I would like to purchase a train set but I dont know which scale train I should buy. could someone explain the scales to me? tkmichael@verizon.net
It would help if we knew how you came to decide on a set as opposed to purchasing individual pieces. Generally, the sets contain inferior products. You will be happier, all things considered, with a better locomotive (or two), and several better pieces of rolling stock.
The scales that you might be advised to consider are: O, On30, S, HO, and N. There are others, but you will most likely find contenment in these. O are the largest, heaviest, and often most expensive. The scale requires a great deal of room. S is in between O and HO. HO is “Half-O”, and is by far the most popular. The quality and variety are great to awful, depending on what you want for locos and rolling stock…and road names. N-scale is half-HO, and many find a great deal of satisfaction with that small size…more layout and track per unit of space compare to HO.
Backing up to On30, it is O gauge stuff, but uses a narrow gauge of track, just like they did back when. It so happens that it runs very well on HO track! So, while the locomotive body is O sized, the narrow gauge that it was meant to use is essentially HO sized. Both S and On30 are gaining in popularity. The general principle is that, as you age, your vision and dexterity render the smaller scales harder to appreciate and to manipulate. So, S and On30 are getting some shrift from the boomers.
Does that help?
selector, you forgot to mention G and Z.[:O]
G is the largest of all the scales. It’s twice the size of O, and is often used for outdoor “Garden” railroads.
Z is the smallest of all the scales. It’s about 3/4 as big as N, which gives you quite a bit of room for scenery.
If you want to get a train set so you don’t have to buy everything seperately, then Lionel makes some good train sets in O. For HO, Life-Like Proto 1000, Walthers, newer Bachmann, Athearn and IHC make some good sets.(If you buy IHC, replace the power-pack that comes with it because it’s a piece of crud) For N, Kato makes excellent sets. Marklin makes the only sets I know of in Z. For G, I haven’t heard of any train sets being made.
I hope that helps![:D][:D][:D]
Personally, I’d go with HO.(that’s what I model) You can put a lot more in the same space as O, but it’s not nearly as hard to deal with as N. G is made genrerally for use outdoors, and Z is good for a set in a coffee table top. HO also has a lot more available accessories than the others, and you can also get the narrow gauges in it HOn2, HOn3, and HOn30 (but these take different track than plain ol’ HO.
I agree though, you are better off buying pieces than a set as far as quality goes.
Greg
A lot depends on why you are buying a set. For example, if this is for a young child then a Lionel or Amercian Flyer set is probably a good choice. On the other hand if this for an adult getting into the hobby a set such as one from S Helper with DCC would be a good start. Their web site is at http://www.showcaseline.com/ If you’re looking for an outdoor layout in Large Scale, Aristocraft http://www.aristocraft.com/ is a possibility. If you need to keep the cost down look at an HO set from Athearn http://www.athearn.com/ . If you don’t have a lot of space then an N or Z scale set from Micro Trains http://www.micro-trains.com/ is the way to go. These are just some possiblities - there are others.
Enjoy
Paul
The ratios of some of the more common scales are: O is 1:48, HO is 1:96, N is 1:160 and Z is 1:220. You can do a little math and figure out what the length of a 40 ft. boxcar or an 85 ft. passenger car would be in the different scales. As was already pointed out, there’s more available in HO than any of the other scales and more modelers in that scale. And I second (or is it third?) the motion to buy individual pieces rather than a train set. You will get much better quality that way. The low quality of a train set, especially its throttle, may just put you off model railroading!
Seamonster:
Please excuse Seamonster: H0 is 1:87 not 1:96. 1:96 must be one of those odd Canadian scales, eh?[:D]. Actually I think 1:96 is 00 (British).