Okay, there were small push-type trains before 1960, and there have been several different scale proportions, but if you count self-propelled electric trains running on 9 millimeter track, this is the 50th Anniversary of N Gauge, now commonly referred to as N Scale.
1960 is the year that Lone Star Treble O-Lectric was introduced in England, and Arnold Rapido Trains were introduced in Germany.
From Rapido’s 1960 Advertisement introducing N Gauge
I think it’s safe to say that N Scale is now in it’s “Golden Age” with a multitude of quality manufacturers, and a growing legion of adherents across the country and around the world. I’m sure there are still a few nay sayers thinking “It’ll never last”… but it seems like now, more than ever, the many advantages that N scale offers are becoming clear to more and more modelers.
I just opened my new issue of Classic Trains and they are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the end of steam on major railroads. Big steam was going out as real little steam was coming in.
I’m only 15, so I’ve pretty much been in the golden age of n scale since I started modeling in it at the age of 8 (though I didn’t figure out Atlas locos are much higher quality products than bachmann standard line until I was maybe 10, and also figured out I can do more with flex track than sectional roadbed track).
Happy 50th birthday n scale, glad to have it in the hobby because otherwise I wouldn’t have much of a layout!
N scale has come a long way in those past 50 years. Arnold was not considered to be a serious competitor in the market of model railroading. Only after Trix/Minitrix and Fleischmann/Fleischmann piccolo joined in, N scale started to grow rapidly in Germany. In terms of detail and quality, N scale has now reached the status which HO scaled had in the late 80´s - and that´s pretty dang good!
Okay, for all you N scalers out there, let’s show the world how far we’ve come. Post your best N scale image, and I mean your best. I want you to post only one, in the essence of time and space, so really put some thought into it. Let’s show the MR community what’s possible!
I pulled all my “Lone Star Treble O Electric” out of storage six years ago after my six year old son wanted to see it. I have enough to fill a 5’ x 10’ piece of plywood. I ran this stuff for years as a kid and once we brought it out after 30 plus years I was bit hard by the bug once again. Who would of thought that a simple request by my son would lead to a 15’ x 24’ layout a couple of years later.
Anyway thanks to those who came up with the scale as we did not have the room for anything larger when I was a kid. I may have not been introduced to this wonderful hobby if not for “Treble O”/ “N” scale.[^]
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