Why is G gauge called 'G' gauge?

[TEAMYAKIMA]

I am writing a (very) brief history of G gauge for Twickenham MRC's monthly magazine and have one question please.

 

Many people might assume that the 'G' stands for Garden but I assume it stands for the German word Gross - am I right?

 

Thanks

[rue_d_etropal]

I assume the G probably came from LGB, and as you said stands for the German word Gross.

It gets far more confusing when you realise G gauge and G scale are different, but share some things and are used by marketing people to sell into the garden railway market.

G gauge is he track gauge, so as long as it runs on that gauge it sems OK to some to use that term.

G scale is more complex, and shoyld be one scale, not many as some use it. I think 1/22.5 was the original scale, which I think is same as Gauge 3 or 4. As 1/24 is pretty close it seems to be used more often.

[New Haven Neil]

I think it is widely accepted that G 'scale' isn't a scale, but more of a concept.  LGB have always used a rubber ruler, to make their models all roughly the same size from a loading gauge perspective, rather than to a scale.  Hence they all play nicely together!

[Phil Parker]

It's a can of worms. I'd stick with Gross - but then realise that the term is very loosely applied.

 

To be honest, I'd plunder the G Scale Society website: http://gscalesociety.com/what-is-g-scale/

 

Once you get more accurate, the nomenclature gets horribly complex, well beyond what you might need to a general newsletter.

[PaulRhB]

Yes G came from LGB, although they use it to mean Gross and Garten (Garden). G was meant to cover all their range which varied between 1/22.5 for narrow gauge and 1/26 for the standard gauge models with various other compressions and stretches so all the stock matched size and went round R1 2ft radius. 
G scale / gauge is really just a Lehmann creation that has become a general term like hoover  

[sncf231e]

Everything you always wanted to know about gauge and scale can be read in my free to read or download e-book on that subject (http://sncf231e.nl/gauge-and-scale/). G is described in paragraph 13.5.

Regards

Fred

[PaulRhB]

I guess you could say the term was pioneered by LGB and since a plethora of individual scale / gauge combinations have been commonly listed under its umbrella, but with specialist groups also forming to cater for each later, (that weren’t already covered by MOROP).

Edited November 11, 2020 by PaulRhB

[Paul H Vigor]

Apparently, G Gauge is called 'G' Gauge because a G string is a completely different thing!?

[markjj]

 

7 hours ago, TEAMYAKIMA said:

I am writing a (very) brief history of G gauge for Twickenham MRC's monthly magazine and have one question please.

 

Many people might assume that the 'G' stands for Garden but I assume it stands for the German word Gross - am I right?

 

Thanks

Search "origin of G-scale" on Google and it says G scale stands for Gross Bahn you assumed right 

Edited November 11, 2020 by markjj

[Nearholmer]

Always go to primary sources!

 

The very first LGB catalogue, on its very first page, says that LGB can mean either Lehmann Gross Bahn, or Lehmann Garten Bahn, see PDF here http://www.lgb-trains.com//lib/catalogs/issue68-79/pub/gbdb.info/Kat_1968.pdf .

 

By their second catalogue, they had come off the fence a bit, because splashed across the cover were the words Lehmann Gross Bahn.

[PaulRhB]

22 hours ago, sncf231e said:

Everything you always wanted to know about gauge and scale can be read in my free to read or download e-book on that subject (http://sncf231e.nl/gauge-and-scale/). G is described in paragraph 13.5.

Regards

Fred

Fred, very interesting but one minor amendment on p30. The Bing table railway was available from November 1922 in time for Christmas. That’s from Jeff Carpenters history ‘Bings Table Railway’ & Brighton Toy Museums site https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/index/Category:Bing_Table_Railway

 

 

[sncf231e]

Paul, Thank you.

I do not remember where I found the 1923 year, but looked now again at some of the books I used as a source. See what the cover of this bilingual Bing Table Railway book shows:

So I am being incorrect in the good company of author Peter Berg 

 

Regards

Fred

[PaulRhB]

Oops he can’t decide on the cover! I suspect he’s just made a typo as on the next edition and his website it’s just 1922.  
http://www.tischeisenbahn.de/page3.htm

 

[jonny777]

17 hours ago, Paul H Vigor said:

Apparently, G Gauge is called 'G' Gauge because a G string is a completely different thing!?

 

And G Gauge certainly hits the spot. 

 

 

[ossygobbin]

27 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

 

And G Gauge certainly hits the spot. 

 

 

is this the G thread ?

[Hando]

G gauge is a really complex topic because it has so many different scales.

Obviously, the simplest way of describing G gauge is it can either represent standard gauge in Gauge 1 (1:32) or metre gauge in G scale Officially IIm gauge* (1:22.5).

It gets more nuanced when you are modelling a particular type of track gauge.

For 3 foot gauge, most UK modellers settle on a compromise of 16mm scale (1:19.05), which means they can use more readily-available building kits and figures. However- this means that the track gauge is too small (with the non-existent 2 feet 9 3/4 inch gauge on 45mm gauge track) and everything except the rolling stock is under-scale as a result. Some Manx and Irish modellers have adopted 15mm scale (1:20.3), originally used by modellers in the US, and referred to as "F scale" over there. 15mm scale accurately represents 3ft gauge on 45mm gauge track, unlike 16mm. However, there is little-to-no support in terms of 15mm scale buildings and people, except from the US market.

There is also the extremely-rare 1/2 inch scale (1:24), which is used to model 3 foot 6 inch gauge on 45mm gauge. It can be also used to model British 3ft gauge trains in better proportion to the track, however- the track gauge is incorrect if used in this way. I don't know of any examples of this scale being used.