HO scale mile
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ThoroughBreed
Dcc~detail~diesel freak
60.689' in a ho mile
MilesWestern
Member
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MilesWestern
Member
Really? I figured it was 87 feet.
ThoroughBreed
Dcc~detail~diesel freak
1 mile is 5280', *12"= 63 360 inches, /87= 728.2758" /12" = 60.68965'
MilesWestern
Member
Wow, cool Thoroughbreed! Thanks, I had no Idea, but the math is simple enough. 
Oops, mybad.
Oops, mybad.Here's how I figured it. I read that 1 HO foot is 3.5mm. 3.5mm = .137"
12 devided by .137 = 87.6
5280 devided by 87.6 = 60.27
Or
.137" x 5280 = 723.36 devided by 12 = 60.28
jbaakko
Diesel Detail Freak
Even odder, ScaleRailsOnline has a scale calculator that says 1 mile in HO is 728.28 inches (60.69ft), so I think I missed a step on my calculation, though is seems it should be correct.
Hummm, I dunno, I can tell there's something wrong, guess this equates to why I'm NOT a math major.
Hummm, I dunno, I can tell there's something wrong, guess this equates to why I'm NOT a math major.
I thank God for calculators.
Selector
Well-Known Member
One HO inch is 87 real inches. So, how many of those 87 inch real bunches are there in a real mile with (so many) inches? That figure will be HO inches, but measured full scale on your layout.
A real mile has 5280 feet, each with 12". So that's 5280 times 12", which comes to 63360 real inches. We said there were 87 real inches in 1 layout inch, so we take the 63360 and divide that by 87 to get layout inches. That figure is 728.3". To get that over to feet, we have to divide it by 12" per foot, and that comes to 60.7', in round figures.
A real mile has 5280 feet, each with 12". So that's 5280 times 12", which comes to 63360 real inches. We said there were 87 real inches in 1 layout inch, so we take the 63360 and divide that by 87 to get layout inches. That figure is 728.3". To get that over to feet, we have to divide it by 12" per foot, and that comes to 60.7', in round figures.
GandyDancer
Member
Wow that would be something
But in general to this conversation, HO scale isn't 1:87th but 1:87.1th.
So one real inch is 87.1 HO scale inches. When one gets into thousands of them that 0.1 starts adding up.
GandyDancer
Member
Nothing odd about that. It is not computing what you think it is. Use full labels to get the true meaning.
5280 real feet per mile / 3.5 mm = 1508.71 real feet per mile per 3.5mm
assuming the 3.5mm is meant to be = 1 HO scale foot.
then substituting it becomes: 1508.71 real feet per mile per HO scale foot.
1508.71 real feet per mile per HO scale foot / 24.5 HO scale feet per real inch
the "HO scale feet" cancel so = 59.39 real feet mile per real inch.
I never thought I would see the day that elementary algebra would be called "cool" by a young person.
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I'm a bit slow so I can't do it quick.
Red Oak & Western
Active Member
Josh -
The problem with your calculation was you divided by 3.5, you needed to multiple.
HO scale is 3.5 (actual) millimeters = 1 (scale) foot. The 1:87 or 1:87.1 ratios are both approximations (it's actually 87.08588845749120069668710765993, far to cumbersome to work with).
One HO scale mile equals 18480 actual millimeters, so at the standard conversion rate of 1mm = 0.03937 inch, 1 scale mile equals 727.5576 inches, or very slightly under 60 feet, 7 9/16 inches.
So, yes, an HO scale mile is about 60 feet.
The problem with your calculation was you divided by 3.5, you needed to multiple.
HO scale is 3.5 (actual) millimeters = 1 (scale) foot. The 1:87 or 1:87.1 ratios are both approximations (it's actually 87.08588845749120069668710765993, far to cumbersome to work with).
One HO scale mile equals 18480 actual millimeters, so at the standard conversion rate of 1mm = 0.03937 inch, 1 scale mile equals 727.5576 inches, or very slightly under 60 feet, 7 9/16 inches.
So, yes, an HO scale mile is about 60 feet.
I was awful darn close though. In fact close enough to make it negligible. But you said under 60'. Me and a few others came up with 60 feet and some change.
ThoroughBreed
Dcc~detail~diesel freak
So, if we just say that 1 HO scale mile is ~ 60.25", or if we avg the above answers, we have 60.02", then we can have an approximate answer for this topic?
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