scale/guage pet peeve

[Anonymous]

Ebay is even guilty of scale/gauge mistakes. In their model train section they have each scale under a seperte category and refer to each as "Z Scale", "N Scale", etc. However, there's also "Standard Scale". The correct term is "Standard GAUGE". Standard gauge trains aren't scale models and are never, ever referred to as standard "scale".

[BR60103]

Ron, after 50 years of trying to get people to say "scale" instead of "gauge", along comes G where the gauge is everything and scale has gone right out the window.
Of course, I model in OO scale on HO gauge track (Maybe I'm not THAT scale) but I have friends who model the same scale on 18.2 mm gauge and 18.83 mm gauge, and may or may not admit to OO scale, but do identify with their gauge.
What bugs me is people modelling in "O-27" gauge or scale.

[Anonymous]

Ron;
Don't worry about it too much, it doesn't really matter. [:D]
Many "scales" use incorrect gauges for their size, so sometimes "gauge" is no less accurate a term than "scale".
BTW, over in the UK and Europe, it's very common to say a model or a layout is "in gauge H0".(for instance).

Don't take offense, but one of my pet peeves is the mis-spelling of "gauge" as "guage", or "gage".[;)]
regards,
Mike

[nfmisso]

Amen !

[n2mopac]

I don't want to come across as a model railroading snob, because I have met some and they are not pleasant people, but I see these two terms confused or used interchangable all of the time on here and it bugs me. Most of us model in a particular SCALE (Z, N, HO, O, etc.) in standard guage (which in prototype terms in 4' 8.5"). To say that you model HO guage in incorrect. Guage refers to the inside distance between the rails. If not stated specifically, all scale modeling is (supposedly) in standard guage. The exception are those who model narrow guage such as Nn3 or HOn3, etc. Don't be insulted by this post, please. Just try to use the terminology correctly, "I model in N scale."
Thanks,
Ron