Model Railroading Basics

Gauges

N Guage - N Gauge is about 1:148 scale, making it one of the smallest gauges for model railroading.

HO Guage - HO Gauge is 1:87 scale or "Half of O Scale", and is the most popular scale with model railroaders.

O Guage - O Gauge is 1:43 scale, made popular in the United States with trains made by the Lionel Corporation.

G Guage - G Gauge is 1:22.5 scale, and is the largest scale widely available for model railroading.

Rolling Stock

Engine - The engine or locomotive is a powered car that makes the train move.

Freight Car - A freight car is meant to carry different types of freight, including liquids, bulk materials, and containers.

Passenger Car - A passenger car carries humans, usually with some kind of seating.

Caboose - A caboose houses the crew on freight trains.

Track

Track - Track are the parallel rails (usually metal) that both model and actual train cars roll on. Track are held steady by railroad ties.

Straight Track - Track without any bends.

ABOVE: Straight Track

Curved Track - Track with a uniform bend, where a certain number of sections will form a half circle and twice as many will form a full circle.

ABOVE: Curved Track

Switch - A switch is usually shaped something like the letter y and can direct a train onto one of two sections of rail.

Rerailer - A rerailer is a special piece of track, which if you carefully roll a train car over will ensure that the car is riding properly on the rails. Rerailers are especially useful in smaller gauges such as N where getting the cars on the track can be a challenge.

ETC

Transformer - A transformer converts household AC power to a lower DC voltage to power a model train.

ABOVE: A Model Train Transformer

Scenery - Decorations for a model trains layout meant to make the layout more closely resemble the real world. Examples are model houses, trees, bridges, and even hills.

Model Railroading Basics

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Copyright 2013 by Larry Truett