In another thread I mentioned O scale and Dave T said O is a lot like G in that its all over the mat in scale. Not having ever messed with O I had no idea. I decided on doing my indoor in On30. I figured it would be easy to take any O building or rolling stock and use it with truck mods. But O27 is huge compared to On30.
So what scale is most On30 stuff made too? Seems 1:48.
See my thoughts on other post. On30 on HO track scales to narrow gauge for O gauge modelling. As a comparison, O gauge rail scales to 3’ narrow gauge equipment with 1/29 scale equipment.
Michael
The fun and games seem to start when what is a gauge appellation becomes synonymous with an associated scale rather than a scale standard, say like F stands for 1:20.3 not a track gauge, when modeling standard gauge prototypes. E.G Gauge O can be either be 1:48 or 1:43 scale, on 32 mm gauge and “1” can be either 1:32 or 10 mm for standard gauge kit on 45 mm gauge track. In the UK nominally 16 mm scale models of narrow gauge prototypes can run on 45 mm (Gauge 1) or 32 mm (Gauge O) but are never referred to as 1 or On16, only their actual scale.
Take a look here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_ft_gauge_rail_modelling
Keep in mind that when modelling structures it is not uncommon to find that these can be made under scale for the sake of practicality when incorporating them in a layout of limited space, or even the potentially wide open spaces of a garden. When you get to the “garden” scales it can be quite noticeable the compromises that nearly all suppliers engage in. It only really becomes obvious when a maker actually supplies true to scale - https://www.brunelmodels.co.uk/. I remember Ozark making both 1:20.3 and 1:24 versions of their Chama coaling station kit - Not because people were running both 1:20.3 and 1:24 stock but because of the shear size of the prototype structure could be problematic and potentially limit sales if the option were not offered.
Devon Sinsley said:
In another thread I mentioned O scale and Dave T said O is a lot like G in that its all over the mat in scale. Not having ever messed with O I had no idea. I decided on doing my indoor in On30. I figured it would be easy to take any O building or rolling stock and use it with truck mods. But O27 is huge compared to On30.
So what scale is most On30 stuff made too? Seems 1:48.
On30 is a great scale for those who like to model, my model railroad buddy belongs to an On30 modular group and they are mostly builders and modelers. Yes you can cut down O scale cars and use On30 trucks, one thing he does is purchase old American Flyer (S gauge) rolling stock at train shows and converts them to On30 rolling stock. It’s one of those scales that you can model and the trashier it looks the better it turns out, just watch YouTube videos and you will see.
trainman
Max I agree completely. I understand full well what scale and gauge are. And I think in O “scale” just as it is in G “scale” is, shall we say, fluid.
John Lenheiser said:
Devon Sinsley said:
In another thread I mentioned O scale and Dave T said O is a lot like G in that its all over the mat in scale. Not having ever messed with O I had no idea. I decided on doing my indoor in On30. I figured it would be easy to take any O building or rolling stock and use it with truck mods. But O27 is huge compared to On30.
So what scale is most On30 stuff made too? Seems 1:48.
On30 is a great scale for those who like to model, my model railroad buddy belongs to an On30 modular group and they are mostly builders and modelers. Yes you can cut down O scale cars and use On30 trucks, one thing he does is purchase old American Flyer (S gauge) rolling stock at train shows and converts them to On30 rolling stock. It’s one of those scales that you can model and the trashier it looks the better it turns out, just watch YouTube videos and you will see.
trainman
I have noticed that S scale stuff can be a nice stand in for old narrow gauge On30 rolling stock.
One thing that may end up putting an end to the whole argument for me is that I may have enlisted the wife’s involvement. We are making a Christmas village display for her. I like the looks of the Bachmann On30 stuff in the Thomas Kinkade On30 Christmas train. This led last night to the idea of where to store all her village stuff. Well out of that was born the idea of a whimsical “Christmas year round” layout. Do an On30 layout using all her Christmas village stuff on my layout. This would be a win win in that the wife would be involved, I would have a supply of buildings, and we can store her stuff on the layout and make it easily removable so she can display it at Christmas.
Devon, having the wife involved in the model railroad is a wonderful thing…
I’d never have gotten this far without my wife’s help and support…
Lately because of my health situation, she has had to all the work
on the layout lately… If not for her, the layout would almost be in ruins…
Andy Clarke said:
Devon, having the wife involved in the model railroad is a wonderful thing…
I’d never have gotten this far without my wife’s help and support…
Lately because of my health situation, she has had to all the work
on the layout lately… If not for her, the layout would almost be in ruins…
Andy, getting the wife’s support is never an issue. I married the most amazing woman and she loves to see me happy (as I also like to see her happy). So as long as we can pay the bills and eat she pretty well lets me do and buy whatever I want within reason of course. And she will get involved to an extent but she really could care less about trains and that’s fine. But with this is nice to have a together project. She won’t care so much about the layout in my train room but since it involves her Christmas decorating she will be excited about buildings and what not. So it is a nice way to go. I don’t mind the whimsy of it since I do enough “serious” building with my G stuff. So having a whimiscal On30 layout with a winter theme is cool with me.
Are we talking Lemax figures and structures ? Seem like a good fit if you go On3 or 30 https://support.lemaxcollection.com/support/solutions/articles/36000061506-what-is-the-scale-of-lemax-village-pieces-
Max Winter said:
Are we talking Lemax figures and structures ? Seem like a good fit if you go On3 or 30 https://support.lemaxcollection.com/support/solutions/articles/36000061506-what-is-the-scale-of-lemax-village-pieces-
Lemax. Department 56, and others but all basically that size.
Michael Glavin said:
See my thoughts on other post. On30 on HO track scales to narrow gauge for O gauge modelling. As a comparison, O gauge rail scales to 3’ narrow gauge equipment with 1/29 scale equipment.
Michael
O Scale, 2 rail, works out to 32mm gauge and is popular to model 2-foot gauge using a 16mm-to-the-foot scale. It is quite popular in the UK for garden railways to be built to this scale/gauge as 2-foot railroads ran in many parts of England and elsewhere under colonial rule. Personally, I model the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in 16mm scale but I don’t have any of the O Scale tracks set up outdoors (yet). So I cheat and run things on a 45mm gauge track that I use for more traditional, American prototype trains.
Interestingly, the use of 45mm gauge “G Scale” tracks to model three-foot narrow gauge (DRGW, EBT, etc) works out to being a 15mm-to-the-foot scale as 45 / 3 = 15. So the two-foot gauge modeled in 16mm- and the three-foot modeled in 15mm-to-the-foot are very, very close scales; they just use a different gauge of track.
I have dreams of running some 32mm gauge track so I can be more proper with the 2-foot-gauge trains, like the Darjeeling, but it would also mean I could get out some of my 2 Rail O Scale stuff for a little fun now and then. The ties would look strange for O Scale as they would be spaced for a narrow-gauge train of a totally different scale, but you can’t always win at everything.
Of course, all of this is moot if you want to play toy trains with O gauge three-rail stuff.
C Z said:
Michael Glavin said:
See my thoughts on other post. On30 on HO track scales to narrow gauge for O gauge modelling. As a comparison, O gauge rail scales to 3’ narrow gauge equipment with 1/29 scale equipment.
Michael
O Scale, 2 rail, works out to 32mm gauge and is popular to model 2-foot gauge using a 16mm-to-the-foot scale. It is quite popular in the UK for garden railways to be built to this scale/gauge as 2-foot railroads ran in many parts of England and elsewhere under colonial rule. Personally, I model the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in 16mm scale but I don’t have any of the O Scale tracks set up outdoors (yet). So I cheat and run things on a 45mm gauge track that I use for more traditional, American prototype trains.
Interestingly, the use of 45mm gauge “G Scale” tracks to model three-foot narrow gauge (DRGW, EBT, etc) works out to being a 15mm-to-the-foot scale as 45 / 3 = 15. So the two-foot gauge modeled in 16mm- and the three-foot modeled in 15mm-to-the-foot are very, very close scales; they just use a different gauge of track.
I have dreams of running some 32mm gauge track so I can be more proper with the 2-foot-gauge trains, like the Darjeeling, but it would also mean I could get out some of my 2 Rail O Scale stuff for a little fun now and then. The ties would look strange for O Scale as they would be spaced for a narrow-gauge train of a totally different scale, but you can’t always win at everything.
Of course, all of this is moot if you want to play toy trains with O gauge three-rail stuff.
I got into garden railways 18 years ago via the “G Scale” route - not a scale more a definition of the track type models of that appellation are designed for - with, nominally, 1:29 US std gauge & 1:22.5 Euro NG running on the LGB code 332 rail height 45 mm gauge track system operating via track power. After a short time I moved away to track powered 1:20.3 scale US NG and some live steam for that and live steam “16 mm scale” UK/Colonial. I add the parentheses to the 16 mm as my first live steamer was a Roundhouse Lady Anne, a freelance design with no actual prototype and hence no real scale. I have steadfastly remained with and built on the 45 mm gauged track system adopted all those years ago at the outset.
I think very early on the suppliers into the UK/Colonial centric"16 MM scale" market realized that there were far more garden railway enthusiasts, particularly outside the UK, who operated on the various track systems that exist in the 45 mm gauge rather than 32 mm ones . It made sense then to offer, where possible, products that were either readily regaugable, or gauge specific as supplied, product between the two standards.
I think very few members in the umbrella association, 16 mm NGM, get too hung up about running on prototypical track gauges these days. I too run Darjeeling as a major theme on my line as well as a number of other well known real life operators that ran anywhere between 1’11.5" and 2’6". As alluded to before I run a fair bit modeled on 3ft gauged US NG, but that even includes a Fourney that would have run on 2’ gauge in real life and a freelance Mallet that only ever existed in std gauge form - however their maker markets them both as 15 mm scale to go along with the rest of their 45 mm gauged “Spectrum” range. Max
C Z said:
Of course, all of this is moot if you want to play toy trains with O gauge three-rail stuff.
Amen …try telling that …never mind… (cough museums {plural} )…
IMO it’s all good as the hobby has grown massively technology wise over the years but the elders still have the reins …all we have to do is listen!