Scale vs Gauge in Model Railroading

To those new to the hobby of model railroading the concepts of scale and gauge can be confusing. A good starting point is to consider what happens in full-size “real” railroads.

Scale vs Gauge in the Real World

If you are looking at either modern rolling stock or rolling stock from the 1800’s all such items are full-size prototypes of themselves. They are not a model so there is no concept of scale involved. Depicted mathematically, all such rolling stock is 1:1. The same goes for any other items in the real world such as buildings, highways, motor vehicles or people.

If you are standing beside a mainline railroad track in North America, Great Britain, most of Europe, most of Australia and parts of Asia and South America the gauge of the track will be 4 ft. 8 ½ in. (1,435 mm.) measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails. This has come to be known as “standard” gauge. If you are standing beside a mainline railroad track in Russia, the Baltic States, Georgia or Ukraine the gauge of the track will be wider at 4 ft. 11 27/32 in. (1,520 mm.). Major railways in Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Burma have track gauges of 3 ft. 3 3/8 in. (1 metre).

Regardless of the gauge of the track, all objects on the track or beside the track (people, buildings, etc.) are the same scale (1:1) because we are dealing with the real world. In other words, your height is the same (the same “scale”) regardless of the gauge of track you are standing beside.

Scale vs Gauge in Model Railroading

The reason that this topic becomes more confusing in model railroading is because not only are we “scaling down” real world objects to smaller dimensions but the gauge of the track is also scaled down but not always in the same proportion as the scale of the objects. Attempting to unravel the history of various scales and gauges over time can be very confusing. Using the standards of the National Model Railroad Association, following is a table showing scales and gauges. 

The most popular scale in use in the model railroading hobby is HO followed by N. There is no right or wrong scale. The decision on which scale to model can be influenced by one or more of the following factors:

• A person’s age and/or eyesight – it is not as easy to work with smaller items, especially when it comes time to build or make modifications to equipment and buildings and even to put rolling stock on the track.
• The available space – much more track can be modelled in a given area in N-scale compared with HO-scale. O-scale is a very nice gauge because it enables highly detailed models, but it also requires a much larger space than HO. If I had the space, I would probably model in O. I once modelled in G-scale (garden railway) and very much enjoyed it but, except in rare circumstances, these are usually found outside. I no longer have an outdoor space, having moved to a condominium a few years ago.
• The available budget – generally, but not always, the larger the rolling stock and buildings the more expensive they become.
• The availability of commercial products – since HO-scale is the most common in the hobby it stands to reason that there is a huge amount of commercial product available in this scale. This leads to a certain amount of price competition and to a wide range of qualities and quantities. Modelling in one of the rarer scales means that you will need to scratch build a lot more of your rolling stock and buildings (not a bad thing but be prepared for this if you are venturing into one of the more uncommon scales).

Winnipeg Mega Train Show 2019

Eight members of the Echo Valley Railroad Guild from Regina, Saskatchewan attended the Winnipeg Mega Train Show 2019 held at the Red River Exhibition in Winnipeg, Manitoba on the weekend of September 28 and 29, 2019. There were three from the Mainliners N-scale group and five from the Free-mo group. In addition, several family members participated. It was another very good show. The cool and often wet weather helped increase the attendance. As was the case in 2018, we were delighted with the hospitality extended to us and enjoyed spending time meeting show guests, shopping at the many vendor tables and taking in the modelling skills of fellow show participants.

Here are a few pictures taken at the show:

 

Adjustable Module Legs

One of the most aggravating aspects of setting up a modular model railroad at train shows is the need to adjust the module legs. This is necessary to ensure that the tops of the modules line up and are reasonably level, compensating for any unevenness of the floor. I have experienced this at venues with very smooth and level floors (such as a curling rink) as well as at venues that have very uneven flooring.

This process usually entails a lot of crawling around on the floor with a wrench or screwdriver or, if you are lucky, bending over with a screwdriver if the leg adjustments can be accessed from above. Needless to say, this is quite hard on the knees and back. The more uneven is the floor, the harder it is on one's body and the longer it takes.

I have had the pleasure of participating in a few events at which members of the Spokane, WA Free-mo group were present. I noticed that they had devised a couple of different systems by which their module legs could be adjusted from a standing position. Once of these systems involved the use of nested PVC pipes which have an internal threading mechanism. To adjust, one simply reaches just below the top of the module which is at hip-height and turning the top portion of the PVC pipe to raise or lower the leg. The other system consists of a threaded rod which has at its top end a nut. Using a cordless drill equipped with a socket wrench one can raise or lower the leg with ease.

As I see it, the advantages and disadvantages of these systems are as follows:

Adjustable PVC Pipe Legs

Advantages

• Easy to adjust
• Easy to explain to others how to use

Disadvantages

• The legs are quite heavy
• The existing legs that our Free-mo group uses would need to be scrapped
• The PVC pipes are fairly expensive
• One of the older gentlemen from Spokane pointed out that his grip is not what it was when he was younger, making it difficult for him to turn the PVC pipe

Threaded Rod System

Advantages

• Easy to adjust
• Easy to explain to others how to use
• Can easily be added to existing wooden legs
• Are reasonably cheap (about C$ 6.75 per leg)
• Easy to build
• Not difficult to adjust if one’s grip strength is weak

Disadvantages

•  None that I can think of

Having concluded that the threaded rod system is the way to go, I retrofitted the legs on my Aspen Free-mo module with the new system. At the next train show where our Free-mo group participated I demonstrated the simplicity and benefits of my module legs. Everyone in our group agreed that it would be a good idea to install these on all our modules. I undertook to install them on everyone’s modules except for one where the owner elected to install these himself. The reason I volunteered to do the work was that it seemed to me that any benefits from the adjustable legs is not in having them installed on only one or two modules but having them installed on every module. Human nature being what it is, leaving this to each member to do himself might have resulted in some procrastinating while others got on with getting it done.

There is an idiom sometimes attributed to Cervantes in The History of Don Quixote, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” At the train show following the installation of the adjustable legs on all modules our group estimated we saved at least 45 minutes of setup time but, better yet, our knees and backs were thanking us.

I greatly appreciate the creativity of Alan Cunningham and Jerry Barsness of the Spokane, WA Free-mo group and for taking the time to explain their great ideas.