I was amazed to find out that in th e mid 1800 there were 20 plus or minus track widths and gauges. I know that most of the modeling today is 1900s or later. But I was wondering does anyone model the 4-4-0 area and if so how do you model the track widths?
There are 3 ways to approach the issue - and each has considerable number of adherents.
1) Select a standard scale, and adjust the track gauge to match the scale. This is commonly done in North America to model 3ft gauge, the most common other gauge after 1870. On3, Sn3, and HOn3 all have enough modelers to enjoy commercial mechanisms that run on accurately gauged track. The advantage of this approach is that scenery and detail items in the standard scale cross over into the new track gauge. You don't have to build everything from scratch. The downfall is lack of wheels, track, and mechanisms if you don't model a popular track gauge. 3ft and standard are the only gauges with commercial support in S and HO. In O (1/48), there is commercial support for 5ft, standard (P48), 3ft and 2ft gauges.
2) Select a commercially supported track gauge, and adjust the scale to get the desired track width in the new scale. The various G scales, HOj, 5.5mm and perhaps a few other scales use this system. While it gives you commercial wheels, track, and mechanisms; all superstructures, cars, and scenery have to be built to match the custom scale. Again, if the scale/gauge combination is popular enough (Fn3, 1/24, 1/32 in G and HOj) there will be reasonable commercial support.
3) By far the most popular method - select a commercially supported scale and gauge combination that is close enough to suit you. G (1/29), Gn18, O (1.25" gauge), On30, On18, Sn42, Sn2, OO (British), HOn30, Nn3, and so on. This gives you commercial support in both scale and track gauge.
The latter is how all Civil War era and earlier modelers I know of do things. O using 1.25" track gauge models 5ft gauge accurately, but is used for track gauges from 4ft 8in to 5ft. HO standard track models 4ft 8.5in gauge track accurately, but is used to model 5ft gauge track. The difference between standard gauge and 5ft track would be less than the width of a flangeway in HO, so accurately modeling 5ft gauge is probably not worth the pain.
Modeling the 6ft gauge of the era is a lot tougher. S gauge track scales to 76", while On3 track scales to 65" in HO. I would be tempted to just lay some dummy track at scale 6ft width in HO, and perhaps scratch a car or two, but nothing more. The same would be true modeling in O.
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
....modeling foggy coastal Oregon, where it's always 1900 (in HO and HOn3)....
IIRC, in the US, Abraham Lincoln signed the legislation fixing the standard gauge at 4' 8.5" in 1860s.
Relatively few modelers model pre-1900 railroading, the the number of modelers gets smaller and smaller as the date goes back. I know of no one who models 1830's railroading, or who models Erie or the various southern railroads in their wide-gauge era. (And something tells me a lot of the early period railroad models are static dioramas rather than operating layouts.)
Given the diminutive size of the older equipment, I suppose there would be a tendency to build these models in the larger scales.
Dan
AltonFan IIRC, in the US, Abraham Lincoln signed the legislation fixing the standard gauge at 4' 8.5" in 1860s.
The gauge and grade standards were only for transcontinental railroads receiving federal land grants. Some states did ban narrow gauge relatively early. Narrow gauge was an exciting solution for a capital-starved country that hit its peak in the 1870s and 1880s. The standardization of car interchange rules and procedures was what finally doomed narrow gauge, although none of its other economic promises were really met.
Both the South and North learned during the Civil War the importance of a "standard" gauge. Hence the South's change to standard gauge instead of 5ft in many places a few years after the Civil War. And Abraham Lincoln's signing of legislation standardizing gauge for federal-supported construction.
The 6ft gauge proved impractically expensive when you left the relatively flat lands of the midwest.
Relatively few modelers model pre-1900 railroading, the the number of modelers gets smaller and smaller as the date goes back. I know of no one who models 1830's railroading, or who models Erie or the various southern railroads in their wide-gauge era. (And something tells me a lot of the early period railroad models are static dioramas rather than operating layouts.) Given the diminutive size of the older equipment, I suppose there would be a tendency to build these models in the larger scales.
Actually, there are a couple of brave souls who are modeling 1840s and 1850s - they hang out in the Yahoo Early Rail Group. In HO, the Bachmann sets are often a starting point. O is easier to build your own because of the size issues - and SMR does make some beautiful O early rail locomotives.
There is a significant group of Civil War era modelers. Then the numbers really dwindle for the 1870s and 1880s. Then pick up again for the 1890s and later.
But you have to realize there were effectively no railroads between the Missouri River and California until 1869. Many western railroads were planned in the 1870s and 1880s, but construction was often delayed by the frequent recessions and financial upsets. Typically, these railroads were not completed until the 1880s, and some not even until after 1900. Region does make a big difference in early rail.
I would assume that the couple of 4-4-0 you see in HO or O gauge are modeled on the standard gauge ?
If you really want to open a bucket of worms, Google railroad gauge width. The last time I did, I got 7 pages of past and presently-used gauges - everything from large scale garden railroads to some humongously wide thing used under ship cradles.
Just a few samples, of lines currently in commercial (not primarily tourist) use:
And then there was Herr Hitler's grandiose plan for a 3 meter gauge system - to be built after Germany consolidated its victory in WWII.
My own modeling is a compromise - 1:80 scale, 42" (prototype) track gauge running on 16.5mm (HO) track, 30" (prototype) track gauge runniing standing still on 10.5mm (HOn3) gauge -static display, for now.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
tomikawaTT If you really want to open a bucket of worms, Google railroad gauge width. The last time I did, I got 7 pages of past and presently-used gauges - everything from large scale garden railroads to some humongously wide thing used under ship cradles. Just a few samples, of lines currently in commercial (not primarily tourist) use: 15" Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch (UK) 24" Darjeeling-Himalayan Ry (India) 30" Ali-Shan Forest Railway (Taiwan) 36" White Pass and Yukon (US - Canada) 1.000m Vietnam State Railway (among many, mostly in former French colonies) 42" Japan Railways (and lots in former British Empire) 60" Russia and adjacent states 63" Irish railways 66" Indian railways And then there was Herr Hitler's grandiose plan for a 3 meter gauge system - to be built after Germany consolidated its victory in WWII. My own modeling is a compromise - 1:80 scale, 42" (prototype) track gauge running on 16.5mm (HO) track, 30" (prototype) track gauge runniing standing still on 10.5mm (HOn3) gauge -static display, for now. Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Hmmm, that presents some problems for model railroading and having a public that can interchange the over seas models, USA , Austria Canada etc...