Gn15, I'd never heard of it until my latest Garden Railways magazine arrived (8/2004 edition).
My children and I just built our first train table (it's 6' X 12'). I thought Gn15 would do better than the G scale. We started with an Aristo-Craft oval on the floor.
Is it true that I can purchase some HO track and place LGB trains on it and they'll run? It seems amazing to me since I've never seen it. Also, is DCC good to use in Gn15?
We are truly neophytes, with no modeling experience -- not that we cannot learn.
Gn15 is the designation for 1:22.5 proportioned (scale) trains running on HO gauge (16.5 mm between the rails) track to represent real narrow gauge trains operating on 15" gauge track. In real life, 15" gauge is sometimes used for mining RRs, inside factories to move heavy products (usually in the days before modern fork lift trucks), for other very light industrial lines, and for some amusement park trains.
Side note - In my opinion "Gn15" is a little misleading. This nomenclature usually lists the scale first, an "n" to indicate a narrow gauge being modelled (as opposed to no suffix if 4' 8.5" standard gauge is being modeled, or a "w" if wide gauge is being modelled), and the prototype gauge being modelled (in feet or inches or centimeters, which can be confusing). My issue with Gn15 is that G is really a gauge (1 3/4" between the rails) and not a single scale, as G models come in 1:22.5 proportion if they are representing European meter gauge trains, 1:20.5 proportion if they are representing American 3' gauge, and a compromise 1:29 proportion if they have standard gauge prototypes (I believe this size is used because the resulting cars look OK when mixed with 1:22.5 or 1:20.5 equipment - the correct proportion for standard gauge models on 1 3/4" gauge track should be
1:32, which is known as No. 1 gauge or scale.) Since the "G" comes from the G in LGB who started it all with 1:22.5 European models, there is some basis to say G scale means 1:22.5. (But then what should we call 1:20.5 scale, where a lot of very nice modelling is being done?)
No!! The gauge of the wheels must match the gauge of the track. Gn15 is usually (maybe always as I'm not aware of any commercially available Gn15 models) scratch built or kitbashed, as in taking the superstrucrure from a small LGB locomotive and mounting it over the mechanism of an HO locomotive.
DCC can be used on Gn15. The constraints on using DCC are usually being able to fit a decoder inside the model, and finding a decoder that will handle the model's motor current. Gn15 models should have plenty of room for decoders, and being HO motors, many decoders are available that will handle the current.
This being the case, I would not recommend you pursue Gn15 just yet. Get some experience with a commercially available scale and gauge before getting into something that depends on heavy modification or scratch building.
"G" isn't any specific scale - it is "narrow gauge on 45mm gauge track". As the narrow gauge represented by different manufacturers can be anything from
750mm to 4' 3.177" and the "scale" anything from 1:20.3 to 1:29, the "G" part of "Gn15" is broadly meaningless.
The designation you were looking for is "#3n15" or "3n15" or "22.5n15".
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