Gauge

[Rollin Mayham]

I have seen on Youtube that New Bright trains will work on Bachmann Track along side Bachmann Big haulers. Do you think that these are the same gauge size? If so please explain why.

[Chastity]

Gauge is thecdistance between the rails.  For Bachmann 1:22.5 and 1:20.3
that is 45mm gauge.  Presumably New Bright also uses45mm track.
Scale of the equipment is something else altogether.

Narrow gauge @ 1:22.5 on 45mm = meter guage
Narrow gauge @1:20.3 on 45mm = 3ft gauge
Standarg gauge @ 1:32 on 45mm = standard guage

Many 45mm guage standard guage prototypes use a. scale. of 1:29. but run on
45mm track,which is a bit narrow to represent 4'8.5"

[armorsmith]

Rollin,

Let me see if I can clear the muddy waters of scale vs gauge.  All too often we add handles to things like "HO" gauge.  "HO" is not a scale or a gauge, it is a reference to the end result.

Scale is the relative size of the model relative to the prototype.  What we refer to as "G" scale is misleading.  There are a multitude of scales all balled up into this misnomer.  Scales that are loosely tossed into this category are, from smallest to largest, 1:32, 1:29, 1:24, 1:22.5, 1:20.3, and to a lesser extent 1:13.7.  These are all ratios of model to prototype. Any scale can run on whatever gauge track you wish to model.

Gauge is the distance between the rail heads. American standard gauge is 4'-8.5". The most commonly modeled US narrow gauge is 3'-0".  There are many other narrow gauges as well, the more popular of the others are 3'-6" (also known as Cape gauge) and 2'-0" gauge that ran in the US northeast.

Now I will add to the confusion relating the 45mm gauge track that large scale traverses to the 'Scale Gauge' it represents in each of the scales.  45mm will represent the following scaled gauge for each scale.

1:32 = 4'-8.69"
1:29 = 4'-3.38"
1:24 = 3'-6.52"
1:22.5 = 3'-3.86"
1:20.3 = 2'-11.96"
1:13.7 = 2'-0.27"

These numbers are rounded slightly as some scales are abbreviated in decimal length generating slight deviations from the theoretical numbers.  The basis for the metric conversions is 45mm divided by 24.4 (mm per inch) = 1.7716.....

Keep in mind that New Bright trains are geared for and aimed at the young children's market.  Very low manufacturing costs, keeping pricing to parents low so when the young child damages the trains beyond what that parent wishes to expend in repair costs (usually $0), they are tossed as any other broken toy in our disposable market place will be.  I do believe that New Bright trains will function on standard 45mm track, but there is where the similarity between New Bright and 'scale trains' ends.  I am by no means dissing New Bright, I have a small collection of them I acquired for bashing projects and for my style of railroading they are fine for that.

Happy Railroading!

Bob C.

[Rollin Mayham]

Thank you Bob C. for clearing that up.

[tac]

The basis for the metric conversions is 45mm divided by 24.4 (mm per inch) = 1.7716.....

Uh, you might like to check that figure, Sir.

I live in a metric country, and hereabouts there are 25.4 of those teeny millimeter things in an imperial inch.

tac
Ottawa Valley GRS

[armorsmith]

Sorry TAC, you are absolutely correct.  Fat fingered that one.   

[tac]

Sorry TAC, you are absolutely correct.  Fat fingered that one.   

Please, just tac, not TAC.  It's not an abbreviation, it's my name written in 'easy-to-say'.  Try 'Tadhg' and see what I mean.  'tac' is near enough for me.

tac