I helped a high school aged neighbor, Mason Moore, get his late grandfather's HO layouts working this past Saturday. The grandfather had two fine layouts; one large one in a game room and another larger one in an upstairs room dedicated to the second layout. Mason could not figure out the control systems on either layout so nothing would run. The first thing we did was clean some long neglected mainlines, and then we unraveled the control setups and fixed some broken connections. By the end of the morning we had trains running on both layouts for the first time in several years. It was a stunning lesson to me as to how difficult it is to keep a large HO layout running smoothly. The least bit of corrosion on the track will bring every train to a standstill. We found automated switches that would not actuate due to broken linkage, and locomotives that needed oiling. It took a while to get trains running continuously around the mainline loops. We did not get every function on each layout working, but we did make significant progress. Neither one of us has the time to troubleshoot every aspect.
As well, O gauge track and locomotives must be cleaned and maintained for proper operation, but I found HO to be taxing on my eyes and unsteady hands.
Give me O gauge every time.
