Model Railway Trains

Model railway trains have been capturing the imagination of hobbyists worldwide for years, and it’s not hard to see why.

They are part of a wonderful and magnificent hobby which provides an inexpensive way for people spend time together or on their own, and get really passionate about something.

Keeping model trains is about so much more than just collecting engines and carriages. This is one hobby that you really can take as far as you want to. Apart from building tracks and layouts of almost any size and shape imaginable, there is as much scenery and landscaping with model railways as there is in the real world. And don’t forget the wealth of knowledge and expertise you’ll collect too.

Model train scales and gauges

When enthusiasts talk about the scale or gauge of a model train, what they mean is the size of a model train compared to the size of a real train. There used to be many different gauges, but these days there are not so many still made. The HO scale and the N scale are the two most popular.

G scale has a ratio of 1:22 and the O scale has a ratio of 1:48. These two are both grouped into the larger-scale trains category. You might use these in your garden or backyard. They run on a No. 1 track, which we’ll get to in a minute.

HO scale has a ratio of 1:87 and it’s about half the size of the O scale. Believe it or not, HO actually stands for half an O. The N scale has a ratio of 1:160 and is about half again as small as the HO scale. All these scales have their reasons and good points, which is probably why they are the most popular.

Other less popular scales are the S scale, the TT scale and the Z scale. The S scale has a ratio of 1:64, whilst the TT scale has a ratio of 1:120 – slightly larger the N scale. The Z scale has a ratio of 1:220 which is even smaller than the N scale. It’s pretty tiny!

Track gauges

You’d be forgiven for thinking that gauges are the same thing as scales, and they are in fact used to mean the same thing by many people, but technically they aren’t the same. Gauge should really only be used when talking about track sizes, and scale when referring to model trains.

It used to be the case that model railway sizes in general were described using gauges, but it’s more common for enthusiasts to talk about scale.

Backgrounds and scenery

Of course once you get the model railway train bug, you’ll be wanting to create layouts with scenery and landscaping. This is where it can get really serious! You can model your scenery on your local area, famous landmarks, routes, stations or anything.

You’ll probably start out creating small pieces of scenery you can add to your track such as trees, rocks tunnels mountains ..etc. These are really easy to build using paper pulp or fiberglass. Lakes, ponds, streams and waterfalls can make very effective scenery. There’s a whole world of enhancements for your model railway.

Track layouts

Figuring out exactly what route your track should take can be a lot of fun. There’s the usual loops, ovals and figure eights, but you should also have a go at including junctions and points to make some crossovers. Just remember not to make the corners too sharp – you don’t want your trains derailing.

Building model railway trains has always been one of the most popular hobbies. Young and old alike are still being caught up in the thrill and excitement of building a miniature world of moving machines. I don’t think we’ll ever tire of it, and certainly when we share it with our children and grand children, the excitement never fails to appear all over again. It has to be one of the most rewarding hobbies of all time.