need help sorting out building scale confusion

[JITO]

Hi,

I need some helping understanding how scale works and why things don't seem to make sense right now.

We have a LGB starter set that is 1:22.5. My wife and I have purchased some blueprints for a few buildings that give different scale options. Depending on what is needed, you either reduce or enlarge the original on a photocopier. We also have one general store kit that we built from Piko that says 1:22.5 on the box. However, when we place items side by side, something doesn't make sense. The general store is tiny compared to the full-size 1:22.5 blueprint of a train station which looks about right when our train is placed in front of it. Once built, though, the train station will have great land mass. Add in a few buildings like this and suddenly the space allocated for the town seems to be very inadequate. What am I not understanding or what is wrong with this picture? Do people just build smaller or renegotiate with the landowners for additional real estate?

 thanks,

michael

[Rex in Pinetop]

Michael,

Welcome to the world of multiple scales.  I too have LGB (22.5) plus I found a Bachmann Connie (20.3) at a great price I just could live without.  So I figured that the "10 foot rule" would work as long as they weren't too close together.  The LGB loco fits nicely in the helix but the Connie is very tight.  Lesson learned... 

Then I started putting some buildings together.  Trains move but buildings don't.  Moving stuff in different scales isn't too bad but stationary stuff in different scales next to each other doesn't work as well.  I discovered that my older Pola stuff didn't fit in with my first nice new Garden-Texture kit.  My chief-of-staff liked the wooden buildings with the shake roofs so my town is being rebuilt.

Real estate is always an interesting issue.  We start out small and just keep adding and somehow the space shrinks.  This iteration I actually did some city planning with some drafting software I bought when I designed my house (the full scale one).  That layout called for about 30 new buildings so it wasn't going to get done over night.  I built several last winter and then set them out last summer which of course changed the master plan since the ground is always different than what you thought it was and that's the joy of this never ending adventure.

To make a long story short (and this one is already too long) I think the best advice I can give is to find some "little people" that come close to fitting/looking good with your loco and rolling stock.  Next put those people on your plans in your shop.  I found that putting them in a doorway worked best for me.  I then scaled the building plans to the size of the people.  Playing with the enlarger at Kinko's is easy versus getting the wrong size building weeeks latter.  This method also works when you're thinking about buying that plastic kit down at the hobby shop.  Take some little people along and see if they look about right next to a door from the kit.  If your guy is too big to fit through the door then that building is going to turn out too small on your layout.  If your guy looks like a 4 year old in the doorway then the building is going to be way too big on your layout.

Finally for those buildings that just don't look right on your layout you might consider a troll corner where wierd sizes are the norm.

Rex

[ttrigg]

Michael:

You forgot one of the founding principals of G Scale Railroading. Remember that "G" scale came to us from Germany (LGB) and that the letter "G" comes from the German word "Gumi" which translates to "rubber" in English. Thus all the "rubber rulers" used in designing what we use for our hobby.

Rex has a good idea about taking one of your people along to the store to try out the doors. I'll take it a bit farther. Take an old "voided" credit card (with the magnetic strip removed) cut a notch on one side for the height of your favorite "little people". With this "clipped card" in you wallet you are armed for combat when confronted with a "target of opportunity" building or seasonal people when they show up on the store shelves during the Christmas season.

[JITO]

 LOL,

yes, the rubber ruler. That makes sense! My wife and I loved that response.

Thanks for all your suggestions and advice.

[Capt Bob Johnson]

The Scale Card (they advertise in the mag) makes a raft of plastic cards in the various scales depicting a male, female, and toddler to scale with scale rulers around the edges.    They also supply scale rulers.   I've carried some for years and they do come in handy.