Hi from Far North of NZ

Hi, and welcome. If you want a continuous run then you need more space. Do you have garden shed / outbuilding / converted garage
possibilities? I would hope that what with the far North of New Zealand being pretty temperate in climate this might be possible?

If you go UK OO, then you have arrived at a very interesting moment. There's Bachmann and Hornby with extensive ranges, and
relatively little overlap between them. There's then quite a range of 'others': Heljan are well established, Dapol, Oxford Rail, Kernow
Hattons, Rails of Sheffield, Rapido, Olivias, Accurascale. Dependent on your interests, it could be any of these that are offering 'the very
thing' that you want.

From currently active RTR OO manufacturers I have locos from Bachmann, Dapol, Heljan, Hornby, Oxford Rail and Rapido on the layout
(and an eye on product announced by Accurascale and Rails of Sheffield) and it all works well together. Likewise rolling stock, mostly
Bachmann and Hornby, a little from Oxford Rail and Dapol. The general fitting of the NEM coupler pocket on current product makes
fitting compatible couplers simple. Couplers are something of a low spot in UK model railway. There isn't a standard! Each manufacturer
makes a version of the miniature tension lock, and they may look alike but are not necessarily fully compatible if reliability is a real
consideration for you.

Track, don't look at UK set track, it's appalling. Peco's Streamline ranges are much more the thing. Yes, it takes some acquisition of
skill to use a flexitrack system, but what you get is vastly better: points choices, and superior in appearance and operational reliability.

DCC, I wouldn't touch Bachmann or Hornby, and I live in the UK where both have offices! Simple fact is that the better products
come from the specialist DCC manufacturers, and I would look for whichever has at least an agent in NZ, from among Digitrax, NCE,
Lenz, etc.. It's an open standard system, and while your selected control system comes from one manufacturer, you can run decoders
from any maker.

You might, given your background in aeromodelling, want to look at what is emerging in radio control for model railway. I have zero
advice to offer, but it is pretty clear that various options are now emerging, and may have appeal.

And now a don't! Don't buy nice looking older second hand locos, however tempting the price. With a few exceptions everything made in
RTR OO before the move to Chinese manufacture is dross, you really have to know which are the gems lurking in a vast dunghill. There
is a very simple way to filter off this stuff: if it hasn't got an NEM coupler pocket, just walk away...

Good idea buy the Peco catalogue and the set track plans book, this is still useful

Generally the standard radius are R1 =371mm
R2 = 432
R3 = 505
R4 = 572

So if you take this then a half loop in R3 needs 1.01m plus the extra width which is 20 mm (10 either side) and you need a bit of swing space too so say another 10 each side. Now if R3 is the outer then the minimum end width of your plank is 1.05m so you are looking at 42 inches and this is the minimum to be effective. You can inside in a sort of a dog bone shape might help a bit to get reach and access.

If you have the space Streamline is great, I use this but you will never get a tight curve using this it is great for long sweeping realistic curves, for a train set on a plank it will be too difficult.

Points, the minimum radius of the set track points is R2 = 432mm and ALL Hornby locos will tackle this, big Heljans will come off the track some Bachmann locos will dislike it too so again much better to use Streamline electrofrog but you do not have the space. As the curves tighten up coaches will cut the chord and end sweep more so the physical separation needs to be greater - and you do not have the space for other than set track.

R1 is for very small locos such as the Peckett but Hornby Railroad range will tackle this radius including the Railroad 9F just goes to show what you can do if you try!

From this you will see that - you never have enough space!

The UK outline of locos is good, UK stuff is pretty reasonably priced compared to continental and it is hugely better than it was before,

The quintessential loco for UK is the Hornby Black 5 - did everything and last used by BR on 12 August 1968 (the day after steam officially ended) - it shunted Preston yard 45212 the Hornby model os a 'good 'un' will take tight corner, has flexible axles and is pretty robust.

Good idea buy the Peco catalogue and the set track plans book, this is still useful

Generally the standard radius are R1 =371mm
R2 = 432
R3 = 505
R4 = 572

So if you take this then a half loop in R3 needs 1.01m plus the extra width which is 20 mm (10 either side) and you need a bit of swing space too so say another 10 each side. Now if R3 is the outer then the minimum end width of your plank is 1.05m so you are looking at 42 inches and this is the minimum to be effective. You can inside in a sort of a dog bone shape might help a bit to get reach and access.

If you have the space Streamline is great, I use this but you will never get a tight curve using this it is great for long sweeping realistic curves, for a train set on a plank it will be too difficult.

Points, the minimum radius of the set track points is R2 = 432mm and ALL Hornby locos will tackle this, big Heljans will come off the track some Bachmann locos will dislike it too so again much better to use Streamline electrofrog but you do not have the space. As the curves tighten up coaches will cut the chord and end sweep more so the physical separation needs to be greater - and you do not have the space for other than set track.

R1 is for very small locos such as the Peckett but Hornby Railroad range will tackle this radius including the Railroad 9F just goes to show what you can do if you try!

From this you will see that - you never have enough space!

The UK outline of locos is good, UK stuff is pretty reasonably priced compared to continental and it is hugely better than it was before,

The quintessential loco for UK is the Hornby Black 5 - did everything and last used by BR on 12 August 1968 (the day after steam officially ended) - it shunted Preston yard 45212 the Hornby model os a 'good 'un' will take tight corner, has flexible axles and is pretty robust.

Hi mate,
Another thing is that you could try and contact 'bjrangi' who posted many times on this forum. Pretty sure he is North Island, but he did some truly lovely things with British 00, and he would surely be able to give you advice on sourcing material and the best dealers to use.
Search for some of his previous posts and see if you can pm him. He hasn't posted for a while but he's a good bloke.
As the others have said 3' is a bit tight for 00, you would be limited to R1 and R2 curves, and unfortunately, this would look rubbish. However, 10' x 3' would be a pretty decent sized layout in N-gauge, but if you are like me, fat fingers and failing eyesight will be your enemy here.
In 00 you might also need to consider 2 levels too. The top level for scenics and lower level for storage yards, with a spiral at either end. Here you just need to be careful of getting the gradients right - you could also hide all the curves from the scenics. If you could say, pinch an extra foot or so at either end of the area, you may be able to manage. I'm just across the ditch from you, in NSW.
Cheers,
6991