Mesa Grande fire

Discuss park gauge trains and large scale miniature railways having track gauges from 8" to 24" gauge and designed at scales of 2" to the foot or greater - whether modeled for personal use, or purpose built for amusement park operation or private railroading.

Moderators: Glenn Brooks, Harold_V

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Topics may include: antique park gauge train restoration, preservation, and history; building new grand scale equipment from scratch; large scale miniature railway construction, maintenance, and safe operation; fallen flags; track, gauge, and equipment standards; grand scale vendor offerings; and, compiling an on-line motive power roster.
Berkman
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Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 7:55 pm

Re: Mesa Grande fire

Post by Berkman »

One of the most enjoyable aspects of 7.5 is the opportunity to visit other tracks and the general mobility of equipment.

It's completely possible to transport a 0-4-0 with a car or two in a minivan or f150.

How many people at this point are really going to start in a new direction with a new gauge that would drastically limit their ability to buy parts/castings, used equipment etc, much harder to transport and not really any tracks to visit.

Don't get me wrong, the larger scales/gauges are neat, but 7.5 is as big as most people want to travel with. Even larger 7.5 equipment becomes a chore to load and unload a lot.
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Harold_V
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Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 11:02 pm
Location: Onalaska, WA USA

Re: Mesa Grande fire

Post by Harold_V »

One of the chief problems with larger scale is the lack of affordable machinery that is required to build the equipment. Space for the equipment is also an issue for most folks.

H
Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.
rkcarguy
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Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 10:33 am
Location: Wa State

Re: Mesa Grande fire

Post by rkcarguy »

Harlock wrote: Sat Oct 03, 2020 9:13 pm
Pontiacguy1 wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:46 am I just wonder why 9" gauge never became a thing. this is the only one I've ever heard of. I mean, take 36 and divide by 4... 1/4" scale with the correct gauge. probably just too many more 7.5" tracks around.


That being said, I wished it had caught on because it is a far better choice for narrow gauge. The way we use 9" gauge, We have correct 3" scale rail and wheel profiles, so we're not making narrow gauge engines that run on smaller standard gauge wheel and track profile like we are in 7.5". There is much more stability overall. On top of that, the de-facto IBLS draft standards for 7.5" gauge favor scale too much over stability - the flange depth is too shallow and the inside radius of the tread to flange interface is too sharp, allowing the flange to come in contact with the rail head too much. The RMI-25 profile attempted to address those items but people are exceedingly recalcitrant to change. 9" gauge is a way to start over and do it right.

I would love to see a small network of 9" gauge, 3" scale tracks with interchangeable standards. The IBLS 3" scale standard is sufficient for these. It is such a pleasure to run the Mesa engines at that gauge and scale, and everyone who has ever had a ride or pulled the throttle has agreed. It's totally different from 7.5" gauge operations. It feels far more realistic, without being a crazy increase in size.

-M
I agree with this, it's why I went off and did my own thing with 1/6th scale on 12" gage. Things are sized to still fit in a long bed pickup, yet I've got 20" wide frames and a far more stable platform and larger flange. That said, I don't plan to travel with my trains, they will remain on my property to "work". I think if I was to start traveling to different tracks I'd build or buy something in 7.5" and just install a small length of dual gage track at home for testing purposes.
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