Have you ever wondered how they came up with the different scale “letter” designations? Well, in a moment of free time yestereday, I actually began to muse about it.
I remember reading here on the fourm one time that HO supposedly stood for “Half O” scale. Now, if that’s the case then…why is O-scale considered “O”? Obviously, the logic doesnt follow the alphabet very closely? O is bigger than S, but N is smaller than O and S.
Anyhow, I just wondered if someone had a half-decent explanation as to how we came up with these designations. Thanks!
Well Tom, first off, trains have always been getting smaller. Back in the early days the sizes were numbered, 2 then 1, then 0 (zero). These numbers referred to the track gauges much the same as wires are gauged.
That number 0 switched to the letter O, probably when the term HO was coined. The next smaller size in the numbering scheme would be 00, which is actually used in England.
I’m not sure about S, N and Z, I think they stand for something. The little used TT stood for Table Top.
O actually used to be 0 (zero)–originally, scales were numbered 2, 1 and 0. Saying “zero scale” was not as easy as just saying “oh scale” so people got used to referring to it as the letter O. Then when a scale half as big as British O (1:43.5 scale) came along, they called it “aitch-oh” or half O.
#1 gauge is still around–it is the track used by G scale and other large-scale modelers.
N scale, or a scale close to it, was originally known as OOO scale. I think the name N came from some manufacturer.
Literature from the post WWII era indicates that American Flyer (Gilbert) at one time referred to “S” as “Q”. No idea why. Back in the 50s when I was into Flyer the catalogs explained that “S” stood for “scale”. This was a slap at Lionel which ran on O gage track but made no attempt at being scale. Please don’t take that comment as a slap at Lionel. They were making toy trains and did a great job of it. Flyer somehow had become a sort of “half and half”. Half toy/tinplate and half scale. Obviously they weren’t really scale or they wouldn’t have offered freight trains pulled by PA-1s and PA-1s lettered for name trains of the past instead of for actual railroads.
“During its infancy 3/16” model railroading became known as “C-D” which originated from the term “Cleveland-Designed,” a trademark of the Cleveland Model & Supply Co., the first U.S. company to produce a significant amount of 3/16" scale products back in 1937. In 1937 he began marketing 3/16" scale wood and embossed paper kits. A year later he marketed two powered locomotive kits – a CGW 4-6-0 and a PRR 0-6-0 switcher. (Click on the Loco names to see scanned 1938 catalog pictures). These, along with his wood-and-paper Milwaukee Hiawatha train, are in great demand by S scale collectors. Some years later, the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) recognized the scale and renamed it “S” because of the sibilants in three-sixteenths (scale) and seven-eighths (gauge).
Ed Packard, owner of C-D Models, featured his trains at the Chicago Worlds Fair. A.C. Gilbert saw them there before he acquired the American Flyer line of trains.
At a subsequent 1942 NMRA meeting the designation “S” was formally adopted for 3/16" scale model railroading. It is thought that the “S” was derived from words such as Seven-eighths in the track gauge or three-Sixteenths in the scale. Of course S scale has come a long way since then and is now enjoying a renaissance in production."
A.C. Gilbert at one time made 3/16" scale models that ran on O gauge track. After WWII he switched to S scale track.
Q was an attempt to correct the problem with O scale having the wrong gauge track. When it came over from Britain where it was 7mm to the foot (approx. 1/43.5) the scale was changed to 1/4", but the track gauge was left at 1.25" which is a scale 5 ft. Two movements tried to change this. One changed the scale to 17/64 known as Q. The other changed the track gauge to 1.17". Neither effort met with much success. Today Proto48 uses 1.177" track gauge and has a small following.
Z was designated by Marklin and is supposed to mean t