Sidebar: Model Scales
This highly condensed and simplified list includes the most popular scales, as well as some of the better-known minor ones, plus a few
oddballs for context. There are dozens of obscure scales that have marginal representation in the market and very narrow interests among
modelers. For a complete list, see
this Wikipedia page.
Note how the names
interchange the use of gauge and scale. It's a matter of common usage, as opposed to correctness. Also, because there are many track gauges in the real world, model proportions are sometimes adjusted
in order to make use of a common line of model track, simply as a matter of economy. Example: N Scale has three proportions, depending on the
predominant real-life track gauges used in various regions.
Name |
Ratio |
Gauge |
Notes |
G Scale |
various |
45 mm |
multiple scales depending on the real-life gauge |
Q Scale |
1:45 |
32 mm |
US variation to adjust for correct track gauge |
O Scale |
various |
32 mm |
1:43.5 UK, France; 1:45 Germany, Japan; 1:48 US |
O-27 |
1:48 |
31.75 mm |
Lionel variant of O Scale |
S Scale |
1:64 |
22.42 mm |
S stands for Sixty-fourth, the proportion |
00 Gauge |
1:76.2 |
16.5 mm |
Double-0 is still the most popular scale in the UK |
HO Scale |
1:87.1 |
16.5 mm |
derived from 00, HO is the most popular worldwide |
3 mm Scale |
1:101.6 |
various |
UK variant of TT; gauge of 12 or 14.2 mm |
TT Scale |
1:120 |
12 mm |
"Table Top" Scale, still popular in Europe |
000 Gauge |
various |
various |
predecessor to 2 mm Scale and N Scale |
HH Scale |
1:150 |
9.6 mm |
Swedish variant of N Scale from the early 1950s |
2 mm Scale |
1:152 |
9.42 mm |
British fine-scale variant of N Scale |
N Scale |
various |
9 mm |
1:148 UK; 1:150 Japan; 1:160 elsewhere |
Z Scale |
1:220 |
6.5 mm |
Märklin's answer to N Scale |
T Gauge |
various |
3 mm |
1:450 or 1:480, depending on the real-life gauge |
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