N scale

Article summary

N scale is a popular model railway scale. Depending upon the manufacturer (or country), the scale ranges from 1:148 to 1:160. Effectively the scale is 1:159, 9 mm to , 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 . 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 ( ) 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. All rails are spaced 9 mm apart but the height can differ. Rail height (in thousandths of an inch) is expressed as a "code": thus, Code 55 rails are high while Code 80 rails have a height of . Common real railroad rails are at least tall and can be taller on some roads, so at true scale the rails would be about high. Many older N-scale models may not run well on Code 55 track as their flanges are often unrealistically large, causing the wheels to bounce along the ties instead of ride along the railhead.…

Key claims

No claims recorded.

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

No sources recorded.