I am interested in bidding on a Stephenson's rocket live steam kit on E bay? Dumb question, is 3.5 gauge the same as G, here in the US? Are they any good? Ta, Rob
- posted
18 years ago
I am interested in bidding on a Stephenson's rocket live steam kit on E bay? Dumb question, is 3.5 gauge the same as G, here in the US? Are they any good? Ta, Rob
No, G gauge is 45mm or half 3.5"
Marginally adequate in operation - nice looking.
3.5" is the smallest of the "model engineering" scales and is only refered to as 3.5" gauge or sometimes 1/16th scale - normally the realm of lathe owners and real passenger carrying trains - Hornby got into it because, well, they just did! ;-)
They appear to have had plans to produce a few other models - apparently someone, somewhere owns a chaldron wagon which might have been a first draw from a mold, but that was a model never advertised.
Regards, Greg.P.
16mm NG. There are a lot of models there for both 32mm (ie O-scale track) and 45mm gauge (ie. LGB / G-scale track). The best are really good indeed (look right, radio controlled steam, but cost well over £2000), cheaper models have various compromises in both mechanical and running, but can be perfectly adequate performers. As 16mm NG implies, it tends to be "narrow gauge".
Or the Gauge-1 society which does things on 45mm. But I don't think anyone sells ready-to-run live steam in that size apart from Aster - prices in the many thousands of pounds.
- Nigel
You could also try Gauge 3 at
Regards
Ian Gear>> Thanks Greg
[...]
Um, in live steam there aren't any "systems", there are gauges and scales. A standard gauge loco built to 1-1/2" scale needs a nominal 7" gauge, while a 3 foot narrow gauge engine needs a 4.5" gauge. And so on.
At train shows here in Canada, I notice that about half the live steam locos on display are of UK prototypes, probably because there are good sources for parts and kits in the UK (in proportion to population far more than in the US.) All live steam clubs I know of have built tracks to several gauges. I suggest you look for one that's nearby, both for the friendship and advice you'll get, as for the opportunity to run your creation when it's finsished. (But keep in mind that "nearby" over here means up to about a day's drive, one way... :-))
Google on "live steam locomotive" to get a start on websites with usable info. There is also a Live Steam magazine, which I subscribed to for many years until I realised I would never actually learn the machining skills neede to built a loco.
HTH
The Mamod 0-4-0t kit was once upon a time sold with both O gauge and 1 gauge wheelsets in the box. I would guess that there were cylinder spacers (circa 6mm/1/4" thick) included in the kit.
It would make a very small loco in G, but ... :-)
I'm sure there would not be any great difficulty in getting two axles and spacers made, but the cylinder spacers might take a little skill with hacksaw and drillpress. Somewhere out there there must be lots of people with assembled O gauge kits and spare I gauge conversion sets. Kittle Hobby (see Railway Modeller and Continental Modeller) advertise the loco from Mamod and what might be a copy with a different brand name, at a cheaper price. Beyond that, Aster make superb screw together kits of real prototypes at superb prices and in between there are numerous British and German Garden Railway limited run locos.
Regards, Greg.P.
Check the 16mm Narrow Gauge Assoc on the web and ask them to put you in touch with USA members who will be able to tell you what is available there, or go to where one or two USA members lurk (in the nicest possible way), if you think you might be interested in that scale/gauge. I'm just getting into it, meths fired locos from about £500 but new type Mamods much cheaper. Runs on Peco 32mm track readily available in the USA.
Ken.
Sorry Greg, bad editing from a fuller reply which referred to souped up Mamods which are available but which I decided might be confusing to the OP.
Ken.
I'd just been reading the Kittle Hobbies ad in the Railway Modeller - it shows the "Mamod" at two different prices with different manufacturers names???
Regards, Greg.
A number of people have "modded" the Mamod. IP Engineering do Jane for Brandbright which I believe is a gas-fired version. Their website is down at the moment and it is not listed on Brandbright's site. Try starting from if you are interested in steam, and be prepared for lots of jumping around. Some years ago when Mamod hit the buffers I believe there was a messy contest of ownership; perhaps the name isn't cleanly owned. Came across a site called something like Small Steam recently with an amazing spares list and complete models, but like a fool I forgot to bookmark it and my history is set to delete after 72 hours:((
Ken.
Found the original site. Look at
Ken.
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