scale question

[Anonymous]

Greetings all,

I'm a one-time indoor model railroader (HO scale). I've been out of the hobby for a decade and plan to get back into it -- except this time, my plan is go outdoors and build a garden railway. My initial thought was to go with O - scale, as this seemed to have the best possibilities in the space available. (At one end, I'm looking at a 5.5' radius curve.) I picked up my first copy of Garden Railroad magazine today and found that nearly every product advertised and every article was about G - scale. Is O - scale uncommon or unheard of in garden railroading? Please advise.

[Anonymous]

piperford-

O scale outdoors it not uncommon or unheard of! Others on this forum will be able to better advise you on the ups and downs of modeling in O scale outdoors.

As a matter of fact I think a recent issue of Garden Railway magazine featured such a layout. It was kind of a indoor/outdoor arrangement and was quite nice. Maybe Rene can recall the exact issue and you can get your hands on it. It was in the last year if I can recall.

However, to root on the side of G scale I must. The 5.5 foot radius converts to about a 10 diameter curve, thats the language we use. You usually never hear a Garden Railroader talking radius, only diameters. 10 foot is great. I have to have 4ft. diameters on my layout. Some would tell me not to bother. Anyway, I am sure there will be enough info tossed at you in the next week for you to make up your mind.

If I was you I would go with the G scale. It looks great, nice and big and has enough stuff to make any model railroader happy. Most G scalers have something inside and want the railroad outside for the summer months. Others like me just want a nice garden with a unique look.

Good Luck with whatever you decide.
Peter

[bman36]

piperford,
Welcome! I too was in HO for over 25 years. About three years ago I discovered Large Scale. While I will always have a place for HO, Large Scale is where it is at for me now. An issue you will want to see is August, 2002. It has a great article on "An innovative O-scale railroad". You can call Kalmbach Publishing to see if they can send a back issue to you. Ask lots of questions here before you make your choice. As Peter said many here have a lot of experience in either "O" or "G". My preference is for "G". A lot of products in this scale have been specifically designed for outdoor use. LGB for instance advertises being albe to run in nearly any kind of weather. Personally I prefer a nice sunny day. Guys like Marty Kozad, who is also on this forum, can't get enough of plowing snow. Check it out. We'll be glad to help here any way we can. Later eh...Brian.[2c] [:D]

[Anonymous]

Thanks. The advice is good so far. Do you recommend any books or websites for beginners. I am in the fact-finding stage right now and won't make any decisions until I become literate in garden railroading. Am I to assume that there are slight variations in large scale products (1:22.5 to 1:29) but all run on track which is 45 mm gauge?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by piperford

Thanks. The advice is good so far. Do you recommend any books or websites for beginners. I am in the fact-finding stage right now and won't make any decisions until I become literate in garden railroading. Am I to assume that there are slight variations in large scale products (1:22.5 to 1:29) but all run on track which is 45 mm gauge?

All run on 45mm track, that is correct. Thats what I was refering to when I mentioned the scale/gauge issue. There is 1:32 also. That is the most prototypical in size for the 45mm rail. bman made a good point. 99.9% of large scale stuff is made to run outdoors. The plastics are UV protected being the major concern. Can't really recommend any books because I haven't bought any, just used the internet to gain knowledge. Too many websites to list, not very difficult finding them, you'll see. Putting the time in finding them will pay off in the end. Good Luck and hope to see you on the forums.
Peter

[bman36]

piperford,
Scales vary from 1:20.3 all the way up to 1:32. All run on 45mm track. I came across a book last year simply titled Large Scale Model Railroading. I will check that out for sure and re-post. Lots of web sites advertised in Garden Railroading. Prefer books myself if planning to sit and absorb some material. Will let you know what I find. Later eh...Brian.

[Grefflyn]

piperford
I you are just getting started in G you need to determine what kind of railroad your going to have. Since the 'scale' varies so do the types and styles of rolling stock and loco's
1:20, 1:20.3, 1:24 are all close enough so you cant tell the difference. But its REALl evident if you try to mix 1:32 with 1:20.3. I may be wrong but I believe Bachmann stuff is basically 1:20.3 and USA is 1:24, Delton/Aristocraft may be 1:29. Each of these manf.
have some of the same rolling stock but they also have some that are only made by them. It does make for some hard choices.
Good Luck

[Anonymous]

I am just now starting to purchase some large scale(G) cars and locomotives. Before I go to far along a concern about what scale are the cars/locos bacame important. Track width is one thing 45 mm between rails, but what ratio/scale was the rolling stock.

I sent emails to Aristo asking them what scale their sd45 loco was made to. They said 1:29. I didn't ask if the balance of their line was. I assume it was also 1:29.

I asked USA trains what scale their line was and the responce was "1:29 just like Aristo's."

I've already bought some LGB rolling stock and wanted a more powerful loco than the two axle job the LGB set had that I was given for Christmas. LGB's american type large loco's are upwards of $1400.00. I was hoping Aristo and USA 's would blend nicely but seems like the size difference might be pretty noticable

From my math 1:29 is 32% smaller than 1:22.

Any thoughts on this. How does the quality/workmanship of the three lines; LGB, USA and Aristo compare. Maybe I should sell my LGB stuff and focus on Aristo or USA.

Eric

[BudSteinhoff]

Eric, Just my opinion,
For what you get for your money, you can't beat new Aristo products for a well engineered, detailed product and with excellent support.
As far as I am concerned they have far surpassed the other Red box company with their new drive train, smoke system ,etc.
1:29 scale is a little smaller but has a broader offering of affordable equipment.
Bud

[spodwo]

piperford

There are several experimenting with Oscale outdoors. Atlas track is UV proof and comes in 3 rail or two rail variety. You have a choice but two rail Ogauge is fairly rair but some manufacturers do make it - notablely Atlas and 3rd Rail. There have been several postings about Ogauge outdoors at the other train magazines forum site.

MTH did make 2 rail O gauge but hasn't lately. There are watching the market to determine if it is worthwhile.

I ran my Ogauge outdoors for a couple of months. You can't leave it out there as none of Ogauge is UV coated, tends to be metal and will not stand up to inclimate weather as does Large Scale [G scale].

I think the best question to ask you is how much layout space do you have? If you can fit 8 to 10 foot diameter track and have enough space to expand - go for it. If not - consider smaller curves and the smaller engines that most manufacturers offer.

Lately - some of the Large Scale engines need minimum diatmeters of 8 foot. And frankly - the larger stuff doesn't look right on anyting less than 10 foot diameter with 20 foot diameter being preferred.

Passenger cars that USA train makes has so much overhang - even on 10foot diameter curves make it look odd to me.

The narrow gauge offerings by Bachmann are more adaptive to smaller back yards - but the big Mainline Diesels and steamers sure make it tempting...

Outdoor Ogauge:

http://lizardattitude.homestead.com/LiZarD_AtTiTuDe_Ogauge_02.html


Large scale site:

http://lizardattitude.homestead.com/index.html