guage

[Anonymous]

What is the best gauge to use? I'm new to the hobby.

[Rex in Pinetop]

You're on the G-guage forum so I think we'll tell you that G is best for outdoor use.

Rex

[cabbage]

Well...

I am going to take a differing perspective on this and say that the most commonly used gauges in Garden Railways are "0" (32mm), "1" (45mm) and rarely "3" (63.5mm or 2.5 inch).

"0" is used mainly for 16mm scale modelling Narrow Gauge Modelling in the UK -as well as 7mm scales. This can be considered the smallest practical gauge that can be used outdoors -although there are several "00" and even "N" gauge layouts. Curves at this gauge are 5+ feet in diameter.

For examples of what can be done at this gauge:

http://www.16mm.org.uk/index.htm

"1" is used mostly for anything really! It is the oldest of the Garden Railway gauges and it was originally an indoor gauge(!) Nowadays it is the providence of either of either narrow gauge locos or std gauge. It has been said that this gauge allows you to choose either between; ready to run, scratch building, or model engineering techniques. Curves at this gauge are 8+ feet in diameter.

For examples of what can be done at this gauge:

http://www.gaugeone.org/

"3" is for the diehard scratchbuilder -or someone with a very deep wallet... This is a very rare gauge indeed!!! This is the realm of very large models -some of which are powerful enough to pull people. In this gauge are live steam fired locos of Edwardian design and increadibly detailed modern models. Curves at this gauge are 12+feet in diameter.

For examples of what can be done at this gauge:

http://www.gauge3.co.uk/
http://www.n25ga.org.uk/

In my garden are: gauge '0' and gauge "3" -this gives me the choice of locos that I like.

regards

ralph

[altterrain]

I am going to answer this two ways. If you mean the track gauge (width), 99% of garden railroaders in the states are using "G" gauge, 45 mm track (also known as #1 gauge).

If you mean track code (the height of the rail) I would use code 332 for several reasons - its the most commercially available, if you are running on the ground the added height allows your trains to go over obstacles better (twigs, acorns, gravel, etc.) and its the strongest, handling foot traffic the best. If you want a more true prototypic look, go with code 250 rail.

 -Brian

[Capt Bob Johnson]

Or if you are looking to check size, I'd go with a micrometer.  Aristo has a multi track guage that is inexpensive and can check guage, switches, level, and wheel width.   An outfit called "The Scale Card" makes credit card sized plastic cards to measure sizes of people and stuff for the various sizes used in Model RR, and also makes scale rulers!