O Road / Street Width

[casconi]

Hi,

What is a good width (in inches) for O scale roads or streets?

Thanks!

[lionelsoni]

Wikipedia:

The U.S. Interstate_Highway_System uses a 12-foot (3.7 m) standard for lane width. 11-foot (3.4 m) lanes are found to be acceptable by the Federal Highway Administration for automobile traffic, but as lane width decreases (9-foot (2.7 m) lanes are found in some areas) traffic capacity decreases.

Twelve feet becomes 3 inches, 11 feet becomes 2 3/4 inches, and 9 feet becomes 2 1/4 inches in 1/48 scale.

[DennisB-1]

I use 6 inches curb to curb. I measured the street in front of my house and it  measures 24 feet curb to curb which scales out to 6 inches. 

[fifedog]

3 inches.  Even smaller towards background.

[DennisB-1]

3 inches works nicely for a 1 lane road but looks too small for a normal street. Your best bet is to place 2 cars side by side with a little space between them. This will give you a good idea of the width you need.

 

[rtraincollector]

DennisB-1

3 inches works nicely for a 1 lane road but looks too small for a normal street. Your best bet is to place 2 cars side by side with a little space between them. This will give you a good idea of the width you need.

 

[Buckeye Riveter]

Interstate lanes are 12' wide.

Rural Roads can be as tight as 8' wide.

And there are a lot of roads in between, but

always remember there are shoulders, parking spaces, medians, turn lanes, tree lawns, sidewalks, guard rail, curbs, catch basins, manholes, center line striping, edge lines, stop bars, cross walks, and handicapped ramps.

[casconi]

This is great information! Thanks!

[DennisB-1]

Buckeye Riveter

...

always remember there are ... and handicapped ramps.

 

Only if you model present day. Handicap sidewalk ramps did not exist back in the 50's

[RockIsland52]

So a 3" single lane on a layout works out to a 12' real lane at a scale of 1/48.....yes?

Jack

[gunrunnerjohn]

Correct, multiple 3 * 48 and you get 144, divide that by 12 and you get 12 feet.

[DMUinCT]

So build a road.  Cut a 43 foot wide path.

1 foot Easement, 4 feet of Sidewalk, a 4 foot Snow Shelf, 1/2 foot Curb, 24 feet of Pavement, 1/2 foot of Curb, 4 feet of Snow Shelf, 4 feet of Sidewalk, 1 foot of Easement.

[KRM]

 

Decide what you want in feet and here is a link to a Scale Conversion Calculator

 

http://jbwid.com/scalcalc.htm

Hope this helps,

 Kevin

[DennisB-1]

No need for a calculator. The math is simple: 1/4 inch = 1 scale foot in 1/48 scale.

[KRM]

Yes the math for 1:48^th is simple but the calculator gives a person many other options other than 1:48^th scale or scale for just a road. It would depend on what fits best with the cars and trucks used.

Do it anyway you want.

Kev.

[DennisB-1]

Kev,

There's no argument about the usefulness of a scale calculator. It's simply that some guys don't know where to begin and make it more difficult than it need be.  I just didn't want someone to think they must have a calculator in order to get it right..

[KRM]

 

I got ya,

I have to agree that a lot of times simple turns into rocket science on some of these post. Like how wide should a street be. J

 

 

 

The scale calculator link has helped me in a lot of ways and it is just a click away.

Have a good one,

Kev.

[traindaddy1]

Well, by now you have read all the technical and non-technical advice and have probably made your decision.

If it were me, I think that I would take a different approach. First I would look at my layout. Is it all 'scale' (Structures, Vehicles, People) or is it a 'mix'.

If it is 'scale', no problem, I have a definitive answer.  

 If is a 'mix', I would imagine that I was one of my layout people and I was operating one of my layout vehicles. What width would I prefer to be driving on?

Ain't it nice to pretend?   After all, it is a toy world.  Enjoy!