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Reply to "New Hobbyist's Dilemma: Scale or Traditional O?"

Thank you everyone for giving your perspectives and experiences, hearing everyone's thoughts is helpful, additionally I think reading these has also helped me better understand my particular question.

First, to address the comments about doing what I can afford and makes me happy - there's certainly good reason to take that approach. I think one of the high points of the hobby is that you can dive as deep into it as you like. If you're happy with a simple loop of track, that's great. If you want to cut holes in the walls of a few rooms and create a giant multi-room layout, that's also great. But for me, I am concerned that I will never be satisfied with what I have and be perpetually stuck in a "grass is always greener on the otherside" scenario. Eg: I start with traditional O, then see how great some of the scale stuff is. I buy some scale items and then upgrade the track. But after upgrading the curves on my layout I want to do more - add reversing loops and sidings, etc that the scale locos can use. So I buy more track. But then one day I get frustrated with how much space the layout takes up, so I look at downsizing. There's also the possible problem Bob outlined:

I want things scale, but unless you put a cap on the amount of scale (detail) you'll never be pleased.

To make a long story short, I think I would do well to pick some proverbial borders or personal collections rules for my hobby where I know I can be content with and enjoy what I have in the long-run. I don't want to regret choosing a rule set a few years down the road and then look to change. A few people have said they have made a switch from traditional to scale and sold off their traditional items. That is something I'd like to avoid - selling what I bought (almost certainly at a loss) is a hassle to be avoided!

In closing, thank you all again for letting me glean from your wisdom. I'm still mulling over how I will structure collecting, but some great points were brought up here to help me figure that out. Also, recommendations on minimum track diameter have been dually noted thanks again!

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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