I have always wanted a model railway but could never afford the cost or have the space to build one. I had to make do with Lego, Matchbox Motor City and my younger brother's Brio sets to get my transport kicks.
I now am fortunate enough to have enough space for either a very simple OO gauge layout or a more complex N gauge layout. The reason for this post is to discover what benefits/downsides each gauge would have and to decide which would best suit my ideal layout.
I now live in the area of the Lancashire Coal Field and around me, until the 1960s, there was a dense web of railway lines which included two passenger lines and a vast quantity of private mineral lines belonging to the Bridgewater Collieries/NCB. These lines all intersected each other and also had many sidings and a maintenance yard. In addition to the mainline rolling stock the mineral lines mainly used Hunslet Austerity locos. By the 1980s most of this infrastructure was gone and what remained was gone by the 90s. Only the high level mainline station exists today. Fortunately most of the track bed for the branch line and the mineral lines is now cycle/footpaths and keeps its footprint as well as most bridges.
As you can see there is a lot of potential complexity and variety I could build into my model. My ideal wish would be to focus on the infinite fun of the mineral lines and the signaling/shunting side of things whilst having the main lines for running whatever rolling stock I fancy, for show. Class 37s, Black 5's and (very inaccurately) HSTs and Deltics. An example of mineral line activity I'd like to re create would be a coal train destined for the nearby power station consisting of 18 loaded wagons on a 1 in 50 grade with 2 locos one pulling one pushing!
Anyway, I digress.
I intend this to be a long term project which I will add to over many years. I plan to start with the two passenger lines, as these will be simple straight lines from one side of the board to the other, and would allow me to learn how to fit the tracks and sort the wiring. The mineral lines would be added on as time and ability permits.
Hopefully I have provided enough info to guide your feedback and advice. The aims of the post are threefold.
1. Which gauge OO or N would best fit the scale I'm going for complete dimensions should aim to fit just over the size of a reasonable dining table. Also is any gauge in danger of being discontinues (as that's about my level of luck).
2. Is the availability of models similar in both gauges or would I be limiting myself?
3. Would I be better getting a starter kit or just buying some pieces of track and going in sandbox mode?
Thank you for your patience in reading this post and thank you in advance for any feedback.
