Copyright 2009 T. Sheil & A. Sheil All Rights Reserved
The model train makers occasionally made an O-64 car wider so that it looked good on 027 track.. This enhancement would result in a car with a 1/64 length and a 1/60 width. Likewise, it was common for people to use 30mm figures for O-64 and S gauge. 30mm scale. is 1/60, or 1 5/32", or 5mm to the scale foot. The proper size for O-64 is a figure standing around 28.5mm, or 1 1/8". Therefore, allowable tolerances range from 1/65 to 1/60. This gives us a suitable buffer at both sides of the scale. We err toward 1/60 as it appears often in the 30mm figures and the adjusted width of some 027 cars.
Adjacent scales within these tolerances would include the 28mm scale used by wargamers and the 30mm scale of military miniature collectors.
Height in 3/16" Scale
6' = 1 1/8"
5' 10" = 1 3/32
5' 8" = 1 1/16"
5' 6" = 1 1/32
5' 4" = 1"
5' = 15/16"
Height in 30mm Scale
6' = 30mm
5' 9" = 28.75mm
5' 6" = 27.5mm
5'3 = 26. 25mm
5' = 25mm
25mm scale, which is also 1/72, is much too small for us.
Let us be blunt: ALL scales incorporate a degree of "plausible deniability." They overlook several scale inconsistencies. Look at how H.O. tolerated the unscale, unrealistic hook / horn coupler for all those years! Or how O Gauge "Hi-railers" conveniently ignore the oversized Lionel-type knuckle couplers. In O-64, we do not hide the scale anomaly. We accept that it is there.
Another benefit of having allowable tolerances is that it saves us from the hardcore scale fans who cannot abide what they consider the slightest inconsistency. Known as weenies, these people kill the fun for everyone. For instance, one such person in the H.O. side of a large model railroad club was a real party poop. The O Gauge contingent had over 30 people, but thanks to the weeny, the H.O. side never kept more than three members at a time. Folks quit the H.O. side in a matter of weeks. Thanks to our open tolerance of inconsistencies, such individuals will not find much of a place here.
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