Scale? & should that really measure that much

[wa1lbk]

Bachmann's 1:20.3 geared locos tempted me back into the hobby after being on the sidelines for about 10 years; here, finally, were inexpensive large-scale geared steam locos which rivaled brass in detail, ran beautifully, & didn't look totally ridiculous on 2' radius LGB curves! [^] I am generally more forgiving of scale lapses on freight & passenger cars than I am on motive power; I have a string of Bachmann Jackson Sharp coaches for passnger service on my layout, while freight cars are a mix of Aristo-Craft "classic" series (the wooden hopper & gondola cars in particular) a couple of Delton reefers, LGB, Bachmann & Delton. I have been in the "rivet counting" school in the past, modeling PRR in O scale 2-rail & have gone slightly nuts trying to find out the "EXACT" detailing for a specific locomotive number - which also depends on a great deal as to the date! Check out PRR K4s 1120 in Al Stauffer's book "Pennsy Power", there are 2 pictures of it - the as built photo (circa 1915 or so) with an oil headlamp & slatted pilot, vs. a late-1930's photo of it with a streamlined "Jeffersonian" shroud! (Most people wouldn't recognize it as the same locomotive, the appearance is so different!). [%-)] I decided to take a slightly more "relaxed" approached when I got active in large scale, especially since my road is going to be a freelanced 3-ft. gauge logging / mining line; narrow-gauge equipment sometimes varied so wildy even within a given protoype roster that a figure a bit of "modeler's license is permissible! [;)] On the other hand, some of the stuff LGB has come out with recently makes me cringe!
It's obvious a LOT of their stuff is aimed strictly at the toy train / collector crowd, which is a HUGE market. [2c] I like their Unitah & Sumpter Valley Mallets; even though they're 1:22.5, the detail level on them is good enough that I'm considering adding them to my roster eventually (if I'm doing a freelance road, I could just replace the cabs with 1:20.3 ones! [;)]). I've also decided to make a concession on my indoor layout & live with truck mounted Kadees on most of the rolling stock to allow reliable operation on the tight curves (most of which aren't too obvious; I've tried to use wider radius curves wherever possible & hide the tigter curves in tunnels!). My new (now under construction) outdoor layout will have much broader curves (at least 4' radius, possibly 6' or wider) where I might decide to run equipment with mainly body-mounted couplers. In short, while I'd like to see a REASONABLE amount of standardization (1:20.3 for narrow gauge, 1:32 or 1:29 for standard gauge), let's take a step back, take a deep breath, & RELAX a bit! [swg]

[wa1lbk]

Oops! Must've hit the "submit reply" button twice! [banghead] My bad! [oops]

[vsmith]

wa1blk

If your logged in, as the author of the relies you can delete the extra reply by clicking the "delete" trash can icon in the upper right corner of your extra reply, or to change use the "edit" icon.

I'm indoors too, with the smallest layout in this group, like to hear from anyone else nuts enough to but these big trains indoors. My layout can be read about under the heading of "the Saga of My Ever Shrinking Layout" Welcome and let us know how progress goes on the outdoor and tell us about the indoor, Later Vic

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by carpenter matt

I believe he's refering to a British 303 Enfield rifle![;)]

In other words keep you mouth shut or risk getting shot!

Hi Matt
Got it in one don't like people who spoil the hobby for others with negatve critsisam they are usualy the ones that haven't done a thing.and not interested in doing anything
regards John

[Anonymous]

Hi wa1lbk
I can well uderstand where you are coming from where the coaches are concerned..
I saw one of the Bachmann coaches bashed into a more or less scale sized coach.
It would not have got round LGB R1 or R2 and might not have looked Right on R3
Not sure I like the new Extra shortie bogie coaches the LGB do in there US passanger sets
even though they would probably look OK on my track havent been able to get a second hand one to find out yet.
regards John