I have seen NMRA standards gauges for every scale but G (large scale). They have a set of standards and conformance for it on their website which would seem to be capable of having a gauge built around but I can't find a listing for one anywhere. Does one exist? If not, how do those who hand lay their own rail conform to those standards?
Fred, in the smaller scales, the gauge will do many things for your benefit. You can check wheel and track spacing, side clearance for your cars and much more. In "G" (large scale) everyone runs on the same size rails (45 mm) and the car widths vary greatly depending upon scale (1:22.5 ~ 1:30). About the only thing I think I could use a gauge for is checking wheels and I use a micrometer for that. I have seen wheel and rail gauges at shows but have not paid much attention to them as they were all made from cheap thin plastic. Maybe one of the other guys can give a lead.
Tom Trigg
The Home of Articulated Ugliness
The NMRA do not give a stuff for Garden Railroaders. They told me so myself when I rang them. the Australian branch were holding a narrow gauge convention and I rang to ask what was in it for garden railroaders. I was told that NMRA is not about scale, and there would be something in it for every modeller.
Referring to the agenda, I said that light weight, hard shell, zip texturing was not relevant to me as I measure my scenery by the metric tonne and the cubic metre. I said I was more interested in drought proofing my scenery than making it transportable.
They admitted they had nothing for live steamers, living plants or in fact, anything larger than On30. I asked why I should join, and they said I could not become a Master Model Railroader unless I was a member of the NMRA.!!! I model for my own enjoyment, not to win awards. I hung up.
If you want standards, I recommend you steal them. Take a piece of trackwork that works with your locos and copy the dimensions. I chose the LGB 16000 or R3 series. My locos run beautifully through them. When I handlaid my track (ten points [turnouts] and dozens of feet of track in my garage) I used the same dimensions LGB use. For outdoors I use the actual LGB R3 points and flextrack using their sleeper bases. I then check every axle on my rolling stock and set the gauge to fit the points. (Most locos cannot be re-gauged easily - but most are already okay.)
I have found that most aftermarket steel wheelsets are already at the proper gauge for LGB track, and the only problems I had were with some plastic wheels and oddly a few metal wheels on Bachmann rolling stock.
I have very few problems with derailments on my handlaid track, and even fewer in the garden, so long as the track is swept clean!
Mick
Chief Operating Officer
Northern Timber Company - Mt Beenak
I've been frustrated in the past with the NMRA. But there are some people working with them to make at least the track and wheel standards better. Kevin Strong has made inroads, and I have no reason to believe he will give up his efforts.
I have a page on my site devoted to standards. I will comment on the LGB "cloning". LGB has a workable system, huge flanges, flange bearing frogs in turnouts and loose standards on back to back spacing of wheelsets.
It works, obviously. But the appearance is toylike, and I also do not believe it is suited to long trains.
I spent a long time studying the NMRA, NEM/MOROP and G1MRA standards. That and with help from some very smart and experienced people led me to pick my standards (which are within the tolerances of the current NMRA range). Well, I can run 50 car trains reliably on my small layout which has 3.5% grades, 180 degree hairpin turns and a 5.5% downgrade.
That's not bragging, it's telling you these standards work.
You can make good use of the Aristo track and wheel gauge, and I review it and compare it to standards on my web page.
http://www.elmassian.com/trains-mainmenu-27/track-mainmenu-93/track-and-wheel-standards-mainmenu-95
Regards, Greg
Visit my site: http://www.elmassian.com - lots of tips on locos, rolling stock and more.
Click here for Greg's web site
The NMRA does not manufacture (or have manufactured for them) a large scale wheel/track gauge as they do for the smaller scales. I personally wouldn't hold my breath for them to do so, either. The "closest" that I know of is the Aristo gauge that Greg mentions. It's not exact for either the NMRA or G1MRA (and it would be a delight if some of Aristo's own products were built to the standards on their own gauge), but it gets you in the ballpark.
The recently adopted NMRA standards largely mirror those of G1MRA which have been around for decades and have been proven quite successful for those who have adopted them. (The diffrences lie mostly in the flange depth--G1MRA is a much finer standard than NMRA.) I don't know that I've ever seen a gauge from G1MRA, though I know people have used their standards to make their own gauges of various types. I'm working on a series for my Garden Railway Basics column that takes a look at standards, why we have 'em, and how to build some simple gauges to check this, that, or the other.
If there is some enterprising individual out there who would like to manufacture such a gauge, I'd be happy to discuss my thoughts on the matter and give you the NMRA specs from which to work.
Later,
K
I use the Kadee g-scale coupler guage to set all my couplers and check the wheel backset!
http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page880.htm
Sean
I used to use the Kadee gauge, but it's approximate at best, and it's highly dependent on the contour of the flange at the edges, basically not related to back to back or gauge at all. It's ok to see if you are way off, but just too sloppy for my taste. It's just two notches the flanges fit into. It does not measure back to back, one of the most critical measurements.
I review it and compare it to the standards on my site. Check it out and see what you think.
For $10 the Aristo gauge is a bargain.
I am actually not looking for a track width gauge but rather a gauge that measures the guardrail and flangeway spacing through the frog area of a switch. I may just have to make one myself.
Sigh....
If you looked at my link, you would see that the Aristo gauge does this too, it's the best tool on the market... check gauge, back to back, flangeway depth, guardrail width......
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