Is Kato N scale the same as Atlas N scale?


S

Scott75atm

New Member
Hi,
I'm just getting back into N scale modeling and ran into a problem. I have an Atlas C420 diesel and a Kato Tram Light Rail, both are brand new. The problem is that the Kato seems much larger than it should be, close to the size of the diesel if not larger in some aspects. Is this because of different scale standards used or is it true to size?

Thanks for all input,

Scott
 
Actually, there is some leeway in the scale of N-scale. US and European N have slightly different scales:

Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N_scale
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N scale is a popular model railway scale.[1] Depending upon the manufacturer (or country), the scale ranges from 1:148 to 1:160. Effectively the scale is 1:159, 9 mm to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), which is the width of standard gauge railway. However the scale may vary to simulate wide or narrow gauge rail. In all cases, the gauge (the distance between the rails) is 9 mm or 0.354 in. The term N gauge refers to the track dimensions, but in the United Kingdom in particular British N gauge refers to a 1:148 scale with 1:160 (9 mm or 0.354 in) track gauge modelling. The terms N scale and N gauge are often inaccurately used interchangeably, as scale is defined as ratio or proportion of the model, and gauge only as a distance between rails. The scale 1:148 defines the rail-to-rail gauge equal to 9 mm exactly (at the cost of scale exactness), so when calculating the rail or track use 1:160 and for engines and car wheel base use 1:148.
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I only know that because I wanted to pull in some British equipment to run on my US layout.
 
I suspect the light rail tram is Japanese style N-scale. Same source as above says:


Japanese N scale[edit]​


Since the former Japanese National Railway and other major private railways adopted a track gauge of 1,067 millimetres (3 ft 6.0 in), major Japanese N-scale models adopted 1:150 with 9 mm gauge. But, in the case of Shinkansen, which adopted a 1,435-millimetre (4 ft 8.5 in) track gauge, models are scaled down to 1:160. A small number of modelers adopted a model scale of 1:120 using 9 mm gauge tracks to represent the narrow gauge railway 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge lines common in Japan. This is a different prototype gauge and scale to standard N scale with the narrower prototype gauge and called TT-gauge.
 
troyphoto said:
Actually, there is some leeway in the scale of N-scale. US and European N have slightly different scales:
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. I knew there were tiny differences, but usually ignore them because I've never had an interest in running European equipment (or at least not mixing it). I did know N-gauge track has been used for several larger scales narrow gauge, most notably was the AHM mine trains that they called HOn2-1/2. Don't know why they didn't call it HOn30. Seems like a much easier thing to say and write.
 
Iron Horseman said:
Thanks for the info. I knew there were tiny differences, but usually ignore them because I've never had an interest in running European equipment (or at least not mixing it). I did know N-gauge track has been used for several larger scales narrow gauge, most notably was the AHM mine trains that they called HOn2-1/2. Don't know why they didn't call it HOn30. Seems like a much easier thing to say and write.
Click to expand...
Probably wrote it as HOn2-1/2 (feet), so as to not so easily confuse HOn30 (inches) with HOn3 (feet).
 
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