Comments on: Is there a standard size for model trains?

By: Engineer

Engineer — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:28:59 +0000

HO is the most popular size with about two thirds of hobbyists specializing in that scale. A typical train car is about 6-8" long in this scale

N scale is the next most popular with about 20% of hobbyists choosing that size. A typical train car is about 3 – 4" long in this scale.

The other scales are not as popular.
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By: k p

k p — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:41:59 +0000

See bmxcollections for the ‘generally’ available scales.

HO is very common. N – has become more popular over the last 10 years and is my preference for size. Those two are possibly the most common these days. In all you’re prob better off sticking to HO or N for "small but not tiny", commonly available scale.
References :

By: bmxcollections

bmxcollections — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:51:59 +0000

Z scale: Trains built to a ratio of 1:220. A 75-foot-long locomotive measures 4 inches long. The rails of the track are 6.5 mm apart.

N scale: Trains built to a ratio of 1:160. A 75-foot-long locomotive is 5 1/2 inches long. The rails of the track are spaced 9 mm apart.

HO scale: Trains built to a ratio of 1:87. A 75-foot-long locomotive is 10 1/2 inches long. The rails of the track are 16.5 mm apart.

S scale: Trains built to a ratio of 1:64. A 75-foot-long locomotive is 14 inches long. The rails of S gauge track are 7/8 inches apart.

O scale: Trains built to a ratio of 1:48. A 75-foot-long locomotive is 18 3/4 inches long. The rails of O gauge track are 1 1/4 inches apart.

G scale: These trains are built to a ratio of 1:22.5. A 75-foot-long locomotive is 40 inches long. G and other large scale trains run on gauge 1 track with rails 45 mm apart.
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its worth 2pts, is it worth 10? thanks

By: pknutson_sws

pknutson_sws — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:19:59 +0000

The standard scale for model trains is H.O. scale
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