Is there a Conversion Chart available?

[Anonymous]

What I'm asking is, is there a chart to convert from HO dimensions to inches and feet. I know that it's 3.5mm to the foot but to have to do a calculations to figure out what a 2x4 would be in decimal or fractions in real terms is a pain. I can't be the only one looking for this....Walt

[Anonymous]

Walt - You can use a spread sheet to easily make up such a chart.
Bill

[Anonymous]

Bill, Agreed, I just didn't want to have to go that route! But I'm lazy....Walt

[Anonymous]

Hi Walt...I'm a bit "cornfused"! What do you want to do? Cut your own stripwood? If that's the case then here's some approximations based on stock bass wood thickness.
1/64th= 1"
1/32nd= 2"
1/16th= 4"
1/8th = 12" and so on.......
Now actually these are about 10% oversized. Unless you have got a really " high dollar" planer that can be calibratied in 1,000ths of an inch you're not gonna be accurate. Even commerical strip wood is not totaly to scale. Example: a 2x4 in O Scale is also sold as a 1x2 in HO Scale although HO is not exactly 1/2 of O. Hope this helped but I think you asked what time it was and I told you how to build a watch...Ha Ha!! Sorry I got carried away!!!.....Vic

[Anonymous]

Don't have the formula, but looking at my Evergreen plastic strips;
2x2= .020x.020
2x4= .020x.040
4x8= .040x.080
but a 4x16= .040x.188 I'm not the best in math, but that's what the package said and my micrometer says the same thing. Sorry I couldn't help more.........Jamie

[Anonymous]

Hey Vic....No, I'm not interested in opening a saw mill, just modeling one! (grin) But in building something from scratch I would like to model as close to actual that I can. Thus if I knew what fractional dimension lumber was equal to what true dimensional lumber it would be easier than doing a calculation all the time. And this would also hold true to some other activities. HO scale rulers are great for larger dimensions but not for the smaller ones. Also, truthfully, I like to sometime post questions to get answers on subjects I think will be of interest to others as well as myself. How many locos or freight cars you own are ok questions but sometimes it seems those are the only threads that are active and "newbees" don't get too much from that!....Really all the postings are great, keep them up....Walt

[Anonymous]

Good Morning Walt, Yep the "food for thought" questions/postings are always the best. I've been in this hobby for over 40 years. There's not a lot of model railroading where I live and its always an enjoyment to me to be able to share what little knowledge I've gained about the hobby over the years. It's really great to see as many young people getting into this hobby as there are. It also good to see that many of the "newbies" are getting away from a "shake the box" mentality and have a real interest in building things. Not to sound like an "old goat" but when I got into this hobby if you wanted it you had to build it! HA HA! Always enjoy your postings ... keep it up!.....Vic

[Anonymous]

Well Vic, from one "old goat" to another, Hi! (chuckle) I got into this 40 years ago just after I got married but haven't done much after that. Just got back in this fall "real heavy" and I am having a blast. Because I have a very limited area I am taking a high end approach. Other will spend a small amount on a large number of items. Me I'm spending a lot on a few items. Thus the need for great detail, weathering, etc. I may spend 3 to 6 months on one item. If I get a chance I'll start posting pictures on my website but first I have to feel comfortable with my abilities and knowledge....Walt

[Anonymous]

Walter, both Vic and James have good 'charts'. Since HO scale is 1:87, 2" is 2 divided by 87 or 0.023 inches (real size). For depicting small dimensions (2x4's etc), you can just divide by 100 to get the a close dimension. As James has posted regarding styrene, a 2x4 would be 0.020 x 0.040. Now as for the fractions part, I would refer to Vic's post. Think I'll print that one out myself ... Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Well thanks for the good info. I think I'm going to take what I've been given here and see if I can come up with a Excel spreadsheet. If I succeed I'll post it here otherwise I'll keep my mouth shut! (grin)....Walt

[Anonymous]

Walt, I gotta ask....I noticed that in your post you used the term "hi" to denote laughter. Are you a "ham" operator? I'm Kilo #4 Victor India Charlie. QRZ? 73,de Vic bt sk

[Anonymous]

Charlie, no sorry I'm not, BUT! My father spent his whole life at it. Not only was he a HAM be also a radio officer in the merchant marine. I can still recall his call letters, A4RYO. One of my sons is also into it but I don't have his call letters. I built a HeathKit receiver for him once (my dad) after he retired. Funny, after I lost him, I went to work for Heath/Zenith as editor of the user's magazine till just before they went down the tube....I'm getting off track here ain't I? (chuckle)...My dad always signed his letters to my mother with '88'... take care....Walt

[Anonymous]

Ok! Now I know where you picked up "hi" for laughter. Very familar with HeathKits... In fact I have two HW 101's that I'll be selling on Ebay before too long. What I said at the end of my message was...Best reagrds(73)this is(de) Vic,back to you(bt) end of message(sk) Interestingly railroad telegraph operators used the same abbreviations. The 88 that your Dad signed letters to your Mom meant either love and kisses or hugs and kisses...Back to the railroad...Vic

[Anonymous]

Yea Vic, I knew what the 88 stood for and I remember 73, once you said it, but the de and bt are probably new. Ham radio like model railroading has changed a lot. I can remember my dad lamenting, back in the 60's, about how the ham operators now wanted everything pre-built and ready to run. As a teenager he had built his first ham radio by wrapping copper wire around an round oatmeal box. The conversations I hear today on forums like this remind me of his conversations with me. Nobody want to do it the hard way anymore. In fact that was the demise of HeathKit, nobody wanted to take the time to build kits, they wanted to buy it, take it home and use it. Instant gratification.

Me, I'm a kit builder to a fault. As it stands the only item I have that wasn't a kit is the 25ton 3 truck bauchman Shay RTR I just bought. I've got at least 20 kits stacked ready to be put together with one more real large one on the way. That's the SierraWest Twin Mills at Deer Creek w/ all the extras. I keep them in the wrappers till I start on them that way if something happens they are still sellable!!! (groan) I'm having fun and that's what life is all about! (grin).....Walt

[edo1039]

Walt after reviewing your request I went out to my archives and found a conversion chart put out by MR in 1974(pack rat)if you would like a copy I will scan it for you and email back to you.My email is [e-mail] Goes for anyone else who would like a copy also.

[Anonymous]

Ed, I would love to have a copy of that chart and thank you for it..............Jamie

[e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Ed; You'll have to realize I had an ulteria motive to my original post. I'm kind of a nut when it comes to taking things to the limit. As a matter of point, I've had no less than a dozen or more distinctly different occupations in my life. I've worked the plant, done product engineering, architectual design, owned a printing company, been editor of a national computer magazine, graphics manager for a large mfg. company, been a computer systems manager, programmer, trainer and now a consultant. And these are only the highlights. Which brings me to my new adventure, I've picked up a HP Draftmaster multi-pen plotter that can handle D size and larger drawings. I've also come by the new AutoSketch v8 program. What I want to do is see what I can do to put out true scale drawings of model railroad stuff. By stuff I leave to whole gamit wide open. I haven't done any engineering in about 10 or more years. My last project as a freelancer was for GE doing facilities design in AutoCAD. So I'll need to start out small. I've tested out the system tonight and found I can draw in real dimensions and output to true HO scale (3.5mm to the foot). This is going to be fun. Draw in real dimensions and just set the output for whatever scale you need and wha-la exact templates. If anyone has a CAD program that puts out DWG or DXF files I'd be glad to plot them out for just the mailing cost....Walt

[edo1039]

Walt,I recall some years ago Andy Sperandono,MR writer had a formula for designing and laying out HO projects from prototype structures,he ran an article on this and it was very informative,you may want to contact them and find out more about this article.

[Anonymous]

Walt, this is changing the subject a bit, but I noticed in your postings with Vic that you have SierraWest's big mill on order. I don't know if you've ever assembled a SierraWest kit before, but if not, you're in for a real treat! I have the entire Deer Creek series; so far I've put together the Machine Shop, the Backwood Water Tank, the Large Tank/Platform, and the Boiler Shed. I'm currently working on the Tractor Repair Shed and the Water Tank car. They are, in my opinion, the best kits available today. Everything - from the construction manuals to the castings - is first rate. Maybe after you've started to assemble your sawmill, you'll post your reactions here. I'd be interested in hearing how you're doing with it. I probably won't get started on mine until sometime next year.

[Anonymous]

For some reason, my "user name" wasn't posted with my message above. My name is Mike Chambers (in case anybody was wondering).

[Anonymous]

Hi Mike; I have the SierraWest Back Woods Train in HOn3...Christmas present. It's sitting in a draw along with a number of other fine kits till I feel proficient enought to tackle it and the weather gets a little warmer. I can't paint in the house because of my wife's allergic reaction to aromas. Anyway, I'm currently working on the Master Creations Cooley's Old Rose Mine. It's a OLD laser kit and although nicely designed it is a poor job for the cost. All the laser cuttings on the up-rights are jaggared and it would take a hundred hours (no exagiration) to clean them up. I won't buy another lazer cut kit till I check out the cutting. As to the sawmill, I'm drooling waiting for it to arrive. It will be the focal point of my small layout, a 2.5' X 12' with a 3'X 3' dog leg for the sawmill. I've done some work with weathering and such, you know with chalks, and I like the results. I've kind of gone into this (second time around) with a vengance. As you can tell by the kits I've come to own. Like you I like the high end and my layout is going to be small by most standards so I'm going to compensate with real high detail. I want to kit bash some other structures and I have AutoSketch8 along with a 36" HP multi-pen plotter to do out my drawings. Even gone so far as to buy the materials to do my own resin and low melt metal casting once the weather warms.

Let's keep intouch on this as if I had had some input on the mine kit it would have helped. I found one major mistake in that kit and there was no way it could have gone together the way it was made....Walt

[Anonymous]

Walt,

HO scale comes out at 1:87.1; so to scale up any mesurement from HO to 1:1, just multiply the figure by 87.1 and you get your real sze measurement.

Nicholas

[Anonymous]

Nicholas, thanks all input is welcom. If you read my other posts, too many I'm afraid, I'm working with a CAD program and it lets me set 3.5mm = 1 foot. That way I can draw in real dimensions and scale the output. This will allow for output in any scale, as long as it fits on the paper. I'm going to try and draw my layout design at 1 to 1. This HP plotter unit I have came from a company going out of business (auction) and there was a lot of paper and pens, I mean a lot. So I can waste and not cry. The whole thing cost $75 and even included 4 rolls of 36" paper....Walt

[Anonymous]

Hi, Walt,
Your suggestion to keep in touch on the SW mill kit sounds good to me, although as I said earlier, it will probably be a year before I get started on it. I've already got a couple of other projects under way, plus I'm going to have to errect additional benchwork just to accommodate the sawmill. The info I got from Brett G at SierraWest indicated a 3-foot square footprint for the complete mill diorama! It's huge!
If you're interested in seeing my completed Machine Shop, I've got pictures of it posted on Finescale Railroader's web site (www.finescalerr.com) Go to the Forum page and click on the Reader's Photos link. I'm not sure which page the pictures are posted on now because several other photos have been posted since I uploaded mine. I would image that by now they've been shifted back to pages 4 or 5 but that's just a guess. Anyway, I posted a dozen shots of the kit. I was really pleased with how it turned out.
Mike C.

[Anonymous]

Walt,
In my last posting to you (earlier this afternoon) about the SierrraWest kits, I mentioned having some Machine Shop photos posted at Finescale Railroader's site. Since I wasn't sure which page they had been shifted to, I looked them up. If you're interested in seeing them, they're on pages 3 and 4. Go to www.finescalerr.com/forum1. Click on the Reader's Photos link. Mine are on pages 3 and 4.
Mike C.

[Anonymous]

Ya Mike, the 3 foot square is if you lay it out as he has on his prototype. In talking with him, he rcommended working out my own arrangement of the buildings to maybe cut that down some. I don't think it can be cut down a lot. The pond is the biggest thing on my mind right now. I wan't to do it right so I'm putting a lot of thought into it...Don't worry about the time frame. It will probably be next fall before I really get into it also, I just wanted to make sure I got it before it was sold out....Walt in Indy