What Are The Common Mistakes With O Scale Model Trains
Many a beginner 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 easier to work with and just plain more fun they may also be a source of disappointment to the inexperienced. These 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 twenty-four inches you have got to notice that box automobiles and passenger cars are not the same length. If you’re recreating an 19th century freight route you could be alright but if you decide that instead you would like to run a modern Amtrak passenger train you may be tormented with derailments with such a tiny turning radius. Besides the functionality of too small a turn radius you also have the noticeable fact that it just doesn’t look that pragmatic.
Are your inclines too steep? Most new model railroaders envision some type 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 usually a problem. Not so with O scale. Given the height needed to clear another train track your O scale layout will need a very long incline indeed especially if you have made a long train to begin with. You are not going to go from ground level to coach clearing bridge height in only two feet. If you do not have huge layout, a possible answer is to send your lower track slightly underground so that your upper 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 real life 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 folk. When buying any accessories or buildings for your layout make sure that you know it is to scale and not that it just looks to be the right scale.
Does your train match your track? Unlike Ho scale where everything pretty much works with everything else, O scale modeling can truly 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 three rail tracks there have been some major breakthroughs that include 2 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 have selected a track, you’re stuck with it or will be doing a major overall down the line.
Keep these usual mistakes in mind when making plans for your layout and it should make building your O scale train layout much more enjoyable.
Emil Sudhakaran is a model train expert. For more great information on g scale model trains, visit http://www.modeltrainsguide-emil.com/bachmann-model-trains/.
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