Not to SCALE!!!

[Fergmiester]

Well this is annoying! I tried to put Model Power "little people" in my Proto 1000 RDC-1 but they don't fit!

The people if standing would be over 7'. As it is they are 5' sitting. average person being 4'.

The seats are 1' high with 1' of spacing between benches.

No wonder no one takes the train!!!

Looks like I'll have to saw off the feet[:0]

[Anonymous]

This is the same for most if not all "scale" figures. I don't know if its the size of the people or the seats. Any figures I've placed in vehicles, MOW equipment, etc. have had serious amputations to fit in. Not too bad with plastic figures, but the metal ones are more work.

Bob Boudreau

[rogerhensley]

I agree with Bob. Any figure I've put in a loco, passenger car or vehicle has required surgery. Fortunately, most of my 'little people' don't seem inclined to complain...
:-)

[dknelson]

there is a lot of variety in the height of "scale" figures which makes me wonder how many are really 1:87.1. I notice the same thing with supposedly scale vehicles.

When we sit our butts flatten out and our backs slouch so it stands to reason that rigid plastic figures do not fit where real people would fit. The typical rigid sitting figure needs to have its butt filed down (so do certain other people who shall remain nameless, but that's a topic for another day).
Dave Nelson

[bcawthon]

Don't forget a cushioned seat will also give a few inches. When you add the "deformation" of the sitter's fundament, that could be as much as 4-6 inches. I generally file down the back of the legs, rear end and back to conform to the seat. I will also file down the seat to make it look like the figure is sitting in the seat instead of being perched on it.

[cacole]

I've noticed a significant difference in the size of figures between manufacturers, too. Kibri, Bachmann, Woodland Scenics, etc. figures that all purport to be HO scale usually have to have their legs cut off in order to fit them into passenger cars or vehicles.

I don't recall exactly which brand it was, but I have one set of HO figures that look more like O scale when placed next to an HO vehicle or house. They must be a scale 8 or 9 feet tall -- not HO at all!

[twhite]

I ran into that problem, too. I was going to buy some Life-Like seated passengers for my Yuba River Express (new Walthers standard Pullmans) and was told that I'd be having to do major surgery on them to get them to fit. Evidently Prieser makes seated passengers that will fit most cars without major amputations--a couple of swipes on the rear end with a file and a drop of glue is supposed to do it--so I'm waiting for some of them to come in. If they work, I'll let everyone know.
Tom

[mustanggt]

This is interesting. Has anyone ever seen figures that are supposidly adults, yet barely span the track guage in HO? 4'8" is definitly not the average adult height.

Neantertal jokes are welcome......

[selector]

Yes, I agree that WS HO figures are about 15% too short and thin. Putting a railway worker next to my Hudson makes the Hudson look like a Big Boy in comparison. Just not right!!

[Anonymous]

I've had this problem in 4mm scale too - have one steamer missing a fireman as the figure was too tall to fit in the cab (normally a 6ft person would just be able to touch the roof with fingertips on one of these - this guy's head was hitting the ceiling)!

[DSchmitt]

In addition to the problems with the scale of the people, the interiors of the cars are usually not in scale vertically. The interiors are narrower than scale too. They are representations of the interior, not exact models. If the floor thickness, roof thickness and wall thickness were in scale the car would be to fragile to to handle. The floor to the ceiling hight might scale 5 feet or less.

[dknelson]

Guys, a bit off topic but if you have not already done so check out the picture album maintained by Tom (the posting with the photo of the cat and the caboose, above)
There are some excellent shots there, including a superb bridge kitbashed from a Faller kit: Maybe everyone else but me has already checked it out in which case sorry to be bringing up old news.
http://www.picturetrail.com/hoofus


Dave Nelson

[MisterBeasley]

I took an airline trip last week. From that experience, I'd say that any transit system that is too small for the people riding it is probably true to prototype. [:D]

[Anonymous]

[#ditto] You definitely got it right there!

[Jetrock]

MisterBeasley: I don't know about that--my trips on Amtrak have been pretty comfortable in terms of seating space, compared to airline and bus trips I have taken. I did notice that a lot of people on those trips resembled the Woodland Scenics "Big Folks" set, which may have explained their discomfort...

Next time, take the train!