A question of scale

[stevep100]

Hi all
A simple question about scale I would like to design a layout in N scale with a view to creating it in the real world later I will use a base of 8' by 4' and I would like to know how to mak this out in surveyor. Do I use the rulers in N scale mode at 8' by 4' or do I measure out 8' by 4' in real scale then build the layout. I am confused. Any help much appreciated.

Thanks Stevep

[teddytoot]

It is probably simpler to work in N scale as you can then measure your track curves and lengths easier. An 8 x 4 board would be approximately 39 x 19.5 squares on the baseboard, i.e. roughly a quarter of a single baseboard. To help your planning you could put a spline fence or something round the edge of your "baseboard" so you know where you are. Don't forget the ruler in Surveyor which will be very helpful in this situation.

[stevep100]

thanks for the answer

btw how did you calculate the board size.

thanks Stevep

[StorkNest]

OK, board size in N and other scales I've done, here's a rough guide to the size of 1 baseboard in each scale.

Baseboard scale measurements
Real 2402.3 feet 720.7 metres
G 106.8 feet 32 metres
1/2 100.1 feet 30 metres
#1 75.1 feet 22.5 metres
O 50 feet 15 metres
S 37.2 feet 11.2 metres
OO 31.5 feet 9.5 metres
HO 27.6 feet 8.3 metres
TT 20 feet 6 metres
N 15 feet 4.5 metres
Z 10.9 feet 3.3 metres

And here's a rough list of one grid square per scale.

Grid square scale measurements
Real 33.37 feet 10.01 metres
G 1.48 feet 0.44 metres
1/2 1.4 feet 0.41 metres
#1 1.04 feet 0.31 metres
O 0.69 feet 0.21 metres
S 0.52 feet 0.16 metres
OO 0.44 feet 0.13 metres
HO 0.38 feet 0.12 metres
TT 0.28 feet 0.08 metres
N 0.21 feet 0.06 metres
Z 0.15 feet 0.05 metres

Now with that, let me say I think you should actually enlarge the layout beyond scale as measured by the rulers depending on your computer. I have seen several layouts done in Trainz that are on DLS, they are usually enlarged. I remember one done exactly to scale, the buildings were tightly packed and even though it contained few baseboards, it serious slowed down my computer. Another that was a 4 x 8 HO layout was fine but only because it contained few items. For N scale, look for an old layout on DLS titled N scale, has few items and is done by scale rulers but looks kinda odd to me.

There are examples of layouts that have been enlarged on DLS. both jkeenan and CincySouthernRwy (that I know of, may be others) have layouts under their name where the description shows they are from models but they were enlarged. Making a 4 x 8 HO layout take up 1/2 baseboard x 1 baseboard provides good results, good comp performance and looks pretty realistic to me. I have also seen a 13' x 19' HO layout that should fit within 1 baseboard by pure scale rulers done as a 5 x 5 baseboard route with good detailing and it look pretty realistic instead of like a model.

So for doing a model layout in Trainz, I would estimate somewhere between 4' - 8' HO scale for baseboard length instead of the one above as provided by Surveyor's Rulers. For N scale that is roughly half of HO so it doubles, that is 8' - 16' scale feet as baseboard length. For your layout, that's 1/2 x 1 baseboard.
If you measure in real scale, it will be REALLY tiny and too packed with impossible curves.

[louvain]

Originally Posted by StorkNest

If you measure in real scale, it will be REALLY tiny and too packed with impossible curves.

And this is the problem with real model railways - in order to deliver the tail-chaser nature that a lot of people desire, the resultant curves are far too tight to be realistic.

[RPearson]

Inside Trainz everything is full size. If you select a scale size to work in the rulers in surveyor change scale but nothing else happens. It's simply an easy way to convert from the model size to full size. Since nscale is defined as 1:160 you simply multiple the n scale dimension by 160 to get the full size ones. That's why 4'x8' works out to 640 x 1280 feet or roughly 195 x 390 m. Get used to working in metric sizes since some things in Trainz have to be entered in meters - heights, water depths and trigger radii.

Bob Pearson