What Are The Usual Mistakes With O Scale Model Trains
Many a beginner model railroader will decide that, rather than HO, they prefer to build their railroad empire using O scale model trains. While the bigger trains may seem better to work with and just plain more fun they may also be a source of frustration to the inexperienced. 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’ve got to understand that box autos and passenger vehicles aren’t the same length. If you’re recreating an 19th century freight route you could be fine but if you decide that instead you’d like to run a modern Amtrak passenger train you could be tormented with derailments with such a little turning radius. Besides the functionality of too tiny a turn radius you also have the noticeable fact that it just doesn’t look that realistic.
Are your inclines too steep? Most new model railroaders envision some sort of tunnel or bridge in their layout where the trains will run underneath its own track or up over the roads the vehicles travel. When you’re working in smaller scale where you have room to build long inclines this is not generally a problem. Not so with O scale. Given the height required to clear another train track your O scale layout will require an exceedingly long incline indeed especially if you’ve created a long train to begin with. You are not going to go from ground level to coach clearing bridge height in only 2 feet. If you do not have large layout, a possible solution is to send your lower track a touch underground so that your higher track does not have to rise as much.
Is your landscape out of scale? Even though a locomotive is higher than an one story house we must recollect that in the real world trees still tower over trains. No where’s this single mistake made more than with O scale train layouts. The same scaling mistake is common with outbuildings and folk. When buying 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 just about works with the rest, O scale modeling can really be confusing when it comes to matching the right track to your train. Since the early days when these toy trains were run on glossy 3 rail tracks there have been some major discoveries that include two rail systems, more authentic O gauges and the option 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 line.
Keep these typical mistakes in mind when arranging 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 n scale model trains, visit http://www.modeltrainsguide-emil.com/n-scale-model-trains/.
