Railway modelling or model railroading is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale.
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.
1 gauge, gauge 1 or gauge one is a model railway and toy train standard that was popular in the early 20th century, particularly with European manufacturers. Its track measures 1.75 in, making it larger than 0 gauge but slightly smaller than wide gauge, which came to be the dominant U.S. standard during the 1920s.
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.
ROKAL is an acronym for RObert KAhrmann Lobberich, a manufacturer of metal castings that produced a line of model railway equipment in TT scale from 1947 to 1969, based in Lobberich 80 km north of Cologne, Germany at the Dutch border.
Roco, based in Salzburg, Austria, is a manufacturer of model railway equipment.
Founded in 1906 by Karl Arnold in Nürnberg, K. Arnold & Co. began its life producing tin toys and related items. They produced an extensive line of model ships, doll house items and other toys. In 1935, K. Arnold & Co. hired Max Ernst as their managing director. Ernst, not to be confused with the German realist artist of the same name, was a significant factor in the future of Arnold.
HOn30 gauge is the modelling of narrow-gauge railways in HO on N gauge track in 1:87 scale ratio.
H0m gauge is used to represent metre-gauge trains in H0 scale. It runs on 12 mm TT scale tracks. Modern H0m trains run on realistic-looking two-rail track, which is powered by direct current, or by Digital Command Control. It is a popular scale in Europe, particularly for trains of Swiss outline.
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.
Faller is a German toy company founded in Stuttgart in 1946 by brothers Edwin and Hermann Faller. The company later relocated to the brothers' home town of Gütenbach in the Black Forest.
Kato Precision Railroad Models is a Japanese manufacturer of model railroad equipment in N and HO scales. Founded in 1957, the Tokyo-based company manufactures models based on Japanese prototypes for the Japanese market, North American prototypes for the North American market and European high-speed trains for European market. The design and distribution of models for the North American market are handled by their U.S. subsidiary, Kato USA, founded in 1986 and located in Schaumburg, Illinois.
Mehano is a Slovenian toy company, founded in 1952 as Mehanotehnika, produces a large range of both traditional and electronic toys, as well as model railroad equipment. The company had borne its current name of Mehano since 1990. Mehano applied to restructure in November 2008, following reported economic difficulties during the preceding ten years and production in Slovenia ended. In 2010, Mehano was relaunched with production in China and new branding.
Audi Sport GmbH, formerly known as quattro GmbH, is the high-performance car manufacturing subsidiary of Audi, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group.
