HO Scale Enthusiast Refuses to Acknowledge N Scale as 'Real' Model Railroading

A heated dispute at the annual meeting of the Greater Topeka Model Railroad Association erupted Tuesday when longtime HO scale modeler Vernon Siding publicly declared that N scale modeling 'isn't real railroading' and should be reclassified as 'miniature arts and crafts.'

Siding, who has spent three decades constructing a 400-square-foot HO scale recreation of the entire Union Pacific mainline through Nebraska, made the remarks during what was supposed to be a conciliatory joint presentation on multi-scale layouts.

'At HO scale, you can see the individual rivets on the boiler,' Siding said, gesturing at his immaculately weathered 4-8-4 locomotive. 'At N scale, you can barely see the boiler. What's the point of modeling something if you need a magnifying glass to appreciate it?'

N scale advocate Patricia Gauge, who operates a meticulously detailed 200-mile route in her spare bedroom, responded by noting that her entire layout fits in a space smaller than Siding's turntable.

'That's not the flex you think it is,' Siding replied.

The argument quickly expanded to include Z scale modelers, whom both sides briefly united against, and G scale enthusiasts, whom everyone agreed 'are basically just gardeners who own trains.'

Association president Harold Ballast attempted to mediate by proposing a resolution declaring all scales 'equally valid,' which was defeated 47-3. The three affirmative votes came from members who model in TT scale, a gauge so obscure that no one else in the room was aware it existed.

Siding has since published a twelve-page manifesto titled 'The HO Standard: Why 1:87 Is the Only Honest Scale,' which has been downloaded 4,000 times and denounced by every other scale community.