N Scale Model Trains

When you first get involved in the wonderful world of model trains, hearing words like N scale model trains and HO gauge tracks running through conversations can prove to be a bit confusing, sometimes even intimidating. You might start to think that building model trains will be to difficult for you. But there’s no need to worry, as your enjoyment and passion grow you’ll find yourself becoming increasingly more familiar with the terminology used by enthusiasts and model train collectors.

When you start out, you’ll probably have a vision of your ideal track layout and all the railway accessories that go with it. You’ll have imagined all the background scenery, lakes, rivers and tunnels, but you might not have considered just how much space it will take up.

Various model trains and train tracks are made by assorted manufacturers and can used in different situations. But that’s not a bad thing, it means you’ll easily be able to find something appropriate for your set up.

So that the trains from different manufacturers will work on any brand of train track, model train makers create tracks and trains according to specific sizes, called scales and gauges. When model train hobbyists talk about the scale of a train, they really mean the size. Scale means exactly what you imagine it would mean — it’s a scaled down model or replica of the real world train. Scale is actually the ratio of the size of the model train to the size of the real train. Different letters are used to signify different scales, which reflect a different ratio.

Take for example an N scale train, which is on the small side compared to other scales. Actually, it’s the smallest of the four popular scales and it’s specific ratio is 1 to 160, which is normally written as 1:160. Or to put it another way, an N scale train is one hundred and sixtieth the size of a real train.

The most popular of scales is the HO which is about twice the size of N scale. HO scale is actually 1:87 and is preferred by enthusiasts who either don’t have too much room to build their layouts or like lots of scenery.

Even though N scale trains are designed to take up less room than larger scales, they still have fine details, more so than other smaller scale trains. The good thing about these smaller scale trains is that they make it much easier to create layouts that are easier to maintain and expand. They also provide an opportunity to create more stunning landscape and scenery on a larger scale.

As opposed to the standard scale, HO scale and O scale which have been around for over a century, N scale trains only became popular around the 1960s. N scale is so called because the N stand for nine and there is nine millimeters between the rails. Technically the gap between the train tracks is called the gauge.

N scale model trains are just one of choices you have when building your model railway, and you might find they suit you if you like lots of scenery or if you’re limited for space. But whatever size of train you pick, you’ll get the same thrill from building it and watching it run.