zstripe Interesting to note that some of the poster's, paid attention in school. Striped
Interesting to note that some of the poster's, paid attention in school.
Striped
I'm good as long as we stick to basic arithmetic. Trigonometry and calculus would be another matter. Algebra and geometry might be a little challenging as well.
To scale a linear dimension, divide by the scale factor (HO 1:87)
To scale an area, divide by the square of the scale factor (HO 1:7,569) A model of a building 87 feet square would take one square foot of layout space.
To scale a volume, divide by the cube of the scale factor (HO 1:658,503) An HO scale building with a volume of one cubic foot would represent a prototype building with a volume of 658,503 cubic feet. Assuming the model has the same density as the thing being modeled, an accurate HO scale model of a 100 ton (loaded total weight) car would weigh a littlt less than 5 ounces - a good ballpark figure for NMRA recommended weight for a 50 foot, 70 ton capacity boxcar.
Seems that we're already close enough for most purposes...
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with cars weighted to NMRA RP)
mobilman44 Shouldn't be much of a problem, for after all, a small loco weighing in a 500,000 lbs would only be 5,745 lbs in HO scale.
Shouldn't be much of a problem, for after all, a small loco weighing in a 500,000 lbs would only be 5,745 lbs in HO scale.
I would love to see something that small that weighs that much. I love sailing and there would be big money spent for something the small and weighs that much to use as ballast for a keel.
The cube thing confused me too when I started out but once I was able to picture it, it made lots of sense.
Steve S, you must not be a Dr Who fan. You guys need to watch British SciFi more. It's a wibbly, wobbley, timey, whimey thing.
Interestingly enough, a 100,00 LB 40-foot boxcar, when converted to ounces (16,000,000) and divided 3 times by 87.1 (That's correct for HO Scale comes out to 2.4214 ounces (rounded). Pretty close to the NMRA RP, huh? Don't forget that weight has mass and mass has dimension in this space-time continuum. Hence the 3x division.
Edit: For a loaded car with a 145,000LB loaded weight, the calculation is even closer: 3.5110 ounces. Not only do our HO models match prototype dimension, they match in weight as well!!
Don't I remember a similar thread a few years back...?
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Gary M. Collins gmcrailgNOSPAM@gmail.com
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"Common Sense, Ain't!" -- G. M. Collins
http://fhn.site90.net
Jabear,
I missed some of the reply's, on was on the FSM site. But anyway, I am one of those crazy people that count mentally, when viewing anything that I see, for instance, wheel lugs on a truck. Even if I know already how many there are, I still do it and try to remember where I started from. It carry's on to anything that involves counting. I'm obsessed with mentally counting things and always finding faster ways to do it. My four years of Machine design and drawing blue prints, probably had a lot to do with it. I had a lot of schooling. So what do I do with it all? I wind up driving a truck and owning my own, for 45yrs of my life.
Zstripe,
Looking back to my High School years (Lane Tech - Chicago 62), a number of courses were a big help to me in Model Railroading. Two years of wood shop, electric shop, two years of drafting, Algebra/Geometry, and even typing have proven useful in the Hobby. Of course there is that year of Russian I took, which almost did me in.
Ha, be it Wright JC, DePaul University, or University of Louisville - nothing there was learned to help me be a better model railroader. Of course without them, I likely couldn't afford to be in the Hobby.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Just remember.......the bigger an object......the more gravimetric attraction it will have.......
Dennis Blank Jr.
CEO,COO,CFO,CMO,Bossman,Slavedriver,Engineer,Trackforeman,Grunt. Birdsboro & Reading Railroad
zstripeBut anyway, I am one of those crazy people that count mentally, when viewing anything that I see, for instance, wheel lugs on a truck. Even if I know already how many there are, I still do it and try to remember where I started from.
Rainman, is that you?
joe323I think the term for this thread is economies of scale (modeling)
Can I pay with HO scale dollars?
Rich.
What about the locomotives getting power from the rails, or a 3,132ft stretch of flex track, and rail joiners, all so unprototypical!! We need small prime movers, and HO scale traction motors in the trucks! We should make all track to prototypical standards! Not to mention everything that is horribly over sized (wheels, couplers, etc)! Wait a minute, we forgot about the crew that should be in the cab working the controls, we need to shrink ourselves to HO scale. What about te fake water on the layouts, it should be replaced with actual water!
When you think about it, having everything be prototypical makes no since. Even if we can get an HO scale diesel engine that actually works, how are you going to do maintance? Think about having to change the oil. Or checking the fluid levels. At least it isn't a gas engine where you have to replace the spark plugs
Kyle , or a 3,132ft stretch of flex track,
, or a 3,132ft stretch of flex track,
You use 36 ft sections of flextrack? How big is your layout? How do you get it home from the LHS?
Check out the Deming Sub by clicking on the pics:
So if I model HO scale trains in my HO scale basement that's 1:1. I don't think that boxcar will fit through the door!
Wayne
wrumbelSo if I model HO scale trains in my HO scale basement that's 1:1. I don't think that boxcar will fit through the door!
Easy fix for that.
Just build the layout IN the boxcar.
So if I model HO in my HO scale basement wouldn't that be 1:1. I don't think that boxcar is going to fit!
If that was the case, I doubt, you would fit also.
Frank
Doesn't anyone remember the comoc book character the atom? Or is it Honey I Shrunk the Engineer? :)
Joe Staten Island West
Sir Madog We talk about scale speed, scale time, scale dimensions and scale weight. Has anyone thought of scale light? Does light scale down? The intensity of light is measured in Lux (lx). A sunny day with a clear blue sky has around 100,000 lx around noon; at sunset, this value goes down to about 50 lx. Now, on our layouts, do we divide this by the scale we model in? Or the square of that value, as the intensity of light can also be expressed by light radiation per sq.ft.? In any case, if we scale down light, we won´t have to worry about too much detail on our layouts - we will hardly see any
We talk about scale speed, scale time, scale dimensions and scale weight. Has anyone thought of scale light?
Does light scale down? The intensity of light is measured in Lux (lx). A sunny day with a clear blue sky has around 100,000 lx around noon; at sunset, this value goes down to about 50 lx. Now, on our layouts, do we divide this by the scale we model in? Or the square of that value, as the intensity of light can also be expressed by light radiation per sq.ft.?
In any case, if we scale down light, we won´t have to worry about too much detail on our layouts - we will hardly see any
I don't remember the issue, but I seem to remember an article in MR discussing this very point on lighting a freight house.
I got to th thinking about this today I calculate that we should have 114 lumens per scale foot. I reduced the diameter of the sun to HO scale and the distance to ho scale both are still well over a million miles and then divided the average 10,000 lumens per square foot on the sun by 87. Anyway it complicated. Suffice it to say that the average 100 watt incandescent bulb producing about 1600 lumen there is no way to reproduce light in scale.
I also like the idea of how many HO boxcars would fit in a 40' boxcar, but think the best way to address the issue with finality is to prove it.
If we could rent a full size 40' car, I think the problem would be stacking them neatly, essential to getting an accurate maximum. I'm not sure we could get the top rows in anyway above the door top, so maybe we could use reefers and climb out the hatch, but I digress. So here's my proposed alternative. Most of us have some old Blue Box cars and also the original box. Put the cars in the boxes and send them to the OP (not me). He can weigh the car in the box (total weight). Then, the OP could build a full size Atheran Blue Box (of appropriate layers of cardboard to get the right thickness). He would have to weigh the materials, and just build the bottom and double that for the weight of a total box. Then, we would keep sending our BB cars in boxes and he would start filling the full size BB, keeping track of the inserted BB numbers of cars and weight. When filled, he could compare the contents weight with the weight of the empty full size (with top) BB plus the weight of a standard empty 40' full size car. Then he could report the exact ratio of the full scale to the contents, and if 1:1 we would not have to re-weight our cars. If not 1:1, we would have to add or subtract weight from our rolling stock to achieve full prototypical-ness. Of course, the OP should return our BB cars, but he can keep the full size BB box (turn it into a museum?).
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
Sir MadogHas anyone thought of scale light?
If you scaled down the wavelength, I suppose you'd have to use UV light for HO, X-rays for N, and Gamma rays for Z scale. This could get dangerous.
Steve S
KyleWe need small prime movers,
Might fit into a G scale loco...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9zt3SF_Flc
...and HO scale traction motors
Someone has thought of it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE5tJTeBdj8
Why not put a sealed dome over the layout to simulate a scale atmosphere with a few smoking units (scale pollution ).