It is about 3 years that I have known this Hobby Model railroad. In Thailand, it is only 4-5 years
only which this hobby come to be a popular. Because we just have Model Railroad that works!!!
Actually,in present time we have only 3-5 Model Railroad shops in Thailand.
However, this hobby become more popular than the past because some Model Railroad Shops
have open their own websites.Since then, we have many of Model Railroad Fans increasing every year. And, I am one in a group.
Model Railroad is a Myth for us in Thailand about 3 years ago. We did not have article in Thai more enough for study so that ones who can approach to any information will be ones who can
read and write English very well. I wait for someone to write more articles for us , Model Railroader. But, noone does it seriously.
After that situation, I make decision to write article myself. My English skill is moderate , even I cannot speak as original but with the knowledge that I have from taking Bachelor and Master degree from English speaking university in Thailand, I think that I can write my own Model railroad articles in Thai.
I plan to study all event about model railroad website around the World and try to write article
my style by research information not to copy from the original. It is hard to make the others accept my skill that I show in my article ,but after a period of time my articles become the most
popular in a famous Thailand Model Railroad website.
Today, from English to Thai, now I think it is possible to rewrite my article from Thai to English.
This make me pround of myself because instead of consuming the knowledge from English Website, right now I can provide my knowledge roll back to English speaking Model railroader.
I hope that Model railroader will enjoy also the topic about Traveling in Thailand, Technology and Lifestyle also from my Blog.
O.K. What should be the first lesson for us ?
Come to the point :-)
Lesson #1 Model Railroad Scale
Model railroad is a very popular since before WW II . That time we call it Toy Train because
all locomotive and the roster is out of scale, colorfull and over decoration. However, some hobbyist have modified these Toy Train to have near-actual look. After WW II , many articles
about Toy Train Modification appeared in most of Hobby Magzine such as Model railroader,etc.
The main Idea come from Germany, The manufacturer try to set up the standard and for sure
it is accepted in Europe and USA. We can call that initially time scale as G-Scale . G-sacle at that time refered to Giant Scale because the quite big size of roster. Today this word G-scale derive to be Garden Scale in the meaning.
This is the detail of scale which if take it from Wikipedia.com
The size of the engines depends on the scale being used and can vary from around 700 mm (28") tall for the largest ridable live steam scales such as 1:8, down to matchbox size for the smallest ones in Z-scale (1:220). A typical HO (1:87) engine is around 50 mm (2") tall, and 100 mm to 300 mm (4" to 12") in length. The five most popular scales used are: G scale, Gauge 1, O scale, H0 scale (in Britain, the similarly sized 00 is used), TT scale, and N scale (1:160), although there is growing interest in Z scale. H0 scale is the single most popular scale of model railroad. Popular narrow-gauge scales include HOn3 Scale and Nn3, which are the same scale as HO and N, except with a narrower spacing between the tracks (in these examples, a scale three feet instead of the 4'8.5" standard gauge).
The largest common scale is 1:8, with 1:4 sometimes used for park rides. G scale (Garden, 1:24 scale) is most popular for back yard modelling. It is easier to fit a G scale model into a garden landscape and still keep the scenery proportional to the size of the trains running through. Gauge 1 is also popular for garden layouts. 0, H0 scale, and N scale are more often used indoors. Lionel trains in 0 scale (1:48 scale) are popular children's toys.
The words scale and gauge seem at first to be used interchangeably in model railways, but their meanings are different. Scale is the model's measurement as a proportion to the original, while gauge is the measurement between the two running rails of the track.
At first, model railways were not to scale. Manufacturers and hobbyists soon arrived at de facto standards for interchangeability, such as gauge, but trains were only a rough approximation to the real thing. See Normen Europäischer Modelleisenbahnen (NEM) and NMRA. Official scales for the various gauges were soon drawn up, but the scales were not at first at all rigidly followed, and were not necessarily correctly proportioned for the rail gauge chosen. O (zero) gauge trains, for instance, operate on track that is too widely spaced in the United States as the scale is accepted as 1:48 where as in Britain 0 gauge use a scale ratio of 43.5:1 or 7 mm/1 foot and the gauge is much near to correct. The British 00 standards operate on track that is significantly too narrow. (The 4 mm/1 foot scale on a 16.5 mm gauge corresponds to a track gauge of 4' 1 1/2", 7 inches under-sized). 16.5 mm gauge corresponds to 4'8.5" standard gauge when modelling in H0 (half zero) 3.5 mm/1 foot or 1:87. Most of the commercial scales also have standards that include wheel flanges that are too deep, wheel treads that are too wide, and rail tracks that are too large.
Pic #1 Model ratio of all Scale and the photos
Later on, groups of modellers became dissatisfied with these inaccuracies, and developed finescale standards in which everything is correctly scaled. These are used by dedicated modellers but have not generally spread to mass-produced equipment in part because the inaccuracies and overscale properties of the commercial scales are necessary to ensure reliable operation in the hands of consumers as well as experts, and also to allow for shortcuts necessary for cost control. These finescale standards include the UK's P4, and the even finer S4, which use a set of track dimensions scaled from the prototype. This 4 mm:1ft modelling uses wheels 2 mm (or less) wide running on track with a gauge of 18.83 mm. Check-rail and wing-rail clearances are similarly accurate.
A compromise of P4 and 00 is 'EM' which uses a gauge of 18.2 mm with much more generous tolerances than P4 for check clearances. It gives a much better appearances than 00 though pointwork is not as close to reality as P4. It suits many people where time and improved appearance are both important.
I believe this is useful article for beginner in this hobby. The Model Railroad The Greatest Hobby of the World.See you again.
bye,
Sawasdee Krub
Mr. HappyMan
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