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Miniature Railways
Jody will be very interested in one of the sections in my new ebook being released soon as it deals with micro layouts (among other things). However, in the meantime, Jody has a question for readers:
“I am a miniaturest working in very small scale. I would like to make a train layout in the smallest possible scale. How tall are the houses, etc for z scale? I cant seem to find any measurements for z scale trains, and I have been unable to see one for myself. Also, do they make any working trains in dollhouse scale? I am guessing this scale would be about a half inch for the engine, but I’m not sure. Anybody out there who can help? Thanks.”
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3 Responses to Miniature Railways
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Jody,
You may be interested in hearing about a new addition to the ‘smallest scale train’ that is called T scale from Japan. It is only 1:450 scale. By dividing any known measurement by 450 will produce a scale measurement such as 10 feet would be only 1/4 inch in this scale as an example.
Although somewhat limited in what it currently has to offer, it is commercially available. From what I have read, the track itself is magnetic to keep the train from derailing. It can actually operate upside down because of this! Here is a link to check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXSmyJr5qfI
Cut & paste the link into your browser to take a look.
Hope this helps.
Geof from the US
Jody,
Z scale trains are manufactured by Marklin, Germany and all models are of German prototypes.
The scale is 1 : 220.
A single storey bungalow, with hipped roof, is about 5.5 m high (18 feet) so in model form 5.5 m = 5500 mm divide by 220 = 25 mm high or 1 inch high.
Architectural models, used for illustrating developments use a 1 : 200 scale. As houses can vary in size the difference between 1 : 200 and 1 : 220 would not be noticed. These architectural models are just plain outline shape so door and window representation would need to be added.
I have found items to match Z scale in Easter eggs, and on keyring chains, holiday souvenirs and novelty items.
60 foot containers are 83 mm in model form in Z scale. Typical double boggie oil tank wagon is 63 mm, four wheel oil tank 30 mm and typical passenger coach 85 mm.
I also have the T scale mentioned by Geof, and while fascinating the are nearly too small to give the feeling of the mass of a train.
Seán from Éire
There is a good article on Wikipedia on model railroad scales, including a list of all scales:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_railroad_scales
Bear in mind, smaller scales can be much more expensive.