Railway modelling or model railroading is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale.
Large scale or G scale is a track gauge for model railways which, because of its size and durability, is often used outdoors. These garden railways use a fixed track gauge of 45 millimetres (1.75 in) to represent a range of rail transport modelling scales between narrow gauge (~1:13‒1:19‒1:20), metre gauge (1:22.5), Playmobil trains (~1:24), and standard gauge (~1:29–1:32). These scales all use the same track and wheel profiles, allowing different scales of models to be operated together.
The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) is a non-profit organization for those involved in the hobby or business of model railroading. It was founded in the United States in 1935, and is also active in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. It was previously headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, and was based in Chattanooga, Tennessee next to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) from 1982 to 2013 and has since relocated to Soddy Daisy.
Digital Command Control (DCC) is a standard for a system to operate model railways digitally. When equipped with Digital Command Control, locomotives on the same electrical section of track can be independently controlled.
O scale is a scale commonly used for toy trains and rail transport modelling. Introduced by German toy manufacturer Märklin around 1900, by the 1930s three-rail alternating current O gauge was the most common model railroad scale in the United States and remained so until the early 1960s. In Europe, its popularity declined before World War II due to the introduction of smaller scales.
HO or H0 is a rail transport modelling scale using a 1:87 scale. It is the most popular scale of model railway in the world. The rails are spaced 16.5 mm (0.650 in) apart for modelling 1,435 mm standard gauge tracks and trains in HO.
N scale is a popular model railway scale. Depending upon the manufacturer, the scale ranges from 1∶148 to 1∶160. In all cases, the gauge is 9 mm or 0.354 in. The term N gauge refers to the track dimensions, but in the United Kingdom in particular British N gauge refers to a 1∶148 scale with 1∶160 track gauge modelling. The terms N scale and N gauge are often inaccurately used interchangeably, as scale is defined as ratio or proportion of the model, and gauge only as a distance between rails. The scale 1∶148 defines the rail-to-rail gauge equal to 9 mm exactly, so when calculating the rail or track use 1∶160 and for engines and car wheel base use 1∶148.
S scale is a model railroad scale modeled at 1:64 scale, S scale track gauge is 0.883 in. S gauge trains are manufactured in both DC and AC powered varieties. S gauge is not to be confused with toy train standard gauge, a large-scale standard for toy trains in the early part of the 20th century.
TT scale is a model railroading scale, whose name stands for table top.
Z scale is one of the smallest commercially available model railway scales (1:220), with a track gauge of 6.5 mm / 0.256 in. Introduced by Märklin in 1972, Z scale trains operate on 0–10 volts DC and offer the same operating characteristics as all other two-rail, direct-current, analog model railways. Locomotives can be fitted with digital decoders for independent control. Model trains, track, structures, and human/animal figures are readily available in European, North American, and Japanese styles from a variety of manufacturers.
Bachmann Industries is a Bermuda registered Chinese owned company, globally headquartered in Hong Kong; specialising in model railroading.
German: Normen Europäischer Modellbahnen are standards for model railroads, issued by the MOROP.
A garden railroad or garden railway is a model railway system set up outdoors in a garden. While G is the most popular scale for garden railroads, 16 mm scale has a dedicated and growing following especially in the UK. Model locomotives in this scale are often live steam scale models of British narrow gauge prototypes. 16 mm scale track, the same gauge as O gauge is probably now more popular in the UK than G scale.
HOn30 gauge is the modelling of narrow-gauge railways in HO on N gauge track in 1:87 scale ratio.
On30gauge is the modelling of narrow gauge railways in O scale on HO gauge track in 1:48 scale ratio by American and Australian model railroaders, in 1:43.5 scale ratio by British and French model railroaders and 1:45 by Continental European model railroaders.
Rail transport modelling uses a variety of scales to ensure scale models look correct when placed next to each other. Model railway scales are standardized worldwide by many organizations and hobbyist groups. Some of the scales are recognized globally, while others are less widespread and, in many cases, virtually unknown outside their circle of origin. Scales may be expressed as a numeric ratio or as letters defined in rail transport modelling standards The majority of commercial model railway equipment manufacturers base their offerings on Normen Europäischer Modellbahnen (NEM) or National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) standards in most popular scales.
Selectrix is a digital model train control system developed by German company Döhler & Haas for model railway manufacturer Trix in the early 1980s. Selectrix is based on a data communication protocol developed originally by Siemens for communication between mainframe computers.
The Friendship of European railway modellers is a modular rail transport modelling standard. Individual track and scenery modules are built to a common standard and are joined together to make larger model railway layouts. The FREMO standards were created following a meeting in Europe in 1981.
