What Are The Everyday Errors With O Scale Model Trains
Many a newbie model railroader will decide that, instead of HO, they wish to build their railroad empire using O scale model trains. While the bigger trains may appear better to work with and just plain more fun they can also be a source of disappointment to the green. Here are some typical mistakes made with O scale trains.
Is your turning radius too tight? While the minimum turning radius for an O scale train is 24 inches you have got to understand that box autos and passenger vehicles aren’t the same length. If you are recreating an 19th century freight route you may be ok but if you decide that instead you’d like to run a modern Amtrak passenger train you could be troubled with derailments with such a tiny turning radius. Besides the functionality of too small a turn radius you also have the distinct fact that it just doesn’t look that pragmatic.
Are your inclines too steep? Most new model railroaders envision some kind of tunnel or bridge in their layout where the trains will run beneath its own track or up over the roads the cars travel. When you are working in smaller scale where you have room to build long inclines this isn’t sometimes a problem. Not so with O scale. Given the height needed to clear another train track your O scale layout will require a long incline indeed especially if you have created a long train to start with. You’re not going to go from ground level to train clearing bridge height in just two feet. If you do not have huge layout, a possible solution is to send your lower track a touch underground so that your higher track does not need to rise as much.
Is your landscape out of scale? Although a locomotive is higher than an one story house we must remember that in the real world trees still tower over trains. No where is this single mistake made more than with O scale train layouts. The same scaling mistake is common with outbuildings and people. When purchasing any accessories or buildings for your layout ensure that you know it is to scale and not that it just looks to be the correct scale.
Does your train match your track? Unlike Ho scale where everything pretty much works alongside everything else, O scale modeling can truly be confusing when it comes to matching the right track to your train. Way back to the early days when these toy trains were run on shiny 3 rail tracks there were some major breakthroughs that include two rail systems, more authentic O gauges and the choice of running O scale trains on narrow tracks. Do your research before buying even your first train set, because once you’ve selected a track, you are stuck with it or will be doing a major overall down the road.
Keep these typical mistakes in mind when making plans for your layout and it should make building your O scale train layout much more delightful.
Emil Sudhakaran is a model train expert. For more great information on model trains wikipedia, visit http://www.modeltrainsguide-emil.com/questions-about-model-trains/.
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