Using other than 1/160 scale items on an N layout

[peteski]

Hi Pete, We are going to get a little off topic, like that never happens here on the Railwire  What you said above is not 100% true. Japanese Narrow Gauge N scale is 1:150, Japanese Standard Gauge N scale is 1:160. Both the narrow gauge and standard gauge folks in Japan all use 9mm track. Add on top of that the 2mm crowd in the UK that uses 9.42mm track and models in 1:152 scale, then the N gauge crowd in the UK that uses 9mm track but models in 1:148 scale, no wonder there is soooo much confusion   

Yes, I understand all that. But neither of these is 1:144 scale and yet, there are lots of non-model-RR models made in 1:144 scale .  That is what I was explaining.  And generally speaking, most of model-RR-related N-scale models from Japan (except for for the Shinkansen items) are made in 1:150 scale.  This in itself is a misnomer since the true "N-scale" is supposed to be 1:160. Not to be confused with N-gauge, which is the distance of 9mm between the tracks. Yes, I agree that this is all quite confusing.

[nkalanaga]

"Add on top of that the 2mm crowd in the UK that uses 9.42mm track and models in 1:152 scale, then the N gauge crowd in the UK that uses 9mm track but models in 1:148 scale, no wonder there is soooo much confusion"

It would have made a lot more sense for British N to have stuck with 1:152, inherited from 000.  It would have been a little closer to correct for 9 mm gauge, and it was an established scale.  I wonder how they came up with 1:148?

[peteski]

"Add on top of that the 2mm crowd in the UK that uses 9.42mm track and models in 1:152 scale, then the N gauge crowd in the UK that uses 9mm track but models in 1:148 scale, no wonder there is soooo much confusion"

It would have made a lot more sense for British N to have stuck with 1:152, inherited from 000.  It would have been a little closer to correct for 9 mm gauge, and it was an established scale.  I wonder how they came up with 1:148?

Isn't that because they are modeling a British gauge which is not the same as the standard US gauge?

[Santa Fe Guy]

UK Track is 4 foot 81/2inches.
Pity we didn't adopt that in all of our states way back when might have saved an awfull lot of cost today as we change on our interstate tracks.
Rod.

[randgust]

The one that nobody seems to freak out about - unless you really get into it - is the Atlas 2-6-0.

That was a Japanese Micro-Ace model of a 42" gauge Porter that is preserved in Japan, imported by Atlas and painted in all manner of vintage US schemes on standard-gauge operations. 

This is the locomotive.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JGR_Class_7100#/media/File:Otaru_Museum,_steam_locomotive_H._K._Porter_No.672,_in_2008-06-13.jpg

If you look at the specs, you go....whaaaa???
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JGR_Class_7100

Drivers were 36", I measured mine at 42".    I thought this was a really tiny locomotive until I measured it out and found that the actual dimensions of the drivers, spacing, etc. matched my Lima 2-6-0 exactly - and that was a 'bigger' locomotive.   You put it side-by-side with the Atlas 2-6-0 and something doesn't look quite right in comparison....this was a narrow-gauge locomotive resized for 9mm track to an unknown scale, probably 1:150...if you say so.

Then put it beside the Atlas 4-4-0 and you'll hear accusations that the 4-4-0 was undersized.   Nope, 2-6-0 is oversized, particularly in the cab.    Not that it looks bad, but most people don't realize it is a Japanese narrow-gauge version of a US engine running on 9mm.   I've seen Atlas get really anal on some things, but this didn't bug them, and I rarely if ever hear any comments on the scale ratio of the 2-6-0 because it's small to begin with in comparison to much of anything else. 

I also got some sweet little Datsun 320 pickups from Tomytec, those look small no matter the ratio!  I imagine 1:150

[nkalanaga]

Peteski:  The British "loading gauge" is much smaller than North America, or Europe.  Their traditional standard gauge equipment isn't much bigger than large 3 ft gauge American.  But the track gauge is the same, and they were the first to use it.  The "Flying Scotsman" steam loco and train toured the US in the early 70s, at least partly under its own power.

New Zealand uses 42 inch gauge, and in the past has bought used British passenger cars for some of their lines.  Change the bogies and they fit just fine.  At least through the 70s British trains were very small for standard gauge.

[Rich_S]

I wonder how they came up with 1:148?

You hit the nail on the head with your explanation to Pete (The British "loading gauge" is much smaller than North America, or Europe) Even though the UK uses 56 1/2" (4'-8.5") gauge track, their locomotives are so much smaller than ours. During the early days of Treble O (000 name was precursor to N scale) they were having problems fitting dc motors into 1:152 scale locomotives, because of the small size of the boilers. The smallest the UK manufactures could go was 1:148 for Treble O gauge, hence British N gauge was born at 1:148 scale.

The 2mm crowd in the UK is using the 9.42mm track gauge to accurately represent 56 1/2" (4'-8.5") standard gauge track.

As it currently stands in the UK, The N gauge crowd using 1:148 scale with 9mm track are running their standard gauge trains on narrow gauge track.

[nkalanaga]

Rich:  Thank you!  I didn't realize there was that much difference between 1:148 and 1:152, but then, I've never thought about it.

What scale did Minitrix use for British models?  I have six Minitrix "English G.W. Hoppers", model #13632, bought in 1992.  I'd have more, but apparently they were already discontinued when i got them from Miami Trains.  In any case, with MT 905s and Nn3 trucks, they look right at home on my Montana narrow gauge, and easily fit the D&RGW's modern loading gauge.  They're actually smaller than the European standard gauge models I've repurposed.

[OldEastRR]

One last thing about the Tomy Tec bank before you guys go completely off gauge ... Does anybody have a pre-assembled one? Can that be disassembled, if it's snap-together?

[bill937ca]

One last thing about the Tomy Tec bank before you guys go completely off gauge ... Does anybody have a pre-assembled one? Can that be disassembled, if it's snap-together?

The Tomytec bank only comes in a clip together kit. You generally do not need glue. These kits are painted and weathered. On occasion I have taken my Tomytec buildings apart. Its much easier to do than with a O gauge Plasticville structure.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tomytec-Building-035-2-Bank-B-Community-Bank-Trust-1-150-N-scale-/361967989037?hash=item5446f9312d

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10377978