Width of streets in N

[Anonymous]

Hey guys, I did a search but with no luck. I'm trying to plan out my town/city and need to know how wide the streets should be in 'N' scale.

Thanks again for helping the rookie!

JASON

[Anonymous]

Youre in luck, I was just paving some stuff on my Scenic Ridge Layout this A.M. and the directions say N scale streets should be 2 1/4 inches across. Hope it helps.

Jared

[;)]

[Anonymous]

Thanks Jared, very much appreciated!

JASON

[Anonymous]

IN the 1930's many county roads and local streets had lane widths of 9 to 10 feet. This means for a two lane road 10' x 2 = 20' or 240 inches. 240"/160 = 1.5 inches. Streets built from 1960 (or so) to date are almost always 12' wide, so a two lane is 1.8 inches. This does not include shoulders (6 to 10 feet) or curb & gutter (2' gutter 6" curb). Hope this helps.

One thing I've noticed in my own N Scale modeling is that these roads take up alot of room. For two lane roads I have been using Woodland Scenics roadbed. It is a bit narrow, but the vehicles fit on it well, and I use thin tape for a centerline.

[DSchmitt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jwieczorek

IN the 1930's many county roads and local streets had lane widths of 9 to 10 feet. This means for a two lane road 10' x 2 = 20' or 240 inches. 240"/160 = 1.5 inches. Streets built from 1960 (or so) to date are almost always 12' wide, so a two lane is 1.8 inches. This does not include shoulders (6 to 10 feet) or curb & gutter (2' gutter 6" curb). Hope this helps.

One thing I've noticed in my own N Scale modeling is that these roads take up alot of room. For two lane roads I have been using Woodland Scenics roadbed. It is a bit narrow, but the vehicles fit on it well, and I use thin tape for a centerline.

Right:

A "standard" rural road would have 12' lanes and 8' shoulders, but there are many roads below the "standard" as well as some above.

A modern residential street in town could have 36-40' pavement plus curb gutter and sidewalk in the 3-4' range Commercial street would usually have 40' min pavement (if 2-lane) and wider sidewalks 5-6' or more.

It's usually best to make roads, streets, and sidewalks a little narrow so they don't overshadow the rest of the scenery and the trains.

[Jacktal]

I live in downtown Quebec City,where streets were created when the horse was king,so most streets are pretty narrow according to modern standards.As there's no room to widen them without tearing down quite a few buildings,some historical,most streets are one-way with parking allowed on one side only.This part is called "le Vieux Québec"(the older Québec),and some of the buildings date as far as the 18th. century,so modern standards will never apply here.

I don't mean to say that modelers should model Quebec City (great if some do),but finding an older town or city to model may be a good way to obtain realistic dimensions in limited spaces.For what it's worthed...........

[Anonymous]

Rather than find the actual scale width of a road, perhaps you might want to try a "selectively compressed" road. Line up the buildings that you plan to have near the road way, get a couple of vehicles and then on a piece of construction paper/poster board, play with the items until you hit a width that "looks right." Because the buildings we use are somewhat "selectively compressed" a road that is somewhat less than full width bordered by proportionally compressed shoulders, sidewalks etc, should look ok.

[Anonymous]

You may want to get a ruler that is laid out for N scale. I think micro-mark has them. I use a digital caliper and convert my measurements to HO scale. I work with designs and autoCAd so I use it in my work also. I have seen calipers that read in HO, N ,or O scaale also. If you are into model railroading to stay, this would be a good investment.

[DSchmitt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dkelly

Rather than find the actual scale width of a road, perhaps you might want to try a "selectively compressed" road. Line up the buildings that you plan to have near the road way, get a couple of vehicles and then on a piece of construction paper/poster board, play with the items until you hit a width that "looks right." Because the buildings we use are somewhat "selectively compressed" a road that is somewhat less than full width bordered by proportionally compressed shoulders, sidewalks etc, should look ok.

Good suggestion

Be careful in choosing autos and trucks. Some marketed for N scale are too big. In the past many modelers also used small but non-scale vehicles that were also too big because there was not much available. The selection is much better now.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for all of the input/suggestions-much appreciated. I've used the measurements given to, kind of, layout my town, and then when it comes to laying the road I think I'll take the eyeball with small cars approach.

I got my first oval in and wired and took my first run(through a pink wonderland of foam)--man is that a satisfying feeling...a little stuttery and not much to look at, but it's a start!

Thanks again
JASON

[Anonymous]

Jason,

Gotta love that first run!!!!! There's nothing like it!