7 1/4-71/2 inch gauge

[Paul W. Beverung]

Hay out there;
I'm just woundering how many out there who read Model Railroader are doing something in the really large scales? I've been playing with trains since I was 4 I guess. That was 57 years ago. I've have a 71/2 in. gauge 0-4-0t in 4 inch scale. It's based on a Kerr- Stuart Wren class. In 1 1/2 inch scale I have an EMD SW and a gas rail car. My layout is presently 1400 ft. of mainline with benchwork and scenery by nature. I still have H.O.
I'd like to hear from any one else. Paul

[Anonymous]

Paul
I grew up with a 7 1/2" gauge backyard railroad built by my father. My brother and I are now rebuilding and relocating it. Here's a link to a photo of one of the cars.
http://www.the-gauge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6760

[Big_Boy_4005]

I joined the local club a couple of years ago, but I don't own any equipment. For a variey of reasons I decided to give it up. From what I could tell in that short time, you almost have to own a machine shop to handle the maintenance on trains that large. The people in this forum are often commenting on the high price of HO trains, they haven't gone shopping for 1-1/2" scale.

[Jetrock]

This is absolutely true!! There is a hobby shop in my town that carries a lot of G-scale equipment, and a single diesel engine there costs more than my entire collection of rolling stock!! That, and the fact that I could just barely fit a loop of G or H scale track in my backyard (my backyard is about 10x30 feet) keeps me out of the large-scale world... My wife wouldn't mind a garden railroad, but my budget simply wouldn't allow it!

[Big_Boy_4005]

Jetrock, are you sure you understand how large these trains are?

We are talking about 1/8 size or put another way 1-1/2" to the foot scale. These are not garden sized trains, you can easily ride these. They run on live steam, gasoline, or very large batteries, and you won't find them in any hobby store. On average MR has an article about these monsters about once every 10 years. The magazine that deals with this topic is Live Steam, and not all hobby stores even bother to carry it.

You couldn't even put a circle of track in 10 x 30. The club that I mentioned sits on about 11 acres, and their turntable is over 10 feet long, with a hydrolic lift. A large steam engine with a loaded tender can weigh over 1000 pounds.

Oh yeah, and hang onto your wallet, an 0-4-0 switcher, ready to run will set you back just under $10,000, and a pair of trucks sell for around $250.

[Jetrock]

Big_Boy: yes, I know, these are several steps up from G scale, even. Definitely out of my price range, if I want to check them out there's a club in town that runs them. At those kind of prices I'd rather just spend my time volunteering at the CSRM's Sacramento Southern lines, where, after a while, I'll be able to operate 1:1 scale trains!

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Jetrock

This is absolutely true!! There is a hobby shop in my town that carries a lot of G-scale equipment, and a single diesel engine there costs more than my entire collection of rolling stock!! That, and the fact that I could just barely fit a loop of G or H scale track in my backyard (my backyard is about 10x30 feet) keeps me out of the large-scale world... My wife wouldn't mind a garden railroad, but my budget simply wouldn't allow it!

Welcome to MY world....

Been doing G gauge now for a couple of years, now.

Started out in HOn30 now at the opposite extreme.

Yeah, yus guys in HO got it way better than you'll ever realize. I have to laugh at some posting on this forum when people gripe about a $10 car. $10, thats CHEAP! I think, HA, what if they had to pay around $50 for one car! or around $100 to $300 for each engine.

The thing about G gauge is that its a sort of "less is more" thing. The trians take up a huge amount of space so you have a built in limit factor just by space alone. You'll need less to look impressive also, A small loco pulling a string of shorty cars look cool in large scale.

But they have an appeal that HO just doesnt have, there bulk and detial is amazing. I'm adding cut levers to my engines and cars so I will be uncoupling cars just like the real thing.

But G gauge itself is way cheap compared to 7 1/2" gauge. Thats the realm of the millshop fabricator. $1000 in milling equip just to get started, and at least a acre of land to lay track.