Need someone to educate me on G scale. Another hobby shop near me is closing. They are selling everthing at huge discount prices. My father in law is setting a G scale railroad in his house. Question . At the hobby shop I saw a box with “Large scale” Is that the same as G scale ? What is the best maker of G scale engines LGB ? The hobby shop also had a large Lionel set that was larger than O but I could not determine if it was G scale which I am not certain that lionel ever made G scale. Can someone fill in the blanks for me on this so that I buy the right stuff for my Father in law.
Not much chance of buying the right stuff. There is really no “G” scale. Numerous scales run on so called “G” scale track. The width of the track is the gauge, the size of the trains is the scale. I model 3’ & it comes out to 20.3 scale. LGB is 1 meter scale. Bachmann has more or less settled on 20.3, but some of the earlier models really had no scale. Aristocraft is 29.0 scale. If you are modeling standard gauge (4’8 1/2 “) the correct scale is 1/32. In addition some use the track as 2’ gauge or even 18” gauge. i trust you are totaly confused by now. Many of the earlier “Garden RRs” mixed the rolling stock.
PS. most mfgs. nowdays put out good products. Many think LGB is the best, maybe because of the higher price tag. I would just steer clear of the early bachmamm stuff…jerry
G is a family of scales which all run on the same track.
Scales with some manufacturers are:
1:20.3 Bachmann
1:22.5 LGB
1:24 USA Trains and I think Bachmann
1:29 USA Trains and Aristocraft(now out of business)
1:32 MTH
Large Scale by Lionel - I don’t know what the scale is.
1:32 is standard gauge and the others are all narrow gauge. 1:29 has models of standard gauge prototypes but the track is too narrow for this scale.
While these all can be mixed since they run on the same track, some people restrict themselves to one scale and some don’t. So you really need to know what your father in law is doing or you may get him the wrong thing regardless of how well it runs.
I’ve been involved in Garden Railway building off and on for the past 20 years or so. By no means am I any kind of expert but “G Scale” has a few hurdles to overcome in my opinion. Couplers, for one, are a big headache for me. At least USA Trains is starting to provide mountings for standard Kadee boxes, and that’s GOOD!
Aristo-Craft Trains recently stopped production so there may be some issues in getting parts in the future.
I would suggest browsing Greg Elmassien’s site to see what he can offer. LOTS of information here if you dig for it!
If you go to Trains.com Sites at the top of this page and click on Garden Railways you should get some more answers. Most folks here are N and HO. Not that some don’t have or have had a garden railway, just more of them over there.
I have G scale trains and can tell you from personal experience what others have already said about it, and that is “there are no standards” on what can be called G scale. Practically everything I purchase has to be modified in some way in order to run with my other G-scale rolling stock.
Sometimes the differences in coupler height are so severe that they don’t even touch each other. The only way I have found to run different brands together is to convert everything to Kadee couplers. There seems to be no compatibility between LGB, USA trains, AristoCraft, and most other brands of couplers, even if they are all of the knuckle type. Some manufacturers use hook and loop as their standard couplers.
LGB used to be made in Germany and was considered high quality, but after they went into bankruptcy and were bought out, production was moved to China. The quality went down and prices went up. I have heard that production is moving back to Germany because too many people abandoned LGB products.
You would be better off finding out from your father-in-law what brand he prefers instead of purchasing something he can’t use.
Headache? I’ve got a 32" long three-truck shay sitting on my nightstand with over 150 hours of work into it that’s nowhere near running yet. Some would certainly call that a headache, but I’ve had a blast with it.
As to Daddy-in-law: If it doesn’t say “G”, don’t buy it.
I’ve been an HO modeler since forever and built a garden railroad here at my retirement house. The garden railroad is supposed to be 1:20.3 (a 3’ gauge railroad), but everything labeled “G” is only somewhere in the neighborhood of scale. After being exacting in HO scale, it is very frustrating. I will admit that at 25’ across the yard, the small differences don’t matter and I can enjoy just blowing the whistle, but it is at best irksome to a modeler to not have things in proper scale. Pick up some discount things labeled “G” and gain “points” with Daddy, which will translate well in the home!
The best way to get the proper scale is to scratch build. You can adjust the cab height on the locomotives. I’ve had a 20.3 gardin RR for over 15 yrs & most everything is scratchbuilt with Kade couplers. To each his own…jerry