Help with translating O to G.

No, you want to multiply. 1:20 is a larger scale than 1:48, so the dimensions will be bigger.

Wrong question.

The question you need to ask is, Can I use O gauge layout designs in G gauge? The answer is, yes, sort of. You can use any layout design in any gauge, actually. In general, a G gauge version of an O gauge design will use about 1.25x the space (linear measure.) That's assuming both use the minimum radius sections available commercially (see below.)

But there will be differences.

A) SECTIONAL TRACK: If you use sectional track, the track pieces of one gauge will not have exactly proportional counterparts in another gauge. But you can get pretty close to the general track arrangement. And that's what you want, right? However, G gauge sectional track is built to proportionally tighter radii than O gauge. (See below.)

b) FLEX TRACK: if you use flexible or handlaid track, you can duplicate any design in any other gauge as precisely as you want.

C) Things to watch for:

1) AISLE WIDTH, or space for operators. If you're scaling up to a larger gauge, it's not a problem. If you're scaling down from a larger gauge, it may be a problem. 30" is pretty well minimum, and 50" if you need space for two people to pass each other other.

2) SCALE. O scale in N. America is 1:48. However, Lionel has used 1:64 trains in its O gauge lines in the past. Go figure.

As for G scale: there ain't no sech animal. Read the other posts carefully to get a grip on the range of scales used for the trains that run on G gauge (45mm between the rails).

Scale matters because it determines how far apart parallel tracks must be to avoid trains sideswiping each other. It also determines the amount of space needed for buildings (although something called "selective compression" can squeeze a building into a smaller than scale space if need be.)

Radii: The NMRA suggests radii for short, medium, and long equipment, both for aesthetic and mechanical reasons. The standard HO train-set radius is 18", which works reasonably well with short (40ft) cars and

4-axle diesels. Equivalent O scale would be 33", and for G gauge would be about 50". Fact is that the smaller commercial O gauge sectional track are 24" _or less_, and G gauge are 30" radius. Very tight, IOW. So you see merely increasing the O gauge layout design dimensions by the correct proportion doesn't work.

BTW, O gauge is 32mm, G gauge is 45mm, HO is 16.5mm.

HTH&HF

video guy -

wrote: [...]

[...]

That's because you thought you were asking a simple question. It wasn't.

But it was/is a good question. Questions that seem simple are the only really interesting ones.

Like, Why is there something instead of nothing? That's such a complicated question that people haven't even been able to agree on what exactly they are asking. :-)

Anyhow, I hope you've been able to sort out the information you really need. Have fun!

video guy -

wrote: [...]

Um, if you're talking _gauge_, the correct factor is 45/32, or 1:25. And you were talking _gauge_, right?

Scale is something else entirely. 2.36+/- is the factor for converting

1:48 scale narrow gauge (O scale, running on 19mm gauge) to 1:20.3 scale narrow gauge, which runs on 45mm gauge track. 1:20.3 is one of the many scales lumped together as "G gauge", which is a meaningless term IMO.

Both gauge and scale matter when converting layout designs. To convert an O gauge (32mm) design to G gauge (45mm) requires adjusting track dimensions (a matter of gauge) and scenic concepts, and selection/arrangement of structures (a matter of scale.)

See?

Have fun, no matter what!

"video guy -

" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

Apparently not :-)

BTW - Stein is not my family name, it is my first name.

Grin, Stein R

Obviously not - you had to ask someone else to do it for you.

Good morning Wolf;

Not being picky, just an observation regarding scale. Using your numbers, the scales work out to the following:

G - 1:32 O - 1:45 HO - 1:87

Ultimately, scale is that point at which linear and perspective match.

Cheers, John

O scale is 1:43 in Europe, 1:45 in the UK, and 1:48 in the USA/Canada. Dunno what it is elsewhere in the model railroad universe. In the UK and Europe, it's often called 0 (zero) scale.

1:32 is actually No. 1 scale. When modelling standard gauge of 1435mm (4' 8.5"), this works out to 45mm gauge. G scale doesn't exist as such - the NMRA is trying to promote some sensible nomenclature for the scale/gauge combinations that use 45mm track, but sofar the manufacturers haven't co-operated, and it's a mess. G scale is supposed to be for 1:20.3 scale, for which 45mm gauge represents 36" narrow gauge. See?

HO or "half-0" was originally 16mm. I don't know when, where, or why it was changed to 16.5mm.

There is a lot of more or less misleading and confusing information about the history of model railroad scales out there. Henry Greenly for example claimed that HO was 1/8" to the foot, which is 1:96, or about

10% too small. That was in the late 1920s/early 1930s. See, he was trying to make it simple for the dining table modeller in the UK, so he rounded off everything to suit those cheap wooden rulers available at the stationery shops. Hence the 4mm/ft scale running on 16.5mm track. Why this combo? Partly because track materials for 16.5mm scale were relatively cheap; partly 4mm/foot translates into 1mm == 3", which is the precision Greenly thought his readers could manage; and partly because UK locos are small, so building them to 3.5mm scale didn't leave much room for motors, which were large in those days, before rare earth magnets.

I could go on (and have, in the past), but you get the picture: nicely confused and confusing. :-)

Enjoy!

In most of continental Europe 0 scale is 1:45, in UK it's 7mm/ft or appr. 1:43,5.

Wolf Kirchmeir wrote: snip

That's what you get when dividing 45mm into two equal pieces ;-)

Chuck D.

OK, was thinking the wrong way round I guess.

Thanks for the explanation.

Never a dull moment.

Cheers, John

That gives you 22.5 mm, the gauge for H1 (Half 1) now known as 'S' scale, 1:64 as against the 1:32 of gauge 1.

Track for 0 gauge is 32 mm, half of which is 16 mm as was said.

Of course just to complicate matters H) on 16.5 mm at 3.5 mm to the foot is now complimented in the UK by 33 mm track and 7mm to the foot, known as Scale Seven to distinguish it from 0 gauge. Keith

It would help if I could keep straight what was being talked about!!!

"O" scale 7mm = 1' (I know, that's GB & European. Us Yanks, have our own problems 1:48, 1/4", 17/64", 1 1/4" track gauge, 1 3/16" track gauge, etc.)

"HO" scale 3.5mm = 1' "Standard" gauge = 56.5" = 4.7' x 3.5mm/' = 16.479mm for Std.gauge Which is where the 16.5mm comes from.

Chuck D.

I have a headache.......

1:45 is mostly used in continental Europe (NEM standards, see

[...]Hence the 4mm/ft scale running on 16.5mm track. Why this combo? [...]

Also, the available mechanisms were made for 16.5mm gauge. Greenly apparently thought that regauging these for true OO scale (18.83mm) would be too much work.

HTH