I have been watching the railroad videos on "RFDTV".
One caught me eye. It was about Eastern steam. A lot of 2-6-6-4s.
I noticed all different size Box And other cars.
Now I can tell anyone who critizes me for running 1/20, 1/24, 1/29, 1/32 cars together Where to see it in real.
I dunno. I would think twice about running On30 on my HO rails with the rest of my HO rolling stock. There would be a big difference in intended scale even if they use the same gauge of track. So, if you are into garden scale, as it appears, and elect to run cars that are actually different in scale, and not merely size in the same scale, it would seem to me you are not really mimicking what happen(ed/s) in the real world. Size and scale have a lot of intersection, but they don't mean the same thing.
Just my opinion. And criticize you? No, I might offer an opinion if I were asked directly, but I don't enjoy or believe in overt criticism if it may interfere with someone's fun. I guess it depends on the apparent orientation of the person mixing the scales.
Would you like me to move this to the G Scale forum, or have you a particular interest in posting a scale/model question on this one?
-Crandell
You have misunderstood what you saw on the film. Railroad cars have grown in size since inception. What you were seeing is a hodge podge of cars some probably dating back to the 1920s or earlier. Today most cars have reached the physical limits in height and width and are more uniform in dimensions. All those cars were the same scale built for 5'8 1/2" rail lines.
Short answer - every car in that show was 1:1 scale. There weren't any 3/4 scale or 1.2x scale cars rolling along those standard gauge rails.
All of the different scales you listed run on different track gauges, most less than standard. There are other incompatibilities, but the track gauge is a deal-breaker.
The problem is that all the scales you listed are lumped as "G Gauge." By way of contrast, the various scales that run on 16.5mm gauge track all have different names corresponding to the scale of the models: HO, Sn3.5, On30, Gn15 and whatever Harold Minky is calling his 1:55 scale 3 foot gauge. They aren't all lumped as Half-0 (which is what HO actually means.)
Chuck, (who models two different track gauges in one scale, not vice-versa)
I will review the video I watched just to give you the video title.
There were box cars (early 1920---) of different lengths, heights and widths (narrower).
Yes I had people criticize my running Bachmann 1/20 with my U.S.A. and 1/32 cars.
I always hear. They do not look right together. You would not see that in real life.
yes I mainly run early steam.
Prototype cars do vary in length, and they do vary somewhat in height (limited to a max height for tunnels and bridges) but they do not generaly change in width, this also being limited by the width of tunnels and bridges, but mainly due to the distance between adjacent tracks and to lineside structures (platforms, docks, etc.) (I think this is refered to as "Loading Gauge").
Putting different scales of cars on one gauge of track can voilate this arrangement and to "SOME" people it is a glaring error, and to others, they do not "See" it at all.
Some scales can be combined in one train if the scales represent different gauges in the 1:1 world... i.e.: if you put a 1:20.3 car next to a 1:32 car the difference in scale of cars designed to fit the same difference in gauge (1:1 world) results in cars that have a relative size difference between the two model cars to be very small. Narrow gauge cars were narrower than the standard gauge cars proportionately to the difference in the gauges.
Problems in mixing this variance in scales are evident in the distance between steps or ladder rungs and the height of doors... The narrow gauge model (1:20.3) will appear to have taller doors than are necessary for "standard gauge" people (1:32).
The main problem in mixing scales of cars on one gauge of toy track is when the scales are not proportional to the variance in the gauges of what the cars represent.,. i.e.: putting a 1:32 scale car next to a 1:29 scale car produces a difference in the size of the toy cars of about 30 Percent (by volume) and most often looks wrong because the relationship of the 1:1 gauges is unity (they both represent standard gauge) but there is a 10 percent difference in the scales (and a difference of 10 percent in length, width and height amounts to a 30 percent difference in volume... VERY noticeable).
In the real world, it is true that there are all kinds and sizes of rail cars, but they all fit the Loading Gauge of the RR they run on.
In your world... well... It is YOUR world and you can run any scale of car you want to run on YOUR RR. If you can fit G-Gauge trucks on your "Z" scale cars, go ahead and tow them with your 1:24 scale locomotives. Likewise if your "H0" engines can tow 1-inch (to the foot) scale cars and you can ballance them on the H0 track, do so... it is your world. Anybody that says "It don't look right!" are only expressing THEIR opinion of what THEY see, NOT what MUST run on YOUR railroad.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
It may look as wrong as ---- but it was done and I have the video to prove it.
I did state narrower not wider.
Since you model in the Steam Era, you could always state that your "Narrow Gauge" cars on the "Standard Gauge" track represent the Era where the RRs were converting to all Standard Gauge and the old cars were simply re-trucked to fit the change in gauge. Also, there were exchange places where cars were lifted from Narrow Gauge tracks, leaving the trucks behind, and set on Standard Gauge trucks to continue their trek... and vice-versa for the return trip. Beside the cost in manpower and delay, there were problems in loading and unloading where the car door opening and the dock didn't abut one another for ease of content movement, so this did not continue for long, but it did happen.
As for today's 1:1 RRs, just the other day, while out railfanning, I saw a long, nearly "Unit train" of orange refers (Pacific Fruit Express) moving at a good clip to the east, but right in the middle of these "Standard Sized" boxcars was one HUGE white boxcar (I think they are called "Hi-Cube"). It sure looked rediculous in the consist... totally "out of scale" with the rest of the train. Also, the other day while watching the Roanoke Railcam I saw a coal train of over 100 cars (at least!)... All exactly alike; same length, same width, same height, same color, same ribbing, same'o-same'o... but on the tail end was this 1/2 to 1/4 size "tank car". Sure looked silly trundling along behind that straight-lace, uniform, consist... and I laughed out loud at it.
Just because it looks silly, does not mean it is not prototypical and just because it is prototypical does not mean it does not look silly.
I have Aster Mikes in 1:32 scale. The first car I got to pull was a 1:29 scale REA boxcar. It totally overwhelmed the Mike. Looked rediculous! I then got a bunch of MTH 1:32 scale boxcars, hoppers, etc. and they look right nice being pulled by the Mike. Being as that I spent the money to get the first car, I put it in the consist anyway, and if I put it toward the back, mixed in with the random set of 1:32 scale cars, it looked just fine with them... it representing just a larger car, the same as the present day RRs have various sized cars to fit the various sized cargos they haul.