G Scale questions

Largescale is a mess of different scales all running on the same gauge 45mm track.
G-scale is the original LGB 1:22.5 scale, representing European metre narrow gauge. 1:24 is 3'6" ng as run in Australian, NZ and Sth Africa.
1:32 is correct Gauge #1 for standard gauge, MTH and Marklin makes some models in this size.
1:20.3 is ng3' US. Bachmann is making excellent models in this correct ng scale.
1:29 is nothing at all, it's a compromise to make standard gauge locos visually compatible with the original LGB stuff. If you are a scale purist and want to run US prototype your options are F scale1:20.3ng or 1:32 Gauge#1.
If you find all of this confusing, join the club. Worst thing ever happened to LS was Aristo picking a wrong scale-gauge combination when they entered the market, then USA trains copied them. They both make beautiful models but they aren't scale models, only toys, because they are not to correct scale for the track. Similar situation to the Brits running OO trains 1:72 on HO 1:87 track.
However, like not agreeing with someone else's politics, the 1:29 crowd tend to get very upset when the scale-gauge error is pointed out so I have donned my flame suit.

 

Nowadays I think the " G " just really refers to garden railroading. Like already mentioned, the problem is that just about every mfgr produces a different scale - and to compound the problem, most of the different couplers won't mate with the others unless you utilize the ugly looking hook & loop. Talk about needing standards!

 

Well if I can stick my nose in here. I model in G and work with scale one for the most part. I’m working with USA trains and Bachman equipment. With prices the way they are I’m running mostly the Bachman. I have 3 Bachman steam and one USA diesel. This also helped to develop my railroads plan and its reason for being here. To make the long story short, the TC. Was once a short line that dealt in coal and other ores and goods that the ore miners needed to mine the ores. As time went by the Great Northern came along and swallowed up the TC. And then in time the Great Northern was swallowed up by the Southern only to become a part of the Norfolk Southern. Then In the 1990’s the Norfolk Southern was trimming some of the less branch lines and the TC got its indemnity back. The TC makes a living moving some coal but its big revenue comes in the form of tourist trains and serving a few local industries. NOW I know that a lot of this is not relevant to the topic except for the fact that I came up with the fake history plan of my railroad to mach the kind of equipment that I could see I was going to be able to afford and what I already had on hand.

 

You have to treat the folks who poo-poo large scale models with all the contempt they so richly deserve. Most are in HO scale and have a brain to match.

These guys get pretty critical of the 1/32 - 1/29 thing in conversations, and in print, but the truth is I've often had these rivet counters operate trains at my place and none of them - none of them - can tell one scale from the other.

After 10 years in HO and 20+ in N scale I finally found a size I can get my hands on. A size in which earths gravity actually has some effect. And the models are beautiful because there just aren't the obvious restrictions that small "toys" present.

And cost isn't as much a factor as some would suggest because there isn't that tendency to just collect all the stuff on the market. Then ***** about it the whole time. I have a 1400 sq ft basement, and a 350 sq ft yard, fully sceniced, and I can operate realistically with three engines and about 40 cars. Buildings are scratched built from actual plans and therefor none of them have that awful "out of the box" look that you see on small scale layouts.

I use radio control and haven't had to clean track more than once in two years. As soon as I get the new batteries in I won't have to clean them - ever. And on-board SOUND? When you have to wait 'till the train has passed before you can talk to a fellow operator you know you've got it right. Try THAT in small scale.

Head to the local hobby shop, a good one, and get your hands on a real engine. Pick it up. In the meantime, check out www.wvrr.ca and join the club.

Cheers

 

yeah, there is a slight difference in the scaling of G Gauge. 1:20.3 is meant more for narrow gauge modeling (a la Bachmann). 1:29 is much closer to the American standard gauge of 4' 8.5". 1:32 is generally used for European meter gauge. I admit that I'm new to this board, and hope that my new-brakeman status doesn't bring upon flaming.

 

"1:32 is generally used for European meter gauge"
Not a flame, William, but that's an incorrect statement.
1:32 is the correct scale to represent standard gauge on 45mm track, ie 4'8.5", not meter 3'3".
1:32 scale, meter gauge would run on slightly smaller than 'O'scale track, about 30mm gauge.
In Largescale it is the track gauge that is consistent, not the scale. I agree that it's a hotch-potch but if you are happy staying with one scale or don't mind mixing & matching.....
My Toenail Ridge Shortline is STRICTLY!!!! 1:20.3 scale, representing US 3ft gauge...except for the 1:22.5 Annies and the 1:24 Porters..... (big grin!)
I an NOT new to this board (Member #11) or this scale and don't mind flaming.... (another big grin!)

 

sorry about that...got stuff mixed up...*note to self: post pertinent info before midnight when brain is functioning*

 

This is my first post on this forum. I've been searching around for a large scale forum, hopefully I've found the right place.

I appreciate you perspective Dave, and this is the sort of information I'm looking for.

I've been fiddling around with HO for a few decades and have decided it's time for a change. I'm frustrated with stuff that doesn't work and needs endless maintenance. I've gone to ridiculous lengths to get HO set-ups to run reliably to no avail and have come to the conclusion that it's pointless. HO is fine to look at and fiddle with, but that's not my style. My layout must live in my shop where the shop cat sleeping on the tracks is more than a possibility. I've ripped out all of my HO layout (all 1200 feet of it) and am trying to decide if G scale is the way to go. I don't want a toy. I'm not interested in battery operated under the Christmas kid's style dis-pose-a-toys, but I don't want to spend $1,500 on an engine and tender either.

My questions are simple:

What are the quality products?

1) Track
2) Rolling stock

Most of the LGB stuff I've looked at just look like toys. Much of the Bachman and Aristocraft stuff I've seen also has the cheap toy look and feel, but maybe I wasn't looking at their "good" lines. What's the "real stuff" that doesn't cost it's weight in gold? What would you suggest to someone starting from scratch? Is G scale the way to go in the first-place?

 

USA Trains us pretty good for it's price. I'm not sure what to say as to what looks like it is a toy...Bachmann has gotten better with it's Shays, Climaxes, and 4-4-0s. Aristo has gotten good with it's Pacifics, Mikes, and streamlined cars.

I hope this helps.

 

You Bet! Thanks. What I'm looking for is something that looks and feels "real" and is industrial strength. I've grown weary fussing with the HO stuff. Function and reliability (not jumping the track and crashing to the floor) is the priority. Plus, I have hopes of actually "using" the scale RR. In my business I pack and ship a lot of small parts. What the heck... The plan is to route the track from the shop area to the warehouse to shuttle parts back and forth. It would be too cool if I could hit the "go" button at the packaging assembly area and have the train meet me in the warehouse at about the "right spot"... pick and place the items in gondolas, then hit the "go" button and have it meet me back at the package assembly area. Currently I use a shopping cart for this. I attempted this with the HO scale, but the carrying capacity was too small to be useful and the HO scale stuff was just too flaky. It could also be very useful to shuttle the endless paperwork from the office to the shop and to the warehouse.

I guess I have aspirations to make a real working railroad. This will not be a sceanery/ diorama based layout, but will be to haul stuff from point A to point B in a reasonably functional manner (although questionably "worth it"... but what the heck... it's a way to get my train fix in a marginally justifiable fashion).

I've been impressed by Lifelike by Proto as far as HO stuff goes. I have a 35 year old Tyco set I got as a kid and that was great stuff. Realistic and solid built. The garden RR (LGB) stuff I've seen looks cute next to a garden gnome... but... I dunno. I'm looking for a step or two up without having to cut my own ties.

FWIW, I live about 20 miles from Colfax WA.

[ 14. March 2004, 20:52: Message edited by: W. Mark Hellinger ]

 

Sure! Here's a picture of the buildings. The shop is in the foreground on the left. The warehouse is in the background lengthwise, and the office is the white sided structure on the right. We beat a path between the office and shop with paperwork. I'm just completing the second story in the warehouse and shop. I have about 9000 square feet of area that could be routed with rail service.


[ 14. March 2004, 20:13: Message edited by: W. Mark Hellinger ]

 

FWIW: The Milwaukee line used to go right through this area (Tekoa, WA). I've made the trek up the St. Joe to Avery, then on over the North Fork to Montana on much of the old bed years ago on my scooter. My dad and I used to fish off the long wooded trestle across Benewah lake 30-40 years ago. I can vaguely remember fishing trips through Avery in the late 1950's when the line was still running. I think Potlatch still runs on a bit of the old track between St. Maries and Plummer, ID. Somewhere I have a box of trinkets I picked up off the old right of way where the track ran through the farming country between Plummer, ID. and Tekoa, WA. while waiting for the fertilizer tender truck.

I've also hiked up over the Morrison-Knudsen Incline Railroad near Hobo Pass (70 percent grade) in the same general area (sort-of).

Folks sure went to a lot of work to poke a rail line though some of this area.

 

Mark,
you mentioned looking for LS Forums. Check out http://www.largescalecentral.com and http://www.mylargescale.com too, also the Garden Railways mag site has a good forum http://www.trains.com

 

reversing unit would help quite a bit...umm...if you can get your hands on an aristo flat with stakes, you have paperwork fairly well taken care of.
Bachman does make a dumping car set for G, but I'm not sure how much it has volume-wise. Or you could "fix" some of the longer gons with a sliding floorplate that allows you to pull it out and drop into a chute under the tracks which would lead into the container you want it to go. Just some thoughts...

 

We have a bunch of gizmos for holding pieces of paper up so you can read them while typing. They're basically a glorified clothspin on a stand... they're a swag item we give away as promotional items. I figure on affixing some of these to flat cars. Of course I could accomplish the same task by putting another printer on the shop computer, but that wouldn't be nearly as interesting. I currently have a clipboard on the shopping cart to hold the packing lists, but... I envision packing lists clipped to a flat car with a couple of gondolas for shuttling parts would be much more interesting.

I'm also thinking of wiring the track in sections... maybe some sort of computer control so I can energize the track to a certain location so the train will motor off until it reaches the correct station. I dunno... it's gonna take some figuring. Maybe I can figure out a multiplexed signal to run on the rails so the routing controller can be affixed to one of the cars rather than having a remote pendant or numerous fixed control panels.

 

(quote):I'm also thinking of wiring the track in sections... maybe some sort of computer control so I can energize the track to a certain location so the train will motor off until it reaches the correct station. I dunno... it's gonna take some figuring. Maybe I can figure out a multiplexed signal to run on the rails so the routing controller can be affixed to one of the cars rather than having a remote pendant or numerous fixed control panels.(quote)

If you go radio control with onboard battery or constant track power you can stop one or more locos anywhere you want without any additional wiring or gizmos