Getting Started in 7mm Narrow Gauge - Handbook 1

Getting Started in 7mm Narrow Gauge was first published in 1993 and has proved very successful, having sold well over 1000 copies. Many people have been introduced to the delights of Narrow Gauge and modelling it in 7mm scale as a result. It has now been decided that a revised edition should be published since a number of references in the text have become out of date, and such has been the growth of interest, that many more products have been introduced by manufacturers, both old and new. The old favourites are mostly still here, some revised in the light of experience and some other slight changes have been made. One major change is that the list of available products has grown enormously now occupying seven pages, and so it has been moved from the back to the centre pages thus making it easier to update it from time to time.

Introduction

New members of the 7mm Narrow Gauge Association regularly ask us for ways to get going in this scale and gauge. This booklet is a response to those requests. It looks at the various ways the newcomer can get going, and hopefully opens doors on the options available. Our reader is seen as someone who has come fairly recently to this fascinating modelling area, perhaps from 00 or 0, or 009. We expect that he/she has already been involved in railway modelling of some sort, and will therefore not want another book on "How to..." from scratch. We will not attempt to cover the more general aspects of railway modelling - enough has been written about this. Our interest is in a quick start to 7mm scale narrow gauge modelling.

Unlike the well-known commercial "standard gauge" scale/gauge combinations (0, 00, HO etc.), little is available to help the modeller setting up in 7mm, 1/4 inch etc. scale narrow gauge. Few ready-to-run models are marketed, and it may seem more difficult to start in this as against other more commercialised areas. This book sets out to show you that there are quick and fairly painless ways in to the O-Narrow gauges, and perhaps to offer some ideas of the sort of thing that can be modelled simply to get a layout running.

We haven't tried to write a complete authoritative textbook on modelling narrow gauge railways in scales around 7mm-ft. The volume is presented as a series of articles which we hope you will delve into when you need help or encouragement. This is intended to be the first in a series of publications covering such diverse topics as track work, kit construction, scratch building and scenic techniques.

The aim is not primarily to repeat what has already been published, but to provide narrow gauge-specific information or innovative techniques to enable modellers to achieve greater realism with greater ease. We look at the choice of the various scale/gauge combinations available commercially. As our content has to be applicable to both beginner and experienced modeller alike, it is of necessity simplistic in places. Please bear this in mind. Some of the information may seem obvious to you, but to others it may be essential foundation knowledge. The important thing is to GET STARTED, we suggest ways of adapting commercially available material to narrow gauge.

Publishing History

This is essentially an update of the Narrow Gauge Modellers' Handbook, edited by Brandon Evans, and published by the Association some years ago. The more technical information from that publication is now being distributed in the form of Data Sheets to Members of the Association. Some of the material has appeared in the Association's bi-monthly magazine Narrow Lines.

Revision by Howard Clarke, the late Mervyn Axson & Philip Moss.

Edited and prepared for publication by the late Mervyn Axson & Philip Moss.

Also include are Data Sheets Nos. 1 and 2,

Locomotives and Rolling Stock Kits available - January 1999.

ISBN No: 0 95113300 6 3 Order Code: GS03

Published by the 7mm Narrow Gauge Association

Copyright © 2000 - 7 mm Narrow Gauge Association & Authors

The contents may not be reproduced by any means without the written consent of the Association, which is normally gladly given, provided that acknowledgement is made.

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© The 7mm Narrow Gauge Association - June 2000