Scale ?

[SNOWSHOE]

I know I have posted this topic before.  I thought I figured out scale but then I read more and get myself more confused.  I think I need a visual to help me out.  If someone can post a picture of each scale car side by side that may help me out, all on the standard G scale track.  Can anyone do this.  You have SE 7/8th, I know LGB is 1:22, I think the Bachmann Big Haulers are also 1:22 and some Bachmann are 1:20. (These are considered Narrow gauge) Then you go up 1:24 and 1:29.  My question is if you take all these next to each other on the same track the higher the scale 1:29 the smaller the train???????? did I get the right or is it the opposite...  Thanks for putting up with me.  Sorry if I brought up a never ending topic. 

[DSchmitt]

A photo would be helpful if all the cars were the same prototype, but because the sizes of the real thing can vary greatly for instance that a 1:29 standard gauge car might be bigger than a 1:20 narrow gauge car.

Here is a way to picture different scales:

1:24  1-inch equals 24 inches, or 2 feet

1:29 1-inch equals 29 inches, 24 inches (2 feet) equals 24/29 inches or 0.827+ inches

1:20 1-inch equals 20 inches, 24 inches (2 feet) equals 24/20 inches or 1.2 inches 

1:22 , 2 feet = 24/22 or 1.09 inches 

 

[IRONROOSTER]

If you had a scale model of the same full size real car in each scale, the difference would be readily apparent.  But real cars came in a variety of sizes with narrow gauge being smaller than standard gauge (and 2ft being smaller than 3ft).  Unfortunately the larger sizes, i.e. 1:20.3 have models of smaller real cars than the smaller scales, i.e. 1:29.  So the models in each scale have actual dimensions closer together than their full size counterparts.

Confusing? Yes it is.  Just remember that when the scale is written in the format 1:xx - the larger xx is, the smaller the scale model is in relation to the real thing.

Enjoy

Paul 

[vsmith]

My question is if you take all these next to each other on the same track the higher the scale 1:29 the smaller the train????????  

Technicaly, YES.

If you have the same peice of rolling stock, say a boxcar, in each individual scale, starting at 1/32 scale and going to 1/13 (7/8" scale) each car will get proportionally larger as the scale number drops. For discussion purposes if you have a particular type of boxcar that in 1/32 scale that is 12" long it will get progressivley larger with each scale jump, to 1/29, to 1/24, to 1/22.5, to 1.20.3 to 1/13 where the same car might end up being over 2 feet long in that scale.

[Anonymous]

One of the reasons scale is confusing might be that there are two ways of identifying scale.

The simpler way is stating the ratio; like 1:20.1 and 1:32. Even simpler is stating using a fraction, 1/20.1 and 1/32.  This is because no units of measurement are necessary.  You can divide 1 meter by 32 getting an answer in the metric system, meter, cm, or mm; or you divide 3 feet by 32 and get an answer in feet (or inches). 

The other way of identifying scale is what a unit of measurement equals one foot.  O scale has 1/4 of an inch equalling a foot so it's referred to as quarter inch scale.  And HO scale has 3.5mm equalling a foot so its referred to as 3.5mm scale - not nice as we have both metric and Old English mixed together.

IMHO, I think using 1:48 for O scale and 1:87.1 for HO scale and the plethora we have for 45mm gauge is much less confusing. Just divide by the second number and remember that 1/4 is smaller than 1/3 even though 4 is larger than 3!

Art