this for the entertainment of others...this is for me and my enjoyment first.

I'm glad that your prognosis is positive.  But no matter what I (and others here) think, it is your hobby and you are free to do as you please. You moving to a larger scale will not diminish my TRW experience, but I will miss it (in N scale that is).   Let's not turn this into another of those N vs. H0 gloom threads.  As I said, I like the N scale bias of this forum, and so far, judging by the number of posts in each section (assuming that the posts were made in the proper section  ), we still have majority of the active members modeling in N scale.  For all we know, for every member who dropped out of N scale there could have been 3 new members joining who model in N. 

[seusscaboose]

Dave
Glad to hear good news on your health!

JFRT man


EP

[Dave V]

Well...  I should clarify.  It isn't what we thought it might be (Multiple Sclerosis) but it's something else we haven't determined yet, so...  yeah.  I'm happy but not celebrating just yet.

[unittrain]

I used to be in HO as a kid then put away the trains when I first became a musician, I then started collecting HO again but became interested in scale scenery, what started that was wanting to have working B&O block signals and realized I needed a decent amount of space between them which lead me to see just  how compressed the scenes would have to be. I model scenes with large bridges ect and want to duplicate two track mainline operations. I bought some N from Texan Rails in 2000 and just kept collecting I finally have the space for a layout and began to build my N scale layout. I have way to much N to ever consider switching. I like N because it's still pretty good on detail and to me if you apply Railwire level modeling to N it looks more convincing than a lot of larger scales. The trains just look more prototypical due to the decent level of detail found in modern N scale models coupled with near scale scenery. So I will stick with N.