A 3/4 view shot of the Big Hauler and the USA caboose. Next to that photo is the the 1:22.5 bobber caboose These were
pretty small, in the real world. You can see how it begins to dwarf the USA trains 1:XX caboose. Note the scale sized boulders! {joke...}
The lesson here is that rolling stock of various scales can look ok togther. The easiest way to get a handle these scale variations is to have 2 or 3 rail lines seperated or run like-size rolling stock. Don't mixmatch some of the more obvious larger scale size pieces with diminutive rolling stock. Most telltale scale discrepancies appear, as mentioned many times before, with things like doors, lamps, tools, wheel diameters, couplers and trucks. One of the scale discrepancies I have found on the 1:22.5, 4-6-0 Bachmann is the diameter of the drivers. Again - not something that glares out at you. That is why the 4-6-0 is a viable engine for 1:20.3 layouts. The engine is actually a little larger than 1:22.5 [parts of it, that is]. Because it is somewhat of a "G"eneric scale, it can find a nice home on a 1:20.3 layout:
" A 1:20.3 scale model of the Southern Pacific Narrow Gauge 4-6-0 Number 18, for example, would have dimensions very close to those of Bachmann's model, including the cab height. " - Finescale Railroader, Vol. 5, Number 6, page 20.
Frankly, it seems that up until recently, many of the LS offerings are about 1:29 or 1:32 or `1:22.5. The 1:20.3 manufacturers, tend to be more accurate in their offerings, but there is a sliding scale of tolerance about fidelity to prototype. Since Box cars, flat cars and most rolling stock is generic - prototypical lengths and heights tend to be all over the board.
I have a Mountain line behind the above two photos. I tend run my Mining trains there. I do not have a Shay or Climax but the Bachmann Porter and LGB Stainz seem to fit up there well. I eventually did get a Bachmann Heisler for the mountain line.
A recent discussion about the age old question of scale cropped up on MyLargeScale.com. As usual, I had to go and grab some rolling stock and my camera to make a photo essay of the situation.
In looking at the first photo on the right, the Caboose looks pretty good next to the 4-6-0. Generally, the 4-6-0 is about 1:22.5.
Of course, there are several components of the USA caboose that assist in making the comparison viable. Simply - beyond 10 feet, most people are not going to see a profound difference in scale.
So what it the scale of USA trains wooden cabooses? Well, there was a lot of stuff made by USA trains is the beginning that was much like the 1:22.5 scale LGB items.
Frankly - since a real caboose was made in so many sizes, shapes, lengths - it can easily be 1:29 or 1:22.5. The statistics on the side of the caboose in my CB&Q model suggest that the prototype was 34 ft., 6 inches long. That number is believable if you measure out the caboose using 1:29 standards which would make the length about .5 inches too long. In other words - you can't trust the numbers on the sides. If the wooden caboose in these photos was actually 1:22.5, then the length would have to be 18.4 inches long [it's about 14.75 inches long].
