Understanding Model Railroad Scales
How old you are can play a big part in the trains you’ll select. Very young youngsters may be fascinated by electric trains, but they certainly won’t be able to set them up and run them. A lot of people think that children shouldn’t be given electric trains until they are nine years old or older. In my opinion think 6 is a good age to transition from toy trains and battery operated trains to real electric trains.
I recommend GeoTrax to a lot of people with young children since the curves are designed so that no matter how a child assembles them the track pieces will always line up. It’s the only product I found that had this capability. With GeoTrax children can easily learn about laying out railroad track without the frustration of having to redo sections of it because the pieces don’t fit properly.
Electric Train Scales
When deciding on a scale, its significant to remember, that the larger the number in the proportions the smaller the model will be. Case in point, HO is 1:87.1, or about half the size of O gauge at 1:48.
When referring to a narrow gauge railroad, it’s normal to see n3 or in the case of O scale there’s “n3″, “n2″ & “n30″ The “N” refers to narrow, and the trailing number refers to the gauge (the width) of the tracks. So, HOn3 would be HO scale, 3′ narrow gauge On30 would be O scale, 30″ narrow gauge; On2 would be O scale, 2′ narrow gauge. I hope that helps you to better understand this. Does this make it easier to understand?
(more support – to less). It doesn’t mean the less common or less popular scales or not as good. scales have a larger base, thus making it somewhat easier to find.
Having adequate space is a concern when choosing a scale. It’s important to pick a scale that will work well in the area you have. It’s not very smart to choose O scale, if you only have a 1′ wide shelf to use set it up.
You can find lots of layout plans online Model railroaders’ home pages and model electric train manufacturers websites are good places to look. If your looking to buy a model electric train, parts and supplies have a look at http://electrictrain.org/.