general N scale info wanted

[eric halpin]

I am preparing a small article for our club newsletter and would like the following info from you fellas in N. I would like to know the weight in ounces of an average 4 axle diesel and average cost plus the weight in ounces of an average 40' box car and cost.

Thanking you in advance
Eric

[railohio]

You will likely get wildly different responses to your inquiries based on what people are accustomed to paying personally. To get a true average, we'd need to know how many $60 engines Bachmann sells and how many $120 engines Atlas sells.

My personal thoughts are $100 for four-axle engines and $16 for 40-foot boxcars.

[Tyson Rayles]

$$$$ wise I agree with railohio, as far as weight not a clue and no way weight something that small. Why do you care what the weight is?

[Sumpter250]

I am preparing a small article for our club newsletter and would like the following info from you fellas in N. I would like to know the weight in ounces of an average 4 axle diesel and average cost plus the weight in ounces of an average 40' box car and cost. Thanking you in advance Eric

An N scale Atlas GP-30 weighs 4.45 Oz. the average cheapo N scale 40' box car is 0.5 Oz.
Measured with a "postal scale" ( for weighing letters to determine the correct amount of postage required )

[eric halpin]

Thanks guys for the info. The reason for the weight question was because I wanted to compare different weights versus cost in each scale to determine best value/ lb...just a fun article in the newsletter.

Eric

[Tyson Rayles]

Let us know the results!

[eric halpin]

Best Value Dollar per Pound
By
Eric Halpin

At the OVAR Flea market the other month I overheard a fella stating that one could readily have over $75 wrapped up in just one deep well stack car with loads. This got me to thinking about the relative costs of the different scales in our hobby. There are many facets in determining what scale a person chooses as they get into the hobby of model railroading. Obviously the space available in the home is a primary consideration as well as what level of detail a modeler wants or will accept in the models themselves. The ability to build kits in the scale chosen is also important to many modelers and thus hand/eye co-ordination may be a part of the decision process. But, what about cost versus quantity or value for dollar?
I was curious as to the comparison of a models weight and relative average cost versus scale. In other words how does a small ‘N’ scale engine versus a large ‘G’ scale engine compare in cost versus weight. I thus compared several typical model engines and rolling stock to get these results. Please remember that costs vary a lot depending if they are bought on sale, full retail, sound decoders, quality of product, etc, etc. Further, the same model made by different manufacturers can vary greatly in cost as well as weight.
Thanks to Bruce, Hugh and Lloyd for supplying some of this info from their own models.
N scale: four axle diesel locomotive weighs 4.5 ounces average and costs about $100 or $22/oz.
I was curious as to the comparison of a models weight and relative average cost versus scale. In other words how does a small ‘N’ scale engine versus a large ‘G’ scale engine compare in cost versus weight. I thus compared several typical model engines and rolling stock to get these results. Please remember that costs vary a lot depending if they are bought on sale, full retail, sound decoders, quality of product, etc, etc. Further, the same model made by different manufacturers can vary greatly in cost as well as weight.
Thanks to Bruce, Hugh and Lloyd for supplying some of this info from their own models.

N scale: four axle diesel locomotive weighs 4.5 ounces average and costs about $100 or $22/oz.
Forty foot box car weighs .5 ounces and costs about $20 or about $40/oz.
HO scale: four axle diesel locomotive weighs 14.6 ounces average and costs about $225 or 15$/oz.
Forty foot box car weighs 3.8 ounces (NMRA) and costs about $25 or about $6.60/oz.
S scale: four axle diesel locomotive weighs about 25 ounces average and costs about $250 or $10/oz.
Forty foot box car weighs about 8 ounces and costs about $65 or about $8.25/oz
O scale: four axle diesel locomotive weighs about 36 ounces average and costs about $450 or $13/oz.
Forty foot box car weighs about 20 ounces and costs about $75 or about $3.75/oz
G scale: four axle diesel locomotive weighs 125 ounces average and costs about $350 or $2.80/oz.
Forty foot box car weighs about 34 ounces and costs about $75 or about $2.20/oz
I don’t think there is any doubt that the larger the scale the more accurate detail one can potentially achieve in the model especially on engines and rolling stock. However, based on the above data it appears that a modeler gets far better value on a cost versus ounce bases with G scale. Since the manufacturing/production costs are more in G, I am assuming it is a ‘demand’ issue that drives the price of say HO and N higher. Of course I am NOT advocating a person select their scale based on a cost/lb criteria, but it was an interesting exercise.

[Tyson Rayles]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
N scale loco is $100
HO $225
S $250
O $450
G $350


From here it looks like N scale wins!!!!

Interesting excercise Eric!

[Brakie]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
N scale loco is $100
HO $225
S $250
O $450
G $350


From here it looks like N scale wins!!!!

Interesting excercise Eric!

But,heres the rub..

A Atlas GP38-2 costs as much as a Athearn HO GP38-2 at street.

A quality N Scale freight car can cost as much as a HO RTR car from Athearn or Atlas Trainman.That's not even street prices.

[railohio]

From here it looks like N scale wins!!!!

Except in the real world. With a spare room, you'll build an O scale switching layout with one engine and two dozen cars. In N scale you'll have two dozen engines and hundreds of cars. Which is cheaper now?

[WaltP]

From here it looks like N scale wins!!!!

Except in the real world. With a spare room, you'll build an O scale switching layout with one engine and two dozen cars. In N scale you'll have two dozen engines and hundreds of cars. Which is cheaper now?

But both collections will probably weigh the same

[Brakie]

From here it looks like N scale wins!!!!

Except in the real world. With a spare room, you'll build an O scale switching layout with one engine and two dozen cars. In N scale you'll have two dozen engines and hundreds of cars. Which is cheaper now?

Actually you can have a around the walls layout in two rail O Scale.

[Tyson Rayles]

From here it looks like N scale wins!!!!

Except in the real world. With a spare room, you'll build an O scale switching layout with one engine and two dozen cars. In N scale you'll have two dozen engines and hundreds of cars. Which is cheaper now?

I have a spare room with a N scale layout that when finished will be 26 feet long. It will have 5 lcocs and about 2 dozen cars. N scale still wins!
Having more room because the scale is smaller doesn't mean you have to go out and buy a bunch of extra locos and cars. I would rather have more scenery and a sense of the train coming from someplace and going to someplace. And scenery is the cheapest part of the hobby. If it was O scale you could always add some helixes and more levels so you could have more locos and cars if that was what you wanted. I have freind who has a 9 X 5 Lionel layout with one lower loop and a small yard and a raised loop. He has over 30 locos, 20 passenger cars and over 100 freight cars . He can't keep all those on his layout at one time but that doesn't keep him from continuing to buy more. Size of the room really has nothing to do with anything.

[ezdays]

Yup, it's hard to debate the costs when you factor in the real estate. My N scale layout takes up about 60 square feet. My home is valued at about $100 a square foot, meaning the space it takes up costs around $6,000. The same layout in HO would run around $12,000. In O scale we're talking close to $20,000 and the same layout in G scale would be something over $30,000, unless of course, it was in the back yard.

But then again, that's not what the article is directed at, saying that pound for pound, G scale is more economical, and you can get more details for the dollar as well.

Thank you Eric for posting this article.