Sony 'N' gauge

No experience of Japanese models but I think one time Japan used their own std of 00 with the track used by the rest of the world for HO except for Britain. This enabled them to get get a closer resemblance of of the 3ft 6" track used in Japan on most of their Railways . ISTR that where British 00 gives a less than prototype gauge Japanese

00 went the other way and it was still too wide for true to scale 3ft 6" . but closer than using HO throughout. Not sure what they use now.

G.harman

Japanese scales and gauges are all of their own. They tend to share the model track gauges (9mm and 16.5mm) with the rest of the world, but the scales can be very different.

This reflects their own heritage, 3ft6 gauge for much of their history, so models made to the scale appropriate to fit the track. The MicroAce "N" model of the early 2-4-0T is a good example, being nearer to 1:120 scale than the European scales for N.

I doubt they ever did OO gauge, as in 16.5mm track with 4mm/ft models. There will be lots of stuff to a nominal HO, being the same track standard to all intents.

- Nigel

The models that they make that run on 16.5mm gauge track are to 1:80 scale,and I've seen them refered to OO and HO.Confusing isn't it?

Neil.

Many years ago there was, if the old grey cells are functioning correctly, a Japanese firm which produced brass, unpained, but ready-to-run and built to order GWR "Kings". They were b....y pricey, but obviously sold sufficiently well for the same firm to subsequently produce an LMS "Crab". I don't remember all the details, but they were built to order with no upper limit on the number produced.

Hope this helps, and that it nudges into action a better memory than mine!

David Costigan

Japanese outline HO is basically OO in that a scale circa 1:80 is used on 16.5mm gauge to represent 3'6" gauge prototypes.

Greg.P.

Tenshodo(?) Were they 1:76.2 or 1:87 scale?

Greg.Procter. NZ

'orld Kogel's description fits David Costigan's thoughts i.e. " expensive and beautiful brass models " and uses other peoples chassis.

I doubt my son will have any '00' Japanese 'visitors' then on his layout.

I do recall that South Africa used to run oil fired steamers ...... ?

I'm surprised they don't claim to have invented train sets the way they claim to have invented everything else :o)

(kim)

and the Ffestiniog, Tony

And the Isle of Man

(kim)

Tenshodo, KTM and Imon Models are three Japanese firms that sell Japanese HO (1:80 scale on 16.5mm gauge track), these are brass models, Kato does the same with RTR plastic bodied models, much cheaper than the brass jobs. Now-a-days one can get brass models of Japanese trains to 1:87 running on 12mm gauge, or 1:80 on 13mm gauge. Tenshodo started off making Yank locos in 1:87 scale on 16.5mm gauge, quite correct, then when the Japanese modellers began to want models of their own trains, apparently it was decided to stick to the 16.5mm gauge, plenty of local Shinohara track available, and modify the scale to 1:80 to give an approximate representation of the local trains on 1067mm gauge. One wonders why they didn't select to use OO scale of 1:76, but perhaps they didn't know of its use in the U.K. The Shinkansen nominal N scale models (Kato etc.) are again to a different scale to the N scale models of the 1067mm gauge trains. Regards, Bill.

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