andyman7 Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 I've just come back from a couple of weeks in Japan, including quite a bit of rail mileage. Model railways are quite popular there, certainly with a greater retail presence than in the UK. The most popular scale is N, but I was curious about how the issue of modelling the 3'6" Cape Gauge that forms the network outside the Shinkansen 'Bullet Trains' was tackled. It seems that Japanese N uses a 1:150 scale which partly compensates for the use of 9mm track gauge - but remember that in the UK we use 1:148 on 9mm gauge for supposedly standard gauge models. As far as HO is concerned it seems the scale is HOj, which is 1:80 on 16.5mm gauge track - but again, that doesn't get particularly close to the correct gauge, and British OO is of course 1:76 using the same 16.5mm gauge to supposedly represent Standard Gauge! What struck me was that in the case of N, if they stuck to the international 1:160 ratio but used Z gauge track they'd be pretty much spot on for 3'6" gauge, whilst for HO, again using the international 1:87 ratio, TT gauge track at 12mm would be just about perfect. So, do you know if anyone has tried this? Any other comments welcome too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted November 7, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 7, 2012 Shinohara do Sn3 track (16.5mm track for 1/64 models) and 11.25mm (IIRC) track. So I think there must be some Japanese modellers using more correct scale/gauge combinations. 1:120 (US/European TT so plenty of accessories) on 9mm track would be a good option. (1080mm viz 1067mm) with Code 60 rail giving a good NG appearance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted November 7, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 7, 2012 1/64 on 16.5 mm is almost spot on for 3' 6" gauge. This is popular in NZ which also uses the same gauge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyman7 Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 1:120 (US/European TT so plenty of accessories) on 9mm track would be a good option. (1080mm viz 1067mm) with Code 60 rail giving a good NG appearance. I like the sound of that. 1:120 is a nice scale to work in if you are space challenged Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mp55aec Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Look at models IMON via a translation page they offer s brief history of the various HO scale in Japan including a small portion of text about 1.80 on HO track, they make 1.87 models of Japanese prototypes and not too sure but think they make correct scale track, be it at a price! MP Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 I believe some of their early N gauge models were actually at, or close to, 1:120. I have often thought it was a great shame they didn't adopt this as their standard scale with 9mm gauge for 3' 6" and 12mm for 4' 8.5". I'm sure many items could have then been adapted to model other Cape gauge railways from around the world in TTn3.5. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dullsteamer Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Apart from IMON, World-Kougei/World Craft also produce models of Japanese 3'6" gauge prototype in 1/87th scale to run on 12mm gauge track, as well as 762mm gauge prototypes to run on 9mm gauge/HOe track. They are lovely models, but very expensive. They are available either as kits, or RTR. From what I've seen when in Japan, they are very much a niche market. Some of the small cottage manufacturers also make 1/87th scale kits, but these are very difficult to obtain outside Japan. Speaking only for myself, I'm happy enough to model in #16 gauge - 1/80th scale on 16.5mm gauge track - as there is a wide range of models available from manufacturers such as Kato, Tomix, Tenshodo, Kairyu, Modemo, Endo, HobbyModel, Tramway, Aclass, Masterpiece and Neko Publishing. I can live with the scale/gauge discrepancy! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyDuty Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Bringing this one back from the dead... I've been dabbling in Japanese modeling for a bit now (Hi, Mark!) and have been fascinated by gauge correction. 1/150 on 6.5mm is a huge visual improvement if not completely accurate; I'm setting off on a planned Inglenook in 1/80 on 12mm which will be visually better than on 16.5mm. I'd sure hate to have to convert a large quantity of equipment, though! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railsquid Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 There are some videos on Youtube by someone who's running "Nj" (Japanese 1:150 N-scale on 6.5mm track): Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Michael Edge Posted March 25, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 25, 2015 HOm (12mm TT gauge/1:87 scale) is almost spot on for 3'6" gauge, it's actually too wide for metre gauge. Curiously no-one in NZ seems to use it. If you want a really big scale quite a few NZ modellers use 9mm scale on O gauge track, there is commercial support for this scale. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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