Large Scale Central

Aristo question

General Discussion
#21

One of the problems is that they advertise their stuff as “G Scale” which it isn’t . Yet they advertise their figures as 1/29th .

Since I got caught by the difference between their G scale and the more common ones around the 1/22.5 mark , I have not bought a single Aristo item .

I am not a mad rivet counting scale maniac , in fact I just collect and run anything that takes my fancy , but in my opinion , the dishonest appelation of G Scale to something patently not so may have contributed to their downfall . Certainly quite a few fellow railnuts over here felt the same as I did . In my case I got rid of the loco that I mistakenly had as a present and used the money for something nearer to 1/22.5 .

Bachmann quickly cottoned on to this disparity and they seem to be doing OK .

I said as much on this site years back , forecasting that Aristocraft would probably not last ; this not unnaturally made me even more enemies . As one of your more esteemed Presidents once said , you can cheat some of the people all of the time and so on .

Similar things happen in other modelling areas , some try to sell military 1/32 scale in the face of the overwhelming preponderance of 1/35 , forgetting that 1/32 is toy soldier scale .

They tend to be rapid disappearing cottage industries . Sad when with a bit of market research (like reading a magazine) they would probably have done better .

That said , I do hope that the company does re-emerge , the more people into large scale stuff , the better .

#22

G is a GAUGE not a scale! G gauge refers to the track. There are at least 5 scales that run on G gauge track.

#23

Well, actually, there is a “G” scale. It is 1:22.5.

There is no “G” gauge. It is # 1 gauge.
If you must call it anything, call it Large Scale.

#24

Thanks Tony , we finally agree on something .

As you rightly say , “G” is a scale , and it is now loosely used by anyone trying to sell stuff to anyone who can’t be bothered to check its applicability .

Joe , there are a few pretenders to G Scale who run on 45mm track , but where "G Gauge"falls down is when you are running G scale on 32mm track . It is still referred to as G scale .

Also , any company worth its salt advertises their 45mm non 1/22.5 scale stuff as 1/20.3 , 1/19 , 15mm or 16mm . They most certainly do not sell it as “G” scale . They may say it runs on 45mm track , but G Gauge or G Scale ? No .

The same argument applies to H0 and 00 , both run on 16mm track (exceot for some cottage industry stuff) but they are seldom , if ever , referred to as 16mm scale , which is just as well for those who do run 16mm scale , i.e.16mm/ft .

#25

Mike
HO and OO run on 16.5mm not 16mm track.
Mick

#26

Hans-Joerg Mueller said:

Steve Featherkile said:

Gee. I was on the email list forever. I feel left out. :slight_smile:

Sheesh Steve,

I guess you just never bothered to “unsubscribe”, forever is waaaaaayyyyyyy too long.

Yeah, I know! It was at least a couple of years! Like, ya know?

#27

Tony Walsham said:

Well, actually, there is a “G” scale. It is 1:22.5.

There is no “G” gauge. It is # 1 gauge.
If you must call it anything, call it Large Scale.

Thank you, Tony.

#28

It seems to be an impossible task, to try to convince the masses to move away from generalizing on the term “G scale/gauge”. I’ve been trying for years to help them change, by taking much time to explain the facts, but they walk away, and fall back into their “G” world.

I hope that in the future, others will join the cause…

#29

The term G scale/gauge has it’s uses if you want to encompass all things working on 45mm track.

Many of us use that term BECAUSE that is what we wish to communicate.

I’m for “G scale” all the way. I only model 1:29, but I support the 1:20, 1:22, 1:24 and 1:32 people and more (see, I left out some scales, when “G gauge” was sufficient).

Greg

#30

Well said Greg. I am again 100% on your side. All I own is Aristo trains.

To me scale seems to refer to the size of the trains relative to a prototype, and gauge, which we all run on is 45 mm.

#31

michael benton said:

Mike
HO and OO run on 16.5mm not 16mm track.
Mick

Actually they also run on 18mm track . That’s about the only gauge I don’t have a sample of .

They call themselves Protofour or EM . As most of the stuff has to be home converted (P4andEM)

it has not proved very popular , but among themselves they seem quite happy as long as you praise them for trying to get an accurate track for the scale . And NEVER EVER mention HO or 00 in their presence .

Now , who makes 44mm , 43mm …

#32

Paul Bottino said:

Well said Greg. I am again 100% on your side. All I own is Aristo trains.

To me scale seems to refer to the size of the trains relative to a prototype, and gauge, which we all run on is 45 mm.

Paul , we don’t all run on 45mm .

I and a lot of others run G Scale on 32mm track in parallel with or feeding 45mm track .

We also run G Scale on 67mm track , again in parallel with 45mm .

So , as my hobby is (and has been for 60 or so years) making trains , I have a very wide choice when it comes to prototypes to model .

The 67mm gauge has thus allowed me to build standard gauge , mainly British , run in parts on dual gauge track----I tried triple gauge but that was just silly , it was like a solid brass road on the curves with checkrails and whatnot .

You may have noticed that I get a lot of fun from trains , and posting about them here .

Do not take me too seriously .

Mike

#33

Paul Bottino said:

Well said Greg. I am again 100% on your side. All I own is Aristo trains.

To me scale seems to refer to the size of the trains relative to a prototype, and gauge, which we all run on is 45 mm.

Paul that is correct, but so many in the hobby, and loosely associated with the hobby, do not make that distinction. And then at the train shows, when I try and explain my HO SCALE trains running on N GAUGE track (HOn30) I loose many folks.

#34

I use “G scale” for most stuff on 45mm track.

I use “G gauge” for 45mm track

I talk exact scale to people who really care.

It all seems to work out… me adjusting my conversation to the person I am talking with.

Greg

#35

Greg Elmassian said:… me adjusting my conversation to the person I am talking with.

Greg

Yea Greg, that’s what you have to do. My neighbor just liked to see the “pretty cars” go around my backyard. So any talk of scale with her was reduced to talk about size.

#36

Difference between talking WITH someone and talking AT someone :wink:

#37

So let’s get this right .

Some of you don’t give a monkies about the scale of what you are buying because it says “G Scale” on the box .

The point I was trying to make is that if a manufacturer wilfully misrepresents his product , he should not be surprised at the loss of sales when people find out they have been conned .

When I buy Kiss , Aster , Schoeba , Accucraft , Bachmann I know that they will have made the model to as near an ADVERTISED scale as possible within price constraints .

If I see a model with “LGB Scale” on the box , then I know it is approximately 1/22.5 and will not look out of place with other models so advertised .

Why do you think Bachmann make 00 and H0 as separate lines ? Because the UK market , loosely described by some “don’t care” manufacturers as 00/H0 , is predominantly for 00 .

As a result , Bachmann sell a heck of a lot of stuff here and , dare I say it , raised the standard somewhat .

The scale/gauge argument goes right across the spectrum of model trains , 0 gauge is 1/43.5 , hence H0 is 1/87 (Half 0) , but not everywhere ; 0 is also sold as 1/45 and 1/48 .

A similar mess up occurs with N .

As long as we are aware of these variations , and can rely on honest advertising , it doesn’t really matter what the various ratios are .

I just enjoy what I buy , and generally look for something that is pleasing to the eye (my eye) and as I have two eyes , I get quite a mix of scales . And a lot of fun .

#38

I always thought LGB coined the “G” term ( as meaning Garden…)…

#39

If the people asking questions about scale and gauge cannot grasp the concept of the difference between scale and gauge ignore them.

Why should we, who do understand the difference, be subjected to mish mash labeling simply because the manufacturers are scared that if they do not generalise they might miss sales.

Screw them.

The general term should be Large Scale with proper scale to gauge marking on the products they are hawking. Then the consumer is properly informed and can make up their own minds based on facts. Not BS.

#40

I think that some of us take war to seriously. I like 1/29, Aristo and USATrains. Great realism, especially in the modern diesels.

Ed