| When planning a model railroad layout, model | | | | railroad. There is also a new breed of garden |
| railroaders have to choose what scale they | | | | centers which make available plants and |
| are going to be modeling. The ratio between | | | | shrubs sized just right for the G scale |
| real life size and model size is known as the | | | | Garden Railroads. |
| scale. On an HO scale layout, or 1:87 scale, | | | | |
| the scenery, rolling stock and buildings will | | | | The term scale and gauge do not have the same |
| be 1/87 of the real life, or prototype size. | | | | meaning. Scale refers to the size of objects |
| | | | in proportion to their prototype. Gauge |
| By far modeler's favorite scale to model is | | | | refers to the distance between the rails. |
| HO scale (1:87). Where you don't have a lot | | | | Most scales model standard gauge track. |
| of space available for setting up a model | | | | Standard gauge railroads are those whose |
| railroad layout, the smaller scales, N scale | | | | rails are 4 feet 8 and one half inches apart. |
| (1:160) and Z scale (1:220) would be more | | | | |
| suitable. On Z Scale layouts, scaled objects | | | | Those modelers that model 3' gauge, or narrow |
| would be 1/220 the size of real life objects, | | | | gauge railroads use a combination of scales |
| whereas on N scale layouts, scaled objects | | | | and gauges. For instance, you can model |
| are 1/160 the size of full size objects. If | | | | narrow gauge using HO scale. It is called |
| you are considering modeling the smaller | | | | HOn3. The HO refers to the scale and the "n" |
| scales, keep in mind that good eyesight and | | | | refers to narrow gauge and the "3" refers to |
| hand eye coordination will be needed. | | | | 3' between the rails. The only thing that |
| | | | sets HOn3 apart from HO is that the 10.5mm |
| S Scale (1:64), O scale (1:48) and G scale | | | | gauge track it uses is not as wide. |
| (1:24) make up the larger model railroad | | | | |
| scales. O scale became very popular back in | | | | Narrow gauge can also be modeled in S scale, |
| the 50's and 60's when Lionel was the | | | | N scale and O scale, and these are called |
| household name for model railroading. It is | | | | Sn3, Nn3 and On3. What differentiates these |
| still a very popular scale. G or Garden scale | | | | scales from their parent scales is the use of |
| is very popular for outdoor model railroad | | | | narrow gauge track. Rolling stock, buildings |
| layouts. G scale works well on outdoor | | | | and scenery remain unchanged. Modelers can |
| layouts as it is fairly simple to keep the | | | | even model 30" gauge track and 2 foot gauge |
| existing scenery in proportion to the rolling | | | | track. Some examples of this are On30 and |
| stock. | | | | On2. |
| | | | |
| Garden Railroad Clubs are very popular and | | | | Park rides and live steam layouts use large |
| have sprouted up across the country in large | | | | scales and gauges such as 1:12, 1:8 and even |
| numbers. Garden railroads are ideal for a | | | | 1:4. A popular gauge for live steam and |
| husband and wife to share the same hobby. One | | | | miniature railroads is 7.5 inch gauge. |
| can tend to the plants and the other the | | | | |