Hi everyone, i am new to N scale and wonder what the width of roads are in N scale. i am planning on putting a small street of buildings with a road going out to the country. what is the width of an average street in inches?
typically between 1.5" to 2.5". 1.5" is 20 scale feet, so that would be a 2 lane, with no shoulder (a one lane road, of course, can be narrower). 3" is 40 scale feet, which is a wide road with parking on both sides. Of course, depends on how you want everything to fit, and the amount of space you have
Just an answer for someone without a name.... The width of real roads divided by 160.arghh: You are welcome, nonametoday
You could probably get away with 1 1/8" in width if you are pressed for space. Set two N scale autos side by side with a small space between and measure. You could selectively compress to 1" of you don't have cars side by side and don't mind doing w/o shoulders.
A "standard" US lane is 12 feet wide. Some country roads and older highways will have less, some superhighways a little more. And shoulders on either side run from zero on up.
1" = 13.33 feet in n scale. I have a metal ruler that is 1" wide. This makes making roads a breeze. Anyone who says they can tell my roads ...or lanes...are 13.33' wide and not 12'...from a couple feet away...needs to get a life...LOL .
Then there is another way to looks at road width. To me making road widths 'prototypical' on a layout is visually disturbing. I always make my roads 3-4 feet narrower. This narrowing allows the observer to feel comfortable and not think they are looking at runway at the local airport. If you must build sidewalks then they should be a smidge narrower as well. m2cw. Jim
I used 7/8"--and no one can tell it's a bit too narrow. Actually I use 24mm these days. 2mm in N scale is almost exactly one foot.
