Hi,
am planning to build a 1/35 scale dio and would like to put up a rail track with a locomotive in it. Which scale of the rail and loco should I use for 1/35 scale dio?

Thanks,
Sudeep

Hi unfourtunatley there is no comparable gauge to 1/35 in the railway side of the hobby. In the UK 0 Gauge is roughly comparable to 1/48, the next gauge up is G Gauge which is equivalent to 1/24.

Remember in the railway modelling world gauge (width of track) is used rather than scale. Thankfully more and more model companies are producing raliway subjects in 1/35. Try trumpeter and Dragon for German rail subjects. There is also a specialist resin company producing russian and german subjects. Their name excapes me at the moment but Im sure somebody else will know.

Thanks Jason

Jason I have to disagree with you G gauge is 1:29th Scale not 1:24th.

I think the info below should help you sort out the closest Sacle and Gauge to 1:35th.

Historically there are broadly two main groups:

"Standard gauge", based on a 4ft 8½in prototype.

"Narrow gauge", being any railway with a track gauge less than “standard gauge”.




STANDARD GAUGE

00 Gauge
4mm to 1ft, 1:76 scale
16.5mm gauge (inside track width)

A British system, which is very well provided for, with a wide range of ready-to-run models, kits and accessories. Although it remains the most popular gauge, technically it suffers from a track gauge that is 15% under scale (18.3mm would be correct)

1 Gauge
10mm to 1ft, 1:30.5 scale
44.45 gauge (track width)

This is almost the biggest scale used for standard (and narrow) gauge models. Some enthusiasts prefer to use 3/8in to 1ft, which gives a more accurate scale/gauge ratio. Most models would have to be scratch-built, although there are some very impressive, but expensive, ready-to-run models available in Continental Europe.

0 Gauge
7mm to 1ft, 1:43.5 scale
32mm gauge (inside track width)

Once seen to be the preserve of those with the engineering skills to scratch build. This scale has become more popular due to the availability of a large range of quality locomotive and rolling stock kits. Technically the inside track width of 32mm is 3% under scale, it should be 32.958mm.

ScaleSeven
7mm to 1ft, 1:43.5 scale
32.95mm gauge (inside track width)

A new refinement using exact wheel profiles and an exact scale/gauge ratio, hence giving greater accuracy.

S Gauge
4.76mm to 1ft, 1:64 scale
22.2mm gauge (track width)

A near perfect scale/gauge ratio, falling between 0 and 00. Little commercial support outside the USA means scratch building or adapting almost everything.

EM Gauge
4mm to 1ft, 1:76 scale
18.2mm gauge (inside track width)

An attempt to make the 00 layout track gauge more realistic. At 18.2mm it still falls short of the ideal 18.83mm, but was felt by those involved to be near enough.

P4 Gauge
4mm to 1ft, 1:76 scale
18.83mm gauge (inside track width)

As EM is still slightly under scale, P4 was established. Locomotive and rolling stock kits are available with the option of an underframe plus wheels to fit this gauge.

HO Gauge
3.5mm to 1ft, 1:87 scale
16.5mm gauge (inside track width)

This is the major gauge used outside the UK. At 3.5mm to 1ft, the track gauge at 16.5mm is virtually exact to scale for the standard gauge. When using this gauge it must not be confused with 00 gauge, HO gauge is almost 15% smaller. One can run HO gauge rolling stock on 00 gauge layouts, the track gauges both being 16.5mm, but the difference in scale will be very obvious.

TT Gauge
3mm to 1ft, 1:101.6 scale
12mm gauge (inside track width)

This gauge originated in the USA, and was also produced at 2.5mm to 1ft, 1:120 scale. Enthusiasts using this scale need specialist support through the Three Millimetre Society.

N Gauge
2mm to 1ft, 1:148 scale in UK
9mm gauge (inside track width)

This gauge is half the size of 00 and therefore you should in theory be able to lay four times as much track. This is becoming a very popular gauge with a full range of locomotives, rolling stock and accessories. In Europe and North America the scale of 1:160 is used for N gauge models, running on 9mm gauge track.

2mm Scale
2mm to 1ft, 1:152.3 scale
9.42mm gauge (inside track width)

The purists of N gauge developed this scale. It is slightly more accurate than the mainstream scale of 1:148.

Z Gauge
1.5mm to 1ft, 1:200 scale
6.5mm gauge (inside track width)

This is a commercial gauge produced by Marklin. It is relatively expensive and specialist.

Pete

35th scale.

Adam

PH

Standard gauge and narrow gauge would be applicable to the UK but gauges varied across the world. UK standard gauge is actually narrower than some European gauges. The problem with model railway gauges is that as I said they dont refer to a scale. The most popular gauge in the UK is OO which is approximately 1:76. The actual vehicles for want of a better word are that scales but the gauge is not scale, hence why some modellers have adopted gauges like EM and P4. The scale is still 1:76 but the gauge is a more accurate representation. Its why many modellers purchase ready to run stock in 00 and then covert it to EM/P4.

Its also more confusing still when you consider that 009 gauge represents narrow gauge at 1:76 scale.

Sudeep,
This company LZmodels has some 1/35 scale railroad stuff?
http://www.lzmodels.com/Home.html I hope this helps.
Tom

Tom

LZ those were the people I was thinking of!!!!

Here's another manufacturer of 1/35th scale railroad kits :

http://baluardmodels.com/35-modelos.htm

HTH

Frenchy

Currently use 1/35th scale static Trumpeter BR52 and Gondola models for Standard gauge rail. A WIP scratchbuilt 1/35th scale Diema body on a Bachman On30 Trolley mech for the Narrow gauge (Feldbahnen) 600mm railway. HO gauge track ( 16.5mm) works out to about 577.5mm/22.74 inches in 1/35th scale. It's close enough to be useable and I don't have to fiddle about with mechs too much nor the trackwork.
Cheers from the Heart of North America
Will

Sorry forgot. I meant it's close enough to 600mm/24 inch Feldbahnen gauge to be quite serviceable. Modelling a field interchange between Standard gauge and Narrow gauge.

Cheers
Will

p.s. There are at least three 1/35th scale railway sites.
slimrails.com
1_35scalenarrowgauge and
FS32NGModelrail
the latter two on yahoo, along with narrowmilitaryrail, also Yahoo, which is not exclusively 1/35th but mostly WWI and WWII with some contemporary material
Cheers
Will

Thanks guys

1:35 Scale and Railway Modeling

Being a belated response to the “Rail road scale info required” Diorama thread of September, 2011.

I found this old thread and it has so many misstatements that I felt compelled to issue some corrections, clarification, and additional info. I am by no means an expert, but believe that I do have accurate info on the subject. Those disagreeing are invited to let me know the specifics.

This might also be described as “more than you ever wanted to know”, but you’re free to read as much or as little as you wish, and investigate or ignore the links.

> Which scale of the rail and loco should I use for 1/35 scale dio?

Roger said in his “Outside Stalingrad” thread: “Railway modellers often get little respect as scale integrity tends to be weak which is a mortal sin in military modeling …”

This makes the obvious answer 1:35 – unless you’re primarily a railway modeler, which is my background, along with architecture and sculpture.

> “In the UK 0 Gauge is roughly comparable to 1/48, the next gauge up is G Gauge which is equivalent to 1/24.”

Balderdash. To begin with, O scale is 1:43.5 in the UK (which is why HO, or Half-O, is 1:87 scale), 1:45 in other parts of Europe, and 1:48 in the US. There are also other scales in-between; see below.

> “Remember in the railway modelling world gauge (width of track) is used rather than scale.”

Again untrue. “Almost” all the time railway models are defined by the scale (proportion to the prototype) followed by the track gauge, which can be considered as the distance between the inside of the two rails. This second component is not given for Standard Gauge (4’ 8 ½” or 1435 mm), which is the default in this case, but there are many narrow gauge and broad gauge prototype and model train scale/gauge combinations where this is necessary for clarification. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_gauge

One inconsistency is that this is most often expressed as the prototype distance in feet (less commonly inches) in the US and elsewhere, and millimeters for mainland Europe. However, there are some instances when it is given as the model track gauge.

The reason I put quotes around almost above is that there are two exceptions that I’m aware of. Gauge 1 (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_gauge )
exclusively represents standard gauge trains modeled at 1:32 (or 3/8”) scale running on 45 mm (actually 44.5, or 1.75” track). There is also historically a nearly-equivalent 10 mm scale in the UK, but it seems to be losing out to 1:32, such that some 10 mm manufacturers are producing all new models in 1:32 only. The second exception – and this is where things get really confusing - is G Gauge (vs. scale), which also happens to mean 45 mm track. There are many complexities around G gauge, which I’ll try to sort out shortly.

> “I have to disagree with you G gauge is 1:29th Scale not 1:24th.”

This is part of the confusion, and I may as well delve into this now. The Wiki article on this isn’t really comprehensive, so I’ll try to summarize the history and situation. Model trains have a longer history than you may think, and this site will provide some of it, although biased toward O scale:
http://www.o-gauge.com/Model_Train_History.htm
Part of the history is that “O” is actually a corruption of “0” gauge, as initially (from the 19th century) the gauges were defined as 1-6, with 0 added when technology allowed such a relatively small (for the era) gauge. 0 is still used in continental Europe, but not the UK. My earlier comment on gauge not being used to define model railways is because that hasn’t generally been the case for well over half a century - if not a full one.

Before we get into the complexities of G, I’ll provide a link to a reasonably complete listing of model railroad scales used in North America and Europe, if not worldwide. I’ve updated it within the past year to correct some errors, and add relatively new and/or specialist scales:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_modelling_scales
I should also mention it was obvious that some entries were fairly ancient, based on the referenced suppliers, but I left them alone so long as they were generally correct.

Anyone who looked at the Gauge 1 article linked above will see that it was standardized in 1909. In 1968 the German Lehman company introduced Lehmann Gross Bahn (LGB) trains, specifically intended to be run outside. Although some think the “G” is for garden, it actually represents the “Gross” - or big - aspect. Mr. Lehmann initially offered trains representing meter-gauge prototypes of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Being a smart man, he decided to gauge them for the 45 mm track already installed in some gardens, both in the UK and continental Europe. This is why “proper” G scale is 22.5.

Over time, LGB and garden railways became increasingly popular, and models were introduced by multiple manufacturers of American and European standard gauge trains. However, since they were designed to run on the same 45 mm track, they clearly weren’t in 22.5 scale. Some manufacturers called their models 1:32 scale, although frankly there’s a lot of scale slop in much of what is called “G” and runs on 45 mm track. However, some American customers felt that their standard gauge models didn’t possess a sufficiently greater mass than the narrow gauge models, so a few manufacturers started producing 1:29 scale trains to meet this market.

Meanwhile, 3’ prototypes are by far the most popular narrow gauge trains in the US, with some of the original lines still running tourist trains in Colorado – where many of these were built as temporary lines to serve the mining and lumber industries. To give an idea of the primitive nature of much of this, some of the logging lines were “pole roads”, with the track consisting of suitable bare tree trunks nailed to tree “ties; sleepers for those in the UK” and the wheels having double flanges to discourage derailment. These modelers started grumbling about their trains being built at an unrealistic scale just to fit on 45 mm track. Roughly a decade ago 1:20.3 scale (known as F, or Fn3 to be accurate) was born to accurately depict 3’ prototype trains running on 45 mm track. Some of these modelers, with lots of land and money, are now very slowly developing a market for standard gauge trains in 1:20.3 scale, which has a quite large 70.6 mm track gauge.

Those interested can visit:
http://tinyurl.com/cknzmaq
to see an engine that is possibly approaching Roger’s Dora in size.
Additional info on the “G scale” confusion is at:
http://www.ironcreekshops.com/whatisfscale.html

Meanwhile, back in England, guys with 45 mm track in their garden who enjoyed narrow gauge (along with those having 32 mm track and modeling 2’ gauge prototypes), developed 16 mm scale (1:19). See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16_mm_scale_model_trains

Lastly, starting in the US but spreading, other guys wanted to model the “Maine two-footers” and sub 3’ industrial railways on their 45 mm track, and 1:13.7 or 7/8ths scale was born.

I see that I’ve left out 1:24 or ½” scale, officially designated by “H”, but far less popular than the others. However - it may be in with young girls who want to run trains with their dollhouses.

Some folks have resolved this mess by lumping all of these together as “large scale”.

Of course, then there’s the guys who wanted to run large trains on skinny track, and Gn15 was created, representing 15” gauge – of which there is still an operating prototype in the English Lake District.

Back to the original thread,

> Historically there are broadly two main groups:

"Standard gauge", based on a 4ft 8½in prototype.

"Narrow gauge", being any railway with a track gauge less than “standard gauge”.

This ironically leaves out the broad gauges, and the Soviet 5’ gauge was definitely an engineering-logistics issue in WW2. Broad gauge was historically used on some major UK railways, and some may model it, but it doesn’t have the wide appeal that narrow gauge does. There is a rich history of how and why narrow gauge railways developed to meet local conditions, including the 2’ trench railways of WW1, but you’ll have to research that yourself.

> The most popular gauge in the UK is OO which is approximately 1:76. The actual vehicles for want of a better word are that scales but the gauge is not scale, hence why some modellers have adopted gauges like EM and P4. The scale is still 1:76 but the gauge is a more accurate representation.

For complex reasons, British OO scale models run on 16.5 mm track, which is the same that HO scale (1:87) runs on. Many compromises have been made over the years, and there are sub-groups of modelers in every “scale” who have insisted on higher-quality standards -probably not unlike those military modelers who initially created the PE aftermarket.

> Currently use 1/35th scale static Trumpeter BR52 and Gondola models for Standard gauge rail. A WIP scratchbuilt 1/35th scale Diema body on a Bachman On30 Trolley mech for the Narrow gauge (Feldbahnen) 600mm railway. HO gauge track ( 16.5mm) works out to about 577.5mm/22.74 inches in 1/35th scale. It's close enough to be useable and I don't have to fiddle about with mechs too much nor the trackwork.

Narrow gauge is the most likely arena for 1:35 modelers who want scale-accurate non-static trains, while 1:48 is already a major model railway scale – with continental variations as mentioned. Those with some scale flexibility (few - based on Roger’s comment), could consider re-gauging plastic 1:35 wagons to 1:32, and using appropriate axles, wheels and couplings. Engines are a bit stickier, although it might be possible to use some 1:32 or even “G” motor chassis (short diesel ones are commonly known as “bricks” due to their shape), although wheel size can be an issue in the latter case. Another problem would be fitting a 1:22.5, 1:29 or 1:32 scale 45 mm gauge power chassis in a 1:35 plastic superstructure; steam engines are probably out of the question, but the Trumpeter WR360 and Baluard Kof 1 are possibilities for conversion.

> p.s. There are at least three 1/35th scale railway sites.
slimrails.com
1_35scalenarrowgauge and
FS32NGModelrail

The first of these is actually a 7/8ths scale site, and the second is for all intents and purposes dead (22 posts since May, and much of it spam). The last is narrow gauge, and has many skilled and inventive modelers on it, so could be helpful in the area of technique and/or the railway modeling world.

I didn’t intend for this to get so long, but as I mentioned at the top there seemed to be a lot of misinformation out there.

Charles Hansen 12/17/12