Meander's End

Trains, Boats, and...No, Just Trains

A very Happy New Year to everyone!

My, I haven't added anything to Meander's End in a long while! My apologies! I've been too...uh...nope, can't say busy...oh wait, yes I can - Al and I wrote and published our book, "A Portrait of Dorian Grey - What To Expect When You Live With Large Birds". It's a small but wonderful book that tells the honest truth about being the human part of a flock - and we wrote it so people who think birds are just feathered dogs will learn the truth!

Anyway, as you no doubt recall, my sister lives not far from us (one of the major reasons we moved here, actually) and she and I frequently take the opportunity to go on outings just to have some time together. She's usually quite busy with clubs, politics, and various organizations to which she belongs but we try to make time for each other.

Heather and her trusty camera

About three weeks ago she and I attended an exhibition of model trains that was held in one of the neighborhood recreation centers. We took scads of photos of the setups in the various sizes, and I'm eager to share them with you. Al and I have owned a set of model trains for years, and in fact, the prettiest Christmas Tree we ever displayed had not only wreaths of hand-threaded popcorn adorning it, it also had our little train set circling around it. It was very Currier and Ives - quite charming, if I do say so myself.

Our trains are boxed up now but I want to point out to you that this hobby can not only be fascinating and addictive, it can be expensive! Our little setup is "N" gauge - the second to smallest of the commonly used sets in the US. In the N gauge the average engine is only about 5 or 6 inches long and around one inch tall. At the same time, the workings and detail in the locomotives is so exact and detailed (it DOES have to pull a series of cars, after all) that while a simple passenger car might cost between $6 and $20, and an average engine might cost $40 or $50, we have one engine that cost over $150 back in the 1980s! I can't even imagine how much it would cost today.

I've been looking around the internet to find some of the details about trains to give you a better idea of what this hobby is about and I've been amazed and somewhat shocked at the prices of the locomotives! This is NOT a cheap hobby! So much so that I'll include those prices on my little graph below. The cost of locomotives varies widely, based on many factors but what I've included might give you a general idea. The cars are far less expensive than the engines, since for the most part they don't have to actually do anything but be hauled along. I didn't look up anything about the scenery or tracks so I can't say how much they'd cost.

Some of the HO gauge trains

Anyway, let me explain the gauges of model trains so you have some reference point. There are six gauges popularly collected in the US and two others (of which I'm aware) that are also used - mostly in Europe. The gauge is simple to explain:  The largest gauge is "G", which is 1:22-1/2, meaning a real train engine is 22-1/2 times as large as the model engine. A real train is 220 times larger than a Z gauge train, whose scale is 1 to 220. Get it?

SCALE                 Size Ratio to a real train                Avg Price of Locomotive
G Scale:                1:22.5                                                     $300- $1200 and up
O Scale                1.48                                                         $300 - $600 and up
S Scale                 1:64                                                        $500 - $1000 and up
HO Scale             1:87                                                         $60 and up
TT Scale **         1:120                                                       didn't find any
N Scale                1:160                                                      $50 and up
Z Scale                1:220                                                      $100-$350 and up
T Scale**            1:480                                                      didn't find any

** These two scales are popular in Europe but rare in the US.

I imagine the price of a z scale locomotive is so high because of the tiny detail work required to actually make the things work, since they're not only tiny, they're lightweight.

So off Heather and I went to the exhibit where four rooms were populated by interesting setups which we explored, photographed, and admired along with quite a lot of other people. It was very interesting to see how very involved the owners of these setups are. We chatted with several of them - all of whom are solidly in love with their hobby.

I'll post these photos in size order, even though the exhibition was not set up that way. You'll notice how the backgrounds, environments, and characters increase in complexity, detail, and availability as the gauge increases.

The smallest scale setup in the exhibition was the Z scale. There was only one, which was set up in the same room as the "N" scale (the next larger scale). There are actually 2 sets of trains moving in the pictured setup. Look closely and you'll see one of them on the near side of the figure 8.

Z Scale setup - the smallest gauge used in the US

The other set is in front of the black box at the far side of the setup. That black box is the control center where the engineer determines the speed and direction of each locomotive. The z scale locomotive is only about 2 inches long. As you can see, the landscaping is fairly simplistic - several buildings and cars, evergreen trees, some industrial-looking buildings and of course roads and grassy areas. I think there were some miniscule people there but frankly I don't recall. This was one setup amongst many, and of course, the tiniest of them all.

Next are the N gauge - the same size Al and I have. As you can see, the setup gets a little more elaborate; this one includes a river as well as roads, buildings, cars, etc but nothing animated. There were several layers of track though - t

N Gauge train

ake a look at the area on the right - there are two levels of tracks going around this mountain. The men with the green shirts are the train owners and operators. As you can see below, the options for N gauge are broader than the Z. The below left photo shows a table that was entirely filled with circus items, from buildings to rides and everything in between.

N gauge industrial area

N gauge circus settings

The next size displayed was the HO, which is the most popular size in this country. Locomotives in HO scale average about 17 inches long. The setups become more elaborate and the scenery as well as the train cars themselves offer animation. As you can see on the right, the scenes have become more detailed, with fences and shrubbery, people, animals, and all the activites one might see in any town.

This crane can load sand into the truck

The train station. Aww...see the couple on
the left saying goodbye?

Note the boats on the water
and the people on the beach!

The orange "fire" in the pumps flicker and shimmer

Okay, now we move up to the O scale - where the trains are only 1/48th the size of real trains. Here's where we get into some heavier and larger trains with yet more elaborate scenery. Everything is larger and the animations become more interesting.

You can see how big the trains are getting in relation to
the man in this photo.

O scale industrial area with oil cars on the train.

And finally, the largest model trains - the G scale, which are only 22-1/2 times as smaller than a real train. These were the juggernauts of the exhibition, with scenery elaborate and very detailed - quite a lot of it was animated, from little prairie dogs and rabbits that popped up and down from their holes in the ground to a house on fire with glowing timbers. How about a team of men welding the railroad tracks or relaxing on a lake? We even saw some wonderful vintage cars on a road near the railroad tracks. The G scale is for the true, dyed-in-the-wool train enthusiast, since the sky is the limit where scenery and animation are concerned, and the cost of locomotives and cars can be nothing short of phenomenal. We chatted with one fellow who not only displayed his prize engine for us, he let me hold it for a moment to confirm his estimate that the monster weighed over 35 pounds! He said he had paid over $1200 for it, and I can believe it easily! This was the last room we visited and I'm glad we saved the best for last - everything else paled in comparison. The six photos below are just a taste of the scenery I photographed, from construction sites to a mountainside of burned trees that reminded me of the hillsides of California after the wild fires. This was truly amazing - an incredible hobby into which the afficianados pour their hearts and creativity. If you have a chance to visit such an exhibition in your area, I heartily suggest you take advantage of it - you'll be amazed and delighted! I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed the event!