What is N-Scale?

[nscale1964]

I look at it this way. I have been in N-SCALE/GAUGE since 1966 and still in it and will be until I die. If you measure any freight car or locomotive in ever made and will be made almost everything detail on them is out of scale (example.Air horn I measured of an old F7 was measured at its thinnest point 2 3/4 inches = .0171875 inches in N-Scale/Gauge or a rivet is 1/2 inch= .0015625). I dont know anyone that is going to measure everything to make sure it is perfectly accurate so FXMBBVR to figure out what we call it or say who is right or wrong kinda obsolete.

[nscale1964]

I did forget one thing that was a great summery on what N-scale/Gauge is.

[nkalanaga]

thomasjmdavis:  Shinohara may have made code 70, but the stuff I had was code 60, and worked well enough with Railcraft/ME code 55.  It wouldn't be surprising if they made both.

[Nato]

                Con Cor sold , carried Shinohara it was Code 70 I purchased two switches to use on a four foot N Trak module, they worked fine joined to Code 80. I never thought about getting any more my first none Lone Star layout was Atlas Code 80 with Trix and Atlas switches. It would be a good code to have today. Nate Goodman (Nato). 

[nkalanaga]

ME makes code 70 track, and made #6 turnouts.  Whether the turnouts are still available I have no idea.

[mplsjct]

ME code 70 turnouts are still made, I believe Model Train Stuff received a supply of them about a year ago, or so.

And, if anyone is interested in Shinohara turnouts, a LHS in St Paul has a bunch of them.

[brill27mcb]

I think that George is just using TRW as a sounding board to evaluate whether that writeup is accurate enough to be used on the TroveStar  website.

If his audience is just "'Muricans" then it's probably OK. For a wider, global audience, it's totally wrong to say "Although it may be mistakenly called N-Gauge..."

The knee-jerk instinct to correct  the word "gauge" to "scale" that we so commonly exhibit in the U.S. is a byproduct of decades of brainwashing by Model Railroader magazine, dating back to when they were trying to differentiate "serious model railroading" from "playing with Lionel."

The only thing that truly spans the "N" scene worldwide is the "N" gauge.

Rich K.

[peteski]

If his audience is just "'Muricans" then it's probably OK. For a wider, global audience, it's totally wrong to say "Although it may be mistakenly called N-Gauge..."

Well, there is no argument that "gauge" is a anything else but a measurement of the distance between the rails. N-gauge indisputably indicates a distance of 9mm between the tracks.   But the models riding on the N-gauge track can be several different scales.  Do we call them all N-scale?  You have to admit that things aren't as straightforward as if every model running on N-gauge track was scaled 1:160.

[robert3985]

  N is a scale that isn't Large Enuff for Reliable Steam Engines.
     Spikre
       

Size, or scale doesn't have anything to do with "Reliable Steam Engines".  I've been running N-scale steam extremely reliably on my modules and layouts since the early 1980's.  Sure, some of them didn't run very good straight out of the box (neither did some of my diesels), but putting larger, out-of-scale items on steam engine drive trains to make the important parts larger never entered my mind when tuning them up, and rightly so. 

The statement that N-scale isn't "Large Enuff" for reliability is totally specious, and is a common, unfounded criticism HOers in particular like to use to support their preference for having invested in an inferior, larger scale.  Unfortunately, this attitude appears occasionally with N-gaugers too, who have had a bad experience early on with an inferior model steam locomotive, and so think that ALL N-scale steam engines run poorly.

Just sayin'....        

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[nkalanaga]

There are quite a few HOn3 steam locos that aren't any bigger than an N scale road engine, and they seem to run fine.  At least no one complains about them...

[coosvalley]

for having invested in an inferior, larger scale.
Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

Troll level-1000!

Still, this comment made me snicker! 

[Spikre]

 
  N,
   since most HOn3 Steamers are brass,they get a free pass,until
  You own 1,then find out its can of worms.
  talk to some about MDC Steamers,or the 3 truck Shay in HOn3.
   FWIW,have never owned any HOn3 Brass anythings,but have
  run thru many HO brass Steamers and Diesels.
  maybe should try a Turbine or an Electric ?
  always admired/enjoyed watching the PRR/PC E44/50s on trains.
  and FWIW-2:
  have been in N since 1969,although of late O is the second scale
  now,N is 3rd.
       Spikre
         

[nkalanaga]

Actually, I have an MDC HOn3 2-8-0.  Never did have more than three feet of hastily hand-laid track for it, just enough to see if it ran after I put it together, but it did run quite nicely.  It's in the bottom drawer of my dresser, along with two HOn3 freight cars.

The track was pulled up and recycled, as all it was was two pieces of rail on a length of 1x2, no ties or ballast.