I’m pretty sure this has been debated before but I came a across an interesting thing today.
At a yard sale I found some trains. One was a Lil Critter switcher with the box marked 1:24. The other was a matching long wooden 4 axle caboose and the box was marked 1:29 ?
The boxes are yellow not blue or black so they are newer stock.
I don’t think either piece has ever been out of their boxes. The engine looks to be in fact 1:29 but the caboose does not look 1:24. I put it next to a bachmann which is 1:20 and a USAT which is 1:29 and it was closer to the USAT one in size.
Of course cabooses came in all sizes so that is OK but I thought manufacturers more or less stuck to a certain scale. It is weird that Aristo had 1:24 and 1:29.
Todd - lots of the older Aristo-Craft stuff came from the even older Delton/REA range from the '80’s.
Hence the disparity in scales, regardless of the box colour.
tac, ig, ken the GFT & The Mount Gleep Air/Sea Rescue boys
To the best of my knowledge all Aristo products are 1:29 except for the classic series of cars which includes the C-16 steam engine, and which are 1:24 scale.
Ed
The Little Critter is a chopped section (short hood) of their RS 3 in 1:29
Yes, the Delton Classic line was 1:24, but the “regular” Aristo line was 1:29.
" but I thought manufacturers more or less stuck to a certain scale. "
Ah, not really. USA has their wood reefers at 1:24, but the mainline stuff at 1:29
Bachmann has the big hauler stuff around 1:22, but the Spectrum stuff is 1:20.3, and the Peter DeWitt streetcar at 1:29
And LGB…well…
David Maynard said:
Yes, the Delton Classic line was 1:24, but the “regular” Aristo line was 1:29.
" but I thought manufacturers more or less stuck to a certain scale. "
Ah, not really. USA has their wood reefers at 1:24, but the mainline stuff at 1:29
Bachmann has the big hauler stuff around 1:22, but the Spectrum stuff is 1:20.3, and the Peter DeWitt streetcar at 1:29
And LGB…well…
Are you sure the USA wood reefer is 1:24? I have one and it looks pretty much the exact same size as my 1:22.5 LGB reefer and is distinctly bigger than my 1:24 aristo-delton one.
The Aristo L’ill critter, as stated by HJ, is a short hood of the RS3 which is 1:29. The Aristo Center Cab is two short hoods of the RS3, so is 1:29.
A few years ago Aristo released the Centre Cab with a 1:29 Bobber caboose as a pair.
The Aristocraft classic series is 1:24 its part of the old Delton line. The USA wood Reefer is closer to 1:22 then 1:24. If you compare it to the Hartland 1:24 its much longer.
Shawn (napkin builder) Viggiano said:
The Aristocraft classic series is 1:24 its part of the old Delton line. The USA wood Reefer is closer to 1:22 then 1:24. If you compare it to the Hartland 1:24 its much longer.
And, if you squint just right, the USA wood reefer can be a 36 ft reefer in 1:29.
It is sort of a funny situation. The original “UsTrains” wood reefer, came out, and appeared in their catalogues without any scale mentioned. Looking at them closely, and comparing them with the original LGB wood reefer, you would think it was almost a copy of the LGB one, except for a few details, like the opening ice hatches on the USTrains model. USTrains then brought out the start of their "Work train series, which again looked to be in the same scale…probably somewhere around 1:22.5 if that what the LGB cars were.
We then saw some other wood box cars in the same scale as the reefers, put out by USTrains…again, no scale mentioned.
looking at more recent USTrains catalogues we suddenly see the wood iced reefers, being shown with the 1:24 scale specified…go figure.
The LGB, and USTrains wood iced reefers, with the archbar trucks, and truss rods, look rather like what is described as "Colorado NG Style cars, not the style of car that would be seen in a standard gauge modern train…modern meaning somewhere after the late 40’s…or whenever arch bar trucks, and wood underframe cars were banned in interchange, on North American railroads.
All of this doesn’t seem to bother most of the “Garden Railroad” market, as it seems that all they seem to care about is what looks nice to them…and that is fine…it’s their right to run whatever they want behind their Dash 8’s…but with a little bit of research into real railroad practices…would give them this knowledge.
The name of the game is to have fun…run whatever you care to, but it is good to expand your mind, with a bit of railroad knowledge, about equipment.
Archbar trucks were banned for interchange service in 1933 IIRC
I once had a USA wood-side car, a Bachman car and an LGB car in my shop and I took them apart to see what the differences were. The under-frames look like they all could have come out of the same mold. Yes, the truss rods are different, but they are added to the underframe. The bodies are a bit different, but when you look at the inside, you can see where plugs were added to the mold to change out some of the details. I suspect that they came from basically the same design, and molds that were very similar if not the same mold with modifications. So the USA cars would be more appropriately labeled 1:22.5. But the USA literature I have seen say 1:24.
Aristo Craft is kind of funny. Sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes the engines simply look off scale. Even there recent stuff, but it is so minute, that only a micrometer minded train jockey would even bother noticing. LOL
Personally, I wish one company would start from scratch and build everything in one single easy to understand scale that incorporates everything from locomotives to rolling stock and cars, buildings, people etc.
I imagine the scale issues are not as bad as they may appear, but they can be confounding when trying to replicate a well detailed and incredibly engineered model railroad. Especially in large scale.
Anyway, the differences are really more or less minute.
Stacy Krausmann said:
Aristo Craft is kind of funny. Sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes the engines simply look off scale. Even there recent stuff, but it is so minute, that only a micrometer minded train jockey would even bother noticing. LOL
Personally, I wish one company would start from scratch and build everything in one single easy to understand scale that incorporates everything from locomotives to rolling stock and cars, buildings, people etc.
I imagine the scale issues are not as bad as they may appear, but they can be confounding when trying to replicate a well detailed and incredibly engineered model railroad. Especially in large scale.
Anyway, the differences are really more or less minute.
That one scale in LS would be 1:32. If you do a bit of research you will find enough of everything you mention in that scale.
But beware, apparently it doesn’t have the WOW factor.
As to the minute differences. 
I always told people, “45mm is almost exactly 1/32 of standard gauge, so we model standard gauge in 1 to 29 so purists can boast, ‘I use the CORRECT scale of 1 to 32.’”
The purists get upset when I remind them that they are running on a wide gauge.
Steve Featherkile said:
The purists get upset when I remind them that they are running on a wide gauge.
I fully agree, 0.16mm (0.0062992in) error is a substantial shortcoming. Absolutely scandalous considering how closely everything else gets measured in LS.
To quote a famous person:
" What difference does this all make "
HRC
Stacy Krausmann said:
To quote a famous person:
" What difference does this all make "
HRC
Very little, very little. It’s just a cultural difference, similar to what you mentioned in an other thread.
PS You do know what a “Tongue in Cheek” smiley looks like, don’t you? 
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
Stacy Krausmann said:
To quote a famous person:
" What difference does this all make "
HRC
Very little, very little. It’s just a cultural difference, similar to what you mentioned in an other thread.
PS You do know what a “Tongue in Cheek” smiley looks like, don’t you?
LOL
I think the whole matter can be summed up by saying people worry way too much about things they cannot do anything about. Unless they are in the manufacturing business, they must purchase what is out there regardless of those “minute” differences. LOL