Within the narrow gauge garden railway hobby, the terms “scale” and “gauge” and their various acronyms can be a little confusing, especially for those migrating from indoor scales or other modelling hobbies. So to try and clear things up a bit, here is a list of the scale and gauge combinations we supply and a few notes which may help you if you are completely new to the hobby. We are aware other scale/gauge nomenclatures are used in other countries when talking about the same thing!
SM32
Scale = 16 millimeters to the foot
Ratio = 1:19
Track gauge ( model) = 32 millimeters or 1 1/4 inches. This also known as “O gauge”
Track gauge (prototype) = about 2 feet (e.g. 1 foot 11 3/4 inches , 60 cm as well as 2 foot)
SM45
Scale = 16 millimeters to the foot
Ratio = 1:19
Track gauge ( model) = 45 millimeters or 1 3/4 inches. This also known as “gauge 1” and “G gauge”
Track gauge (prototype) = about 3 feet (e.g. 2 foot 6 inches ,1 meter as well as 3 foot)
SE32
Scale = 7/8 inch to the foot
Ratio = 1:13.7
Track gauge ( model) = 32 millimeters or 1 ¼ inches. This also known as “O gauge”
Track gauge (prototype) = about 18 inches
SE45
Scale = 7/8 inch to the foot
Ratio = 1:13.7
Track gauge (model) = 45 millimeters or 1 3/4 inches. This also known as “gauge 1” or “G gauge”
Track gauge (prototype) = about 2 feet (e.g. 1 foot 11 3/4 inches , 60 cm as well as 2 foot)
“G Scale”
This a scale gauge we don’t currently sell rolling stock for, but for reference:-
G scale always run on 45 mm or 1 ¾ inch track. Different manufactures use different scale ratios to represent different prototypes e.g. meter gauge prototypes are built to a ratio of 1:22.5 For a fuller explanation of G scale have a look at this page.
We sell our building kits in two different scales
1/20
This is a compromise making our buildings suitable for both “sixteen millimeter” and “G scale” modelers.
1/13.7
We are making a few of our smaller buildings available in this scale for “7/8” modelers. Producing a large building in 7/8 scale is just not economically viable!
