All three locomotives are the same scale (1:20.3).
Track 1 - Accucraft K-37
Track 2 - Bachmann 2-8-0
Track 3 - Accucraft “Ruby” 0-4-0 (kitbashed)
Accucraft sent me the K-37 for review, which will be published in an upcoming GR. When I opened the box, my jaw dropped. (Fortunately, the locomotive didn’t.) Having thought my B’mann 2-8-0 was big, this put everything in perspective. I won’t steal my own thunder, but it’s a very impressive loco.
More comparison photos can be found here.
Later,
K
That’s a great comparison Kevin.
Thanks for posting it.
nice! I’m assuming track 3 is the track to the right, as I’m not familiar with 3’ gauge locomotives and the Ruby was really bashed to where it’s unrecognizeable.
I’m running 7/8n2 and 7/8n18 both 1:13.7 scale. You should see a the comparisons of those; sorry, no side by side photos yet but have some big Maine stuff and little UK stuff
…and that’s just in the ONE scale. When you include all the other scales associated with G scale, it’s no wonder there’s so much confusion.
That’s a great shot, Kevin. More folks should get out to railroad museums to compare the real things. A comparison of minvan sized 4-4-0 to a warehouse sized 2-6-6-6 Allegheny, like they have up at the B&O museum in Baltimore, would certainly be an eye opener (they have a nice garden railway too).The K-37 is a beauty. So, how long does one get to keep a locomotive for “review”?[;)]
-Brian
Wow. That’s cool.
Nice photo.
It looks like comparing something like G, O, and S. together but on the same track.
Short, sweet, to the point. I CONCUR.
Tis normal with companies not wanting to change dies, but you can stick with one comany you like the best.
Hi Kevin,
WOW…that thing is huge. Reminds of when I opened the box for my Bachmann 45 tonner. BIG and very YELLOW! Scale? I give up. Later eh…Brian.
You got it. when I first started examining large scale, I really had to pay attention. It’s tough if you’re not careful. Hell, it’s tough if you ARE careful.
Oh and yes we must remember the little people on our railways…why can I not fit him into the cab of the engine? He is way to BIG…so which little people do I buy? “G” scale?!
I have seen some very talented {sp} men out there do wounders with I think it was eith wax or clay with heat unit…can not remember who?[:I]
If you want to see a REAL contrast in size…
When I visited Steamtown in Scranton, PA, a few years ago, one of their display locos was the Dayton Typewriter Company’s miniature Porter 0-4-0t, reputed to be the smallest standard gauge loco built in the United States.
Immediately behind it was a Big Boy.
Model or prototype, there are small, medium-size and ‘pushing the loading gauge’ locos. Going purely by photos, the first N&W 2-8-8-2’s were scrawny beasts indeed when compared to the Y-6. And then there’s the Kiso Forest Railway 0-4-2T (now at the California Railroad Museum) which has an industrial cyclone stack bigger around than its boiler!
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - one scale, three track gauges)
Kevins a pretty smart guy…
I’m not.
Back when I got into the G hobby I seen some of the scale info but, it was simple for me, I like this engine and it looks good with these cars , thus I’m going to buy them. As time and age goes on I have learned alot about scale / gauge and understand it,but the principle still applies.
This looks good with this and I like that!!!heheheheheeh
I’ve posted this before. What scale are the cars?
The scale of the cars in the photo are 1:1, on standard gauge track.
So the question I Have is why do we referr to Large Scale trains as G scale when they are not? Scale implys model size compaired to actual size. Gage is the space between the rails. That is why we have so many scales running on G Gage track.
K good photos, if you want to confuse most of us place the same figure in front of each engin.
Darn you, Kevin! [;)] Just when I thought I had it figured out! Seriously, thanks for taking the time to post; certainly one picture is worth a thousand words.
Les W
The short answer is that “G scale” has simply become a generic term for the large scale hobby, the same way “Kleenex” is now a generic term for any kind of facial tissue. It was the first letter “assigned” to this size of models, so it stuck, and everything else evolved from being “compatible with” G-scale.
The problem is that there’s no viable alternative for naming. The term “F scale” has only received limited support from the manufacturers doing 1:20.3. The NMRA’s one-time proposed “A scale” for 1:29 never gained any kind of traction whatsoever. But even if these conventions did gain momentum, they’d still fall under the same “large scale/g-scale” umbrella on the hobby shop shelves. It’s all “garden railroading,” so it’ll all be in the same aisle anyway, regardless of scale. Credit some manufacturers for at least clearly stating (and adhering to) a specific numeric scale. I think that’s about as close as we’re going to get to any kind of clarification.
If you follow the link in the original post, there’s a side view with a fireman standing in the cab of the small and medium locos. The Accucraft loco didn’t come with a figure, and I didn’t think to place an extra one in the cab.
Later,
K
Kevin,
When it comes to scale, that is all that is needed: a clearly stated and adhered to numerical ratio.
That allows those who care about scale to choose the right product for the scale they model. Those who don’t care will most likely not notice anyway.
Best regards
ER
PS publications like GR, and others in the Large Scale field, are doing everyone a service by stating what the scale is, both in the new product section and in reviews. If there is no numerical scale ratio mentioned by the manufacturer, that is also worth mentioning. An informed consumer is a wiser consumer!