Running with more scale correct rail gauge?

[David]

Ok, Japanese N scale is a bit weird.

 

N gauge is 9mm track, and is normally modeled at 1:160 scale so that the rail is a scale match for standard gauge (1435mm -> 8.96875mm)

 

While the UK runs on standard gauge, the scale was modified there to be 1:148 because the prototype locomotives where small, too small for the electric motors of yesterday.

 

Japan is weirder. Japan has 1435mm (standard) gauge rail for the Shinkansen and 1067mm (cape) gauge for almost everything else. The Shinkansen exactly matches 1:160/9mm, but for cape gauge to match 9mm track you would need a scale of about 1:119. That scale would be completely off next to 1:160 Shinkansen, so instead the seemingly arbitrary 1:150 exists to make them a bit bigger then the track, but not too much larger then Shinkansen .

 

What is unfortunate is that Z scale did not exist at the time - Z scale track (6.5mm) is an almost perfect match for cape gauge at 1:160 (6.66875mm).

 

What brought this all up was seeing a Japanese modeler who actually modified a recent Kato DCC ready train to run on Z gauge track

http://www.diotown.com/creative/2011/05/223-2000-n-to-nj-gauge-conversion.html

 

This is an interesting conversion, the only problem being that the train is still not quite in scale. Instead of being much too small compared to the rail, it is now a little bigger then it should be.

[clem24]

What brought this all up was seeing a Japanese modeler who actually modified a recent Kato DCC ready train to run on Z gauge track

http://www.diotown.com/creative/2011/05/223-2000-n-to-nj-gauge-conversion.html

 

This is an interesting conversion, the only problem being that the train is still not quite in scale. Instead of being much too small compared to the rail, it is now a little bigger then it should be.

 

That is pretty darn cool. Except the perceived differences just doesn't to be worth the hassle. Looks like the power trucks had to be modified quite a bit. I think for a tiny little layout, especially a small diorama with both narrow and Shinkansen scene would be totally worth it!

[rankodd]

Interesting timing. I was just thinking about this today when I was playing with my Rokuhan Z-scale track, which is pretty nice stuff.

 

Didn't know that the NJ scale was so off. 1:119 is a fair shake off of 1:150...

[ToniBabelony]

A more well known website of a bloke who does this on a larger 'scale': http://vivant.jp/mokeiseisakusyo.htm He even includes weathering with his models. :)

[The_Ghan]

I love the idea of being prototypical about the track gauge but wouldn't change myself.  My committment to 9mm track runs at around $2,000 - maybe more, so I wouldn't change my existing layout.  However, if I was starting a layout from scratch and Kato, Tomix and Co offered a decent range of N gauge on Z track (with appropriate radii and turn outs for N gauge) I'd probably head in that direction.  Perhaps the manufacturers could get away with a 6.5mm bogie part swap.  As Clem said, I think the 6.5mm beside 9mm shinkansen track could be quite seductive.

[ToniBabelony]

True, a combination of 6,5mm and 9mm tracks is quite tempting. If that were an option I'd go for a Kansai based collection, or a dedicated Kintetsu collection. Bogie/wheel swaps would be very seductive, but as I'm still a poor student who has invested a lot in N-gauge tomix track, I don't think I'll be tempted to switch to 6.5mm. I'd rather use 6.5mm for Nn3 practices to simulate 762mm narrow gauge lines.

[Mudkip Orange]

1:150 is an exact match to the Tokyo streetcar network's 1372mm, and to the lines which connected to it. Today these include:

 

Toden Arakawa Line

Tokyu Setagaya Line

All lines of the Keio Corporation except for the Inokashira Line, which was originally an Odakyu property but got moved to Keio through the WWII railway consolidations and their subsequent deconsolidation.

 

The primary reason for the scale discrepancy is the significant difference in loading gauge between the Shinkansen (3380mm) and the original 1067mm network (historically 2800mm, now 2950mm). A 2950mm train in 1:150 is the same size as a 3150mm wide train in 1:160. Why didn't they go further? I don't know, but I'd guess that 1067mm-prototype EMUs that are taller than Shinkansen would look "wrong," and 1:150 is a way to reduce the size difference without totally eliminating it.

 

Incidentally, modeling the Shinkansen in 1:160 and enlarging the 1067mm trains (as opposed to doing the 1067mm at 1:160 and shrinking the Shinkansen) is what allows Japanese components like platforms and viaducts to work with other countries' models. Shinkansen at 11'1" are wider than both AAR and Berne, so if the scales are identical they will always be wider.