Vechile Guage

[mxnmrv]

I have a quick question.  What would you recommend for guage when purchasing cars, trucks, etc for an O guage layout. 1:43, 1:48 or 1:50?

[hscsltb]

I think you will find 1:43 will look a little large. I stick with 1:48 or 1:50.

[Firesteel]

I found that the actual scale of the vehicles is less important than how it fits in with everything else in the scene. Three rail O scale is a series of compromises in that we have some oversize elements as well as some undersize elements. Some examples include oversize wheel flanges, couplers, and the railroad track itself in many cases. We also use some undersize rolling stock and most of our structures need to be selectively compressed to fit on our layouts. I use vehicles in all three scales mentioned above. Some vehicles such as construction and farm equipment are easier because few people know the exact dimensions(I doubt anyone will know the measurements of a TD24 dozer off hand). A great example of a well detailed layout that combines various sizes of vehicles and structures can be found in Dennis Brennan's book Realistic Modeling For Toy Trains published by Kalmbach. This book is filled with great ideas for building and detailing a layout.

Karl

[cheech]

All of the guages id'd above will work, but be attentive to the manufacture. Do not expect all of the 1:50 scale trucks from all manfuacturers to look the same. some like those from Joal will be much larger, even larger than 1:43.  Winross 1:64 will actually work well with most size rolling stock.  you should experiment with a few from various mfgrs.  At Walmart, Wahlgreen and some other unsuspecting stores you can see the differences in sizes and pick up on ideas of which mfgr you might want to go with.

Ralph

[dwiemer]

As some have alluded to, scale is relative for the most part as many manufacturers will claim something is scale and it is not.  The "scales" you mention are the most popular and available for O gauge.   I would get items in all three if you like it.  Then, you can arrange them with the larger ones closer to the viewer and the smaller ones further away.  This is forced perspective which is a artistic/theater method of making the stage seem larger.

Dennis