How do you gauge size?

[Mookie]

This is a model question, but since a good share of you model and I don't have time to run to another forum - I will ask it here.

I keep seeing HO gauge, O gauge, etc. I assume that is the size of the equipment or trackage. Not sure which. And by comparison what is bigger, what is smallest and how is it comparable to a regular train and track that we can't mess with? (notice I didn't say play....)

Moo

[CShaveRR]

Try this:

http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/000/709htshz.asp

BC
(someone who messes with the real ones)

[dekemd]

Mookie,

HO, O, etc. is a scale. HO scale is 1/87.1 of the real thing. For example, an 87 ft long locomotive would be 1 ft long in HO scale. From smallest to largest:

Z 1:220 really, really small
N 1:160
HO 1:87.1 about twice N scale
S 1:64
O 1:48 about twice HO scale
G This is called garden railroad. Not sure of the exact scale.

Hope this answers your question.

Derrick

[dharmon]

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11451

This discusses model scales....pqy qteention to vsmiths...ignore ACL fan..he's the MR cabforward.

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11451

This discusses model scales....pqy qteention to vsmiths...ignore ACL fan..he's the MR cabforward.

sorry aboot spelling..had other hand done thursdya...hunt and peck time agin

[Mookie]

Thank you, gentlemen. This is what I was looking for. Sorry about the hand Dan - fortunately we don't take off for spelling errors.

[Anonymous]

Well, here it goes. "Scale" refers to the size of the model train in proportion to a real train and "gauge" is the gauge of the track. Here's a list of the most common scales/gauges going from smallest to largest:
Z- 1:220 scale, 6.5mm gauge (about 1/4 of an inch)
N- 1:160 scale, 9mm gauge or 0.35 inches
TT- 1:120 scale, 12mm gauge (just under half and inch)
HO- 1:87 scale, 3/4 of an inch gauge
S- 1:64 scale, 5/8 of an inch gauge
O- 1:45 scale, 1.25 inch gauge
Gauge 1- 1:22.5 scale, 45mm gauge, about 1.75 inches
G- 1:32 scale, also 45mm gauge
Standard Gauge: close to G and 1

And if you thought that was confusing, here's more. This is sort of an explaination of why the gauges are what they are.

Back in the 1800's, when the very first toy trains were made, most were floor toys and very few ran on track. If they did run on track, it was usually a grooved type of track, like wooden Brio-type trains run on, except metal. There was no standardization of gauges and even trains by the same manufacturer didn't all run on the same track. Finally, something was done about this around 1890, when the famous German manufacturer Marklin (which is still making trains today!) came out with tinplate sectional track that actually had ties and rails, as well as standardized gauges. They called the gauges 1, 2, 3 and 4 (later even a gauge 5 came out). Soon afterwards, other manufacturers were producing trains and accessories of the same gauges that would be compatible with Marklin's.

Gauge 1 was very large and the higher numbers were even more huge. Marklin realised that there should be a smaller gauge that took up less space and was more affordable. They came out with trains half the size of gauge 1, but since 1 was already taken, they called it gauge zero. Everyone calls it O gauge, however. The bigger gauges were mainly purchased by very wealthy people (many for adults), but were soon fazed out. By WWI, gauges larger than 1 were practically extinct. People realised that you could build a bigger layout with more trains if they were smaller.

In the US, there were many early manufacturers and most of them had different track gauges as well. The first Lionel trains ran on a 2 7/8 inch gauge track. Joshua Lionel Cowen, the founder of Lionel, decided to start making trains that ran on gauge 2 track. The one thing he didn't realize, however, was that in Europe track gauge is measured from the center of one rail to the center of the other, while in North America, it is the distance between the rails. He eventually realized this, but being a clever marketer, called his trains "Standard Gauge", even though they fllowed no standard. (Standard gauge lost popularity around the end of the 1930's and none were made after WWII, although there are some companies making standard gauge trains for collectors.) Soon after, the other major manufacturers like Ives and American Flyer wer also making standard gauge trains. Lionel started making O gauge around 1915 and so did the others.

At this time, most trains were intended as toys for children, rather than scale models. There were some modellers, though and they desired even smaller trains. One very famous British manufacturer that produced more realistic trains at this time was Basset-Lowke. In the 1920's, Henry Greenly of Basset-Lowke came up with an idea for trains that were half the size of O gauge, called OO (pronounced "double oh"). They were to be manufactured by the German company Bing (who made many trains for Basset-Lowke). The scale for these trains would be 3.5mm=1 foot. At that time, the technology wasn't available to make trains that small, so they made them to 4mm=1 foot scale because it would be "close enough". Now Briti***rains are smaller than North American and European ones, so elswhere they didn't have this problem and could produce trains to the correct 3.5mm scale. This was called HO (half O). British OO trains are still made in this scale and run on the same track as North American HO trains. In North America, some modellers wanted to have trains in a 4mm scale, so then came North American OO, which ran on a slightly wider gauge of track. It's popularity pretty much died out by the 1950's. Also, in Britain, there are some modellers who want to have their trains run on the correct gauge of track, so they use EM gauge, which is the proper width for OO scale trains, but this isn't too common.

S gauge was first invented I think in the late 30's, but didn't become popular until after WWII, when American Flyer started making S gauge trains. S gauge is half the size of gauge 1 and in Britain it's called H1 (although, people who use H1 in Britain are VERY scarce).

Also, a word about the scale of O gauge. While the proper scale is 1:45, many are much smaller. If you see O27 that means that it's O gauge track that has a 27 inch diameter curve. These trains are closer to S scale in size.

TT stands for table top and came out in the US in the late 40's. It never really caught on in the US, but became very popular in Europe and still is today. N scale came out in the 60's and Z was later.

In G scale the G stands for gross, German for large. G scale is sometimes referred to as "large scale". A revival in the popularity of big trains came in 1968 when the German toy maker Lehmann came out with LGB (Lehmann Gross Bahn) trains. These used the 1:32 scale. Many other manufacturers soon joned LGB in making G scale trains.

There are other gauges, too, like HOn3, Sn3 and On3. These are models of narrow gauge trains. For example, HOn3 trains are HO scale trains that run on N gauge track. There are even some people doing Zn3! There are also a few weird tiny European narrow gauge trains with different gauges like HOem.

Well, I think that ought to be sufficient to answer your question!

[Anonymous]

MOOKIE !!!??
You havrnt learned to gauge size yet??????? [(-D][:D][:O] LOL

[Anonymous]

I guess it took me a while to type in my post and the others beat me too it. When I first came here there were no replies yet.

[dharmon]

I------------------------------------------------------------| is one foot.

back to corner/dog house/kev's couch

its the meds..

[tree68]

Actually, my understanding is that G stands for "Garden," and originated in Britain and their postage stamp gardens.

The scale for G depends on whether it is modelled as standard or narrow guage (either 1:29 or 1:22.5).

There are larger models in common use. A popular size is 1.5" to the foot, running on a gauge of 7.5" - you can ride on them, frequently behind live steam. 1" to the foot is also popular, and 3/4" to the foot has a following too, I believe, both also seeing live steam.

[cherokee woman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

I------------------------------------------------------------| is one foot.

back to corner/dog house/kev's couch

its the meds..

Dan,

Hope the hand does well. Be careful of the meds; hope they're not too strong, but strong enough to relieve the pain.

IS/HAS ANYONE BEEN ON THE COUCH LATELY?

locomutt sends his wishes along for a speedy recovery.

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by drailed1999

MOOKIE !!!??
You havrnt learned to gauge size yet??????? [(-D][:D][:O] LOL

I learned many years ago that what I saw and what he said - never did match!

[Mookie]

This is most interesting! I'm glad I asked!

Mook

[dharmon]

Meds are good....they make me much more tolerant of california today except for the lady at starbucks who felt compelled to explin their sizing (gauge so to speak) of coffee sizes....all i wanted was a large whatever thing...i explained that large means the big one medium would be the medium one and small would be the small, she didn't see it my way. I told her it was stupid and want the largest cup, whatever they called it...and it wasn't even for me it was for my wife..

meds are good, they make me funny to myself...

[Anonymous]

So this thread really IS about trains...

I just wanted to make sure.

[:D]

Titles can be missleading...

[mudchicken]

Everybody out there playing handball with the curb - wash your mind out with soap!
Mookie has a way of getting even, ya know.....

[Anonymous]

Sorry sweety. You left your self wide open for that one. Luv ya.

[edblysard]

Madam,,,
And you though my number 8 comparison was bad...

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

QUOTE: Originally posted by drailed1999

MOOKIE !!!??
You havrnt learned to gauge size yet??????? [(-D][:D][:O] LOL

I learned many years ago that what I saw and what he said - never did match!

[Modelcar]

Sask_Tinplater....I had 027 track from Lionel train set and the same from MarX...and I seem to remember O27 would not connect with O gauge...? Time frame for this equipment was late 30's and 40-41.....I remember the O27 had sharper radius curve track than O gauge. I believe the O27 trains would run on the O gauge if I remember correctly.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar

Sask_Tinplater....I had 027 track from Lionel train set and the same from MarX...and I seem to remember O27 would not connect with O gauge...? Time frame for this equipment was late 30's and 40-41.....I remember the O27 had sharper radius curve track than O gauge. I believe the O27 trains would run on the O gauge if I remember correctly.

That's right. The O gauge track is larger and intended for bigger trains and locomotives, like some of the larger Lionel steamers and diesels. Today most of the O gauge manufacturers are making very large trains that are more scale sized and use the O gauge track. All the trains Marx made were O27. O27 track was first produced by Lionel in the early 30's and was soon adopted by other manufacturers. Generally O27 trains are cheaper than O gauge.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

I------------------------------------------------------------| is one foot.

back to corner/dog house/kev's couch

its the meds..

Hey Dan,
I can sympathize with ya. I just had my right index finger re-attached. I'm on some really good meds too. Ok I need someone to stop the world,I'm getting dizzy!!!!!!!!![:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11451

This discusses model scales....pqy qteention to vsmiths...ignore ACL fan..he's the MR cabforward.

OH HAHAHAHAHAHAA!!

What a RIOT!!

LOL DAN...

HAHAHAHAHAAAH!!

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by drailed1999

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

I------------------------------------------------------------| is one foot.

back to corner/dog house/kev's couch

its the meds..

Hey Dan,
I can sympathize with ya. I just had my right index finger re-attached. I'm on some really good meds too. Ok I need someone to stop the world,I'm getting dizzy!!!!!!!!![:D]

Marty! Who did you point at and what did they do? Dan's is for medical reasons, yours is due to...........?

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by edblysard

Madam,,,
And you though my number 8 comparison was bad...

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

QUOTE: Originally posted by drailed1999

MOOKIE !!!??
You havrnt learned to gauge size yet??????? [(-D][:D][:O] LOL

I learned many years ago that what I saw and what he said - never did match!

Ed - I still blush about that!

[Anonymous]

I'm a bit late on the thread but here we go

Gauge as in 00 or HO refers to a scale/gauge combination.

0 is 1:43.5 in the UK and I believe 1:45 over there
S is a true imperial scale at 3/4" to the foot - I have a couple of friends who model in what they call the perfect scale here in the UK. I'm not sure of the track gauge.
00 The British *** scale of 4mm to the foot running on 16.5mm gauge because our locos were too small for the motors. P4 Protofour) which is the same 4mm to the foot 1:76 scale running on 18.83 exact scale is for the real engineers, I model in EM 18.2mm gauge which is as close as damnit to swearing scale.
TT is pretty much defunct in the UK and was 3mm to the foot - commercial TT used 12mm, exact scale is 14.2mm. The ratio is 1:100

000 was the first name for what became N which again has different ratios depending on where you live.

G is for Gross and was developed in Germany by Lehmann and is pretty much accepted as 1:22.5 on 45mm tracck for European Narrow Gauge.

An interesting NG scale is SM32 which is 16mm to the foot to give exact 2 Foot on (O gauge) 32mm track

and the list goes on and on...

All the best from the other side of the pond.

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by 45144

I'm a bit late on the thread but here we go

Gauge as in 00 or HO refers to a scale/gauge combination.

0 is 1:43.5 in the UK and I believe 1:45 over there
S is a true imperial scale at 3/4" to the foot - I have a couple of friends who model in what they call the perfect scale here in the UK. I'm not sure of the track gauge.
00 The British *** scale of 4mm to the foot running on 16.5mm gauge because our locos were too small for the motors. P4 Protofour) which is the same 4mm to the foot 1:76 scale running on 18.83 exact scale is for the real engineers, I model in EM 18.2mm gauge which is as close as damnit to swearing scale.
TT is pretty much defunct in the UK and was 3mm to the foot - commercial TT used 12mm, exact scale is 14.2mm. The ratio is 1:100

000 was the first name for what became N which again has different ratios depending on where you live.

G is for Gross and was developed in Germany by Lehmann and is pretty much accepted as 1:22.5 on 45mm tracck for European Narrow Gauge.

An interesting NG scale is SM32 which is 16mm to the foot to give exact 2 Foot on (O gauge) 32mm track

and the list goes on and on...

All the best from the other side of the pond.

So, to correct for our European and UK friends....
|---------------------------------------------------| is 33 Centimeters

[Mookie]

No Dan - it still isn't. Trust me!

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Sask_Tinplater

Well, here it goes. "Scale" refers to the size of the model train in proportion to a real train and "gauge" is the gauge of the track. Here's a list of the most common scales/gauges going from smallest to largest:
Z- 1:220 scale, 6.5mm gauge (about 1/4 of an inch)
N- 1:160 scale, 9mm gauge or 0.35 inches
TT- 1:120 scale, 12mm gauge (just under half and inch)
HO- 1:87 scale, 3/4 of an inch gauge
S- 1:64 scale, 5/8 of an inch gauge
O- 1:45 scale, 1.25 inch gauge
Gauge 1- 1:22.5 scale, 45mm gauge, about 1.75 inches
G- 1:32 scale, also 45mm gauge
Standard Gauge: close to G and 1

In G scale the G stands for gross, German for large. G scale is sometimes referred to as "large scale". A revival in the popularity of big trains came in 1968 when the German toy maker Lehmann came out with LGB (Lehmann Gross Bahn) trains. These used the 1:32 scale. Many other manufacturers soon joned LGB in making G scale trains.

Sask's ol' buddy, ya got G and Gauge 1 backwards...

G gauge is 1/22.5 scale -and- Gauge 1 is 1/32 scale

Mookie, if you really want a lesson in confusion, just let me know and I'll tell you all about the completely scale wacky world of Large Scale...Vic

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

QUOTE: Originally posted by Sask_Tinplater

Well, here it goes. "Scale" refers to the size of the model train in proportion to a real train and "gauge" is the gauge of the track. Here's a list of the most common scales/gauges going from smallest to largest:
Z- 1:220 scale, 6.5mm gauge (about 1/4 of an inch)
N- 1:160 scale, 9mm gauge or 0.35 inches
TT- 1:120 scale, 12mm gauge (just under half and inch)
HO- 1:87 scale, 3/4 of an inch gauge
S- 1:64 scale, 5/8 of an inch gauge
O- 1:45 scale, 1.25 inch gauge
Gauge 1- 1:22.5 scale, 45mm gauge, about 1.75 inches
G- 1:32 scale, also 45mm gauge
Standard Gauge: close to G and 1

In G scale the G stands for gross, German for large. G scale is sometimes referred to as "large scale". A revival in the popularity of big trains came in 1968 when the German toy maker Lehmann came out with LGB (Lehmann Gross Bahn) trains. These used the 1:32 scale. Many other manufacturers soon joned LGB in making G scale trains.

Sask's ol' buddy, ya got G and Gauge 1 backwards...

G gauge is 1/22.5 scale -and- Gauge 1 is 1/32 scale

Mookie, if you really want a lesson in confusion, just let me know and I'll tell you all about the completely scale wacky world of Large Scale...Vic

And all this time I thought G scale stood for "Golly"....As in golly, we're gonna need alot of room for this stuff.