Gauge and Scale?

[tcjeffery]

I'm new to this and doing it for my grandson. Is there a book, or website that can help me understand the different gauge/scale etc. I want to buy our first train set for his birthday and want to ensure I am buying something that will be sustainable and I can add on to as time goes on.  I was looking at the Ringling Bros Bachman train but don't understand the size part.

[Hunt]

Click Here for information about gauge and scale.
Click Here for links to information for the questions you have not yet asked.

[Doneldon]

tcj-

Bachmann makes circus trains in three scales: HO, O and large scale. Which one is most appropriate for your grandson depends on his age. But before we get into that, let's clarify a couple of terms, gauge and scale. These two terms get used interchangeably but they have distinctly different meanings which are important as you look for a type/size of train to model.

Gauge refers to the distance between the rails. For real, full-size North American trains that means 56.5 inches, or 4'8.5". Scale, on the other hand, refers to the degree by which full-size trains are made smaller. This scaling can be anything from T-scale (1:450 scale with rails only 3mm -- about an eighth of an inch -- apart) to  trains which are large enough to ride, and are almost always used outside. Keep in mind that there are also full-size, 1:1 scale trains which run on tracks with rails less than 56.5 inches apart. Those are called narrow gauge trains because they are full size proportionally but don't run on full-width track. Narrow gauge was often used in the past for mining and logging railroads built in rough terrain. Narrow gauge equipment can handle tighter curves than regular trains so it was well suited to the rough and often temporary mountain railroads. There are several different sizes of full-scale narrow gauge trains, with tracks generally 24", 30", 36" or 42" apart. There were some odd, unique sizes also, like 27" gauge, but these four are by far the most common. Real narrow gauge equipment is smaller than its full-gauge equivalents but it is designed for use in the real world by full-size people. And things are different in other parts of the world where they measure in the metric system.

Although you won't see it modeled, there are also broad-gauge railroads. Russia, for example, had five-foot gauge trains which made it extremely inconvenient for the Germans to use existing railroads for supply lines when they invaded in the 20th Century.

HO is the smallest of the three Bachmann scales with circus trains. The rails are about 5/8" apart and an old-style 40' box car would be roughly six inches long. HO trains are built to a scale of 1:87. That is, the dimensions on the model are 1/87th of the size of the real item.

HO is, by far, the most popular size for model railroaders. As a consequence, or maybe as a result, HO has the largest selection of trains, track, structures, etc. It is small enough that you can pack quite a bit of railroading into a compact space. Narrow gauge HO trains are fairly common; most are either HOn30 or HOn3, meaning HO proportion on tracks which are either 30 scale inches or three feet scale apart. Some people do model two-foot gauge but that's kind of a sub-specialty. Except for European trains, HO uses direct current (DC). The high level of delicate detail on HO trains and the small size make them a questionable choice for younger children but most kids can do OK with them by about five or six years old.

O-scale is a little less than twice the size of HO. (In theory, O is twice the size of HO because HO originally stood for "half-O" but it never worked out exactly.) The rails for an O-gauge train are a little more than an inch apart. Most O-scale trains run on three-rail track with AC power. This simplifies wiring somewhat but at the cost of a very non-prototypical appearance. O was the king of model railroading many years ago but it was displaced by HO, probably because O is so large that it's a pretty tight fit in most homes. O-scale trains are excellent for small children because they are easily manipulated (putting on the track, working couplers and so on) and durably built.

Large scale is both a mishmash and a misnomer. No one can agree on just how many scales are encompassed by large scale, much less just what large scale means. I'll share my understanding with you. Large scale trains run on DC, two-rail track which is built to a proportion of 1:32. Thus, it is significantly larger than O-scale (1:48). However, there are many different scales which run on large scale track, from the 1:32 proportion on down to 1:13, and all points between. For the trains which are larger than 1:32, the track is essentially narrow gauge track of different proportions depending on the exact scale being run. Bachmann has sold 1:24 or 1:25 scale trains in the past; all or most of what they sell now is 1:20.3. The large Marklin trains you have certainly seen are 1:24. Many large-scale trains run outdoors; some use battery power and radio control rather than track power. Some even use internal combustion or live steam engines with radio control. Most large scale trains are quite robust. Consequently, they stand up to little hands quite well and are easy to manipulate.

There are several more gauges and scales than these, larger, smaller and between. However, Bachmann only makes circus trains in HO, O and large scale. They make N-gauge trains (1:160) but not circus trains that size as far as I know.

I hope this has clarified scale and gauge for you, and given you some idea about the relationship between scale and children. Keep in mind that there is a good measure of opinion in what I wrote about children and scale; you'll unquestionably find people with good experiences with small children and HO trains.
                                                                                                                                                                                         -- D

[Kevin Strong]

How old is your grandson? That's going to go a long way to determine which scale may be suitable. While HO is certainly the most popular scale, it may be a bit small and delicate for the under 8 crowd. My son's 5, and while he's certainly capable of putting HO trains on the track, he's not quite grasped the concept of "handrails can break off." If you do go the HO route, consider one of the cheaper sets where the details aren't nearly as fragile as they are on the higher-end stuff. But--quite frankly--unless you're going to be with him whenever he's running them or you don't mind getting boxes of parts that need to be glued back together, I'd probably steer away from something that small if he's that young.

O scale (particularly Lionel--and other--3-rail) is great for the 4 - 8 crowd and also indoors. I remember playing with my dad's Lionel stuff as early as when I was 3 or 4. The cars are fairly robust, and the track is easy to assemble. Lots of used stuff on the market as well, so you can do it fairly inexpensively.

I'm slightly biased towards large scale, having grown up with it since I was 5 (along with O and HO, mind you, but the large scale ultimately won out.) It's big and pretty durable. My 5 year old is great with the Piko large scale set that runs around our tree. He has no troubles taking the equipment on or off the track, and the details on this particular set are durable enough to where he's not going to send them to oblivion. Bachmann's "Li'l Big Hauler" line is also designed specifically for the younger crowd. On the other hand, large scale--especially indoors--takes up a fair amount of space. The "small" circle of track in large scale is 4' diameter, so if he's going to be playing with this stuff, he's going to need a fairly open space to do so. In fairness he'll need somewhat similar space with HO and O, though the curves are a bit smaller. (3' diameter or so.) But the trains are also large enough that he can put stuff in the cars (action figures make great passengers!) or Lego hopper car loads, etc.

The higher-end large scale stuff can certainly get a bit pricey, but I don't know that unless he's a teenager, he's quite ready for the high-end stuff anyway.

Later,

K

[Doneldon]

tcj-

I forgot to mention the Thomas the Tank Engine lines. Several manufacturers make these in a variety of scales from HO on up. There are also Thomas trains which run on wooden or plastic tracks and have battery motors (or no motors at all). I built two such layouts for my grandsons and will do another this spring, assuming we actually have one, for my youngest grandson who will be three in May. Please note that there is one wooden track Thomas line which is hugely expensive and a second one which makes sense to buy.
                                                                                                                                                                                      -- D

[tcjeffery]

Great information! He is 6, and autistic so his interest in trains borders obsessive. I have enough of the wooden Thomas track to run throughout my house and I think it is time to move towards something that will be sustainable as he gets older. He has started to spend lots of time watching YouTube videos of home hobbyist's amazing track layouts and the Bachman site has become a favorite for him to gaze through.

Thank you again for all your help and I've got my order in for the 0 gauge circus train.

Tamara