Model Train Information

Model trains are a hobbyist’s delight. For many years, train enthusiasts have lived out their dreams via their model railroads and chosen to collect different types of locomotives, scenery and track work. Model train lovers enjoy not only making their trains work along their tracks, but also building miniature scenery that really completes their model railroad picture.

A model train is built to scale.

What does scale mean?

It means the model train is build to match a real train, but is build on a smaller scale.

Model train scales come in G, I, HO and N. G-scale model trains are the largest model trains around, and they have a scale of 1:22 – this means they are one twenty second of the size of the real train they are modeled on. An O scale train has a scale of 1:48. A HO scale train has a scale of 1:87 and an N sized scale is the smallest of the model train variety and has a scale of 1:160. Depending on what type of model train you are after, each size has its pros and cons. You can get model trains in lesser known scales like S, Z and TT.

The S scale train has a ratio of 1:64 and the Z scale train is very small with a ratio of 2:220. The TT scale is somewhere in the middle with a ratio of 1:120.

If you spend a lot of time around model train hobbyists you will hear a lot of them talking about train gauge. What does this mean? Many model train manufacturers make their own tracks, and with so many different manufacturers, model train companies had to agree on gauge sizes to ensure that model trains would actually run along their tracks. The standard model train gauge is about four feet and eight and a half inches. You may find a narrow model train gauge when the rails are closer together and a narrow gauge would be somewhere around three to three and a half feet.

Model trains are made into model railroads thanks to the sceneries that you can buy. Some model train enthusiasts don’t care much about the rollingstock or the locomotive of their model train, they mainly like to creatively set up their scenery and make their model railroad truly come to life. The types of sceneries that can be found to add to your model railroad include rocks, trees, mountains, lakes, houses, barns, buildings, fields, meadows and ponds and lakes. It is fun to work out where your model railway landscape will fit in. Some model railway enthusiasts like their train to run in a loop so that it goes around and around the scenery. Others like their trains to run in a figure eight style, but you must be careful with your placement of model railroad track to ensure the train does not derail.

Model train building is a great hobby for children and adults alike to have. There is something in the hobby to suit the young and the old. The greatest aspect of making a model train is the ability to preserve the equipment and pass it down through generations of your children and grandchildren.