Common carrier United States narrow gauge railroads were THREE foot. Here is how it goes, HO track is 16.5mm. If we divide 16.5 by 3 we get 5.5mm. That scales to 1/55 for an inch, strange scale right, 1/55? Military modeling has 1/56 or 28mm figures, there are figures, wagons, vehicles in the 28mm world. Why not make the models to 5.5mm/ft?
There are two narrow gauge eras: the era of narrow gauge fever and the era of survivors after the narrow gauge crash. Historians consider narrow gauge dead after 1893 because very little new narrow gauge was built in the United States. There were pockets of survivors that lasted into the 1960's.
The On30 Bachmann inside frame 4-4-0 is really too small to be a 1/48 scale locomotive. In 1/55 it is great. Looks like the picture, eh! The other Bachmann On30 locomotives are suitable for the post narrow gauge crash era 55n3.
Sn3 freight cars are post 1900 S Scale 3 foot prototypes. They scale out to early 55n3 cars. The ladders and grabs are the right size and placement also.
Early three foot locomotives can be made from HO locomotives. The Mantua HO ten-wheeler is a good starting point for a 5.5mm/foot three foot gauge loco.
(Click Images to Enlarge)
"We DON'T need no stinkin' letter!!!"
5.5mm/ft - 1:55 - Scale 55 Sounds good
There has been modeling 2 foot prototypes. They have been modeling in 5.5mm/foot since 1963.
Here is Malcom Savage's model of Tasmania's North-East Dundas Tramway locomotive K1 - the first Beyer-Garratt.
(Click Image to Enlarge)
HO Track IS Scale 55 Three Foot Track
(Click Images to Enlarge)
First's ya needs a scale rule - OVER 750 DOWNLOADS Join the FUN
The first thing you need is a "scale", click our link .
Forums and Associations discussing 5.5mm/ft
There is also their Yahoo Forum
What does only 10-15% scale difference mean?
A linear difference of 10-15% doesn't sound like much, right. Here is our rogues gallery of figures of major scales HO(3.5mm, 1/87), OO(4mm, 1/76), S(3/16",1/64), 55(5.5mm, 1/55), American O(1/4", 1/48). Notice the big difference in volume. That is our HO gauge track representing three foot track in Scale55 next to PSC On3 track. Big difference, more railroad in less space.
Objects aren't "N, HO...S, O, etc. SCALE". An object is what it measures.
That is the idea behind 55n3, we are taking models from other scales and converting them to 55n3. No one makes 55n3, Bachmann makes models that can be used in 55n3 because they match plans in Scale55. That is why we have a scale rule. Measure a model, if it is the right size for Scale55 it is Scale55. The Bachmann On30 equipment is small O scale narrow gauge, but put a Scale55 ruler on the equipment and it becomes 55n3. Now it is realistic three foot equipment.
55n3 gives a modeler the ability to model both periods of THREE FOOT American narrow gauge in the same space as HO scale within a realizable budget. It is a format that EVERYONE can build in and AFFORD. There is enough available to accomplish this goal, more than any other scale. 55n3 uses track available at the local hobby shop, no other narrow gauge scale can say that.
Hope you join me in this endeavor.
REAL American Narrow Gauge for EVERYONE
Track is what sets 55n3 apart from other scales. You can go to your hobby shop and buy 55n3 track, it is ALWAYS readily available HO gauge track!!!
Roundhouse HO locomotives become smaller mining and logging locomotives. The become very good beginning of narrow gauge locomotives.
55n3 has the only affordable Ready-to-Run 3 foot gauge 4-4-0
"Modern" Narrow Gauge - Modeling Narrow Gauge Survivors
Before the Crash of Narrow Gauge Fever
Do you want narrow gauge to look like that picture running on THREE FOOT TRACK? There is no other scale that provide equipment to model early narrow gauge. On30 won't do it, On3 won't do it, Sn3 won't do it. This is a great idea to do it, believe me. Common carrier narrow gauge railroads in the United States were THREE FOOT gauge.
The Bachmann On30 rod locomotives can be used to model the "second generation" three foot narrow gauge equipment. After 1900 the locomotives got a lot bigger mainly geared for the export market. The only On30 Bachmann locomotive that doesn't translate to 55n3 is the "Tweetsie" ten-wheeler. It is an example of a "second generation" narrow gauge motive power. The 4-6-0 is very large. The remaining Bachmann On30 locomotives represent very small thirty inch gauge prototypes. This translates very well to 55n3.
Even the Mogul moves to 55n3 even though it is a three foot prototype. It is a small early three foot locomotive that is similar to Baldwin's later catalog locomotives.
The Bachmann On30 freight cars are very small early 3 foot prototypes. They scale better as 1/55 cars of the "modern" era than 1/48. The ladders and grabs are the right size and placement also.
Herb Kephart built these Scale55 cars back in the Mid-50's.
A graph showing the two eras of narrow gauge. The mass of extinction of "narrow gauge" began about 1885. That was the end of narrow gauge fever and standard gauging or abandonment.
The remaining narrow gauge lines existed because they were hauling coal or gravel to build the roads that eliminated the railroad.
(Click Image to Enlarge)
Won't we have to scratchbuild everything? Where will we get cars and locomotives? Bachmann On30 gives us the inside frame 4-4-0 and HO locomotives can be converted to represent the narrow gauge before the crash. Bachmann's other On30 locomotives are good representatives of after the crash. Bachmann On30 freight cars convert to 55n3 easily, becoming a more typical 29' car.
This website will post articles about modeling in 5.5mm scale on HO track. Hopefully someone will follow me in this venture.
I guess it has to have a name, Scale55 sounds good, we don't want to go into that "letter jungle" . Sorta like the proto guys with P:87 and P:48. 55n3 being a subset.
(Click images to enlarge)
A Mantua HO Ten-Wheeler against a 1/55 scale plan of an early 4-4-0. Shown here with Scalelink 19mm self-quartering drivers. Here the crew is trying to get the rear one back on the track.
The PBL Sn3 car comes close to the Ohio River and Western #605. Sn3 cars just have to be raised up at the bolster. HO trucks with 36" wheels become early 3 foot trucks. The #605 is the prototype for the Bachmann On30 car. Shown here with a Mantua ten-wheeler as a 4-4-0/
(Click Image to Enlarge)
The On30 Mogul is mechanically close to the Brooks Colorado and Northwestern #1 and Baldwin Catalog moguls. The 44" drivers match the Brooks. A 2-8-0 can be made using an HO Bowser frame and drivers with very little work. The 2-8-0 merge is a close match to the Southern Pacific/NCNG consolidations. The tender is the right size for a typical "modern" era small 2-8-0.
The Bachmann On30 2-8-0 scales out to a Baldwin Catalog 10-28-E. It matches this NdeM locomotive in dimensions.
The passenger cars go well with our high drivered 4-4-0.
The Bachmann On30 cars boxcars are close to the Uintah Railway's "modern" era boxcars. They just need to be lowered. They are 29 Foot long in 55n3.
The Bachmann On30 gondolas and flats can be narrowed a scale foot to represent a typical early era narrow gauge gondola. An hour is all that it takes to narrow a gondola or a flat car.
The Bachmann On30 stock car has no known prototype except Bachmann's large scale rendition using a standard gauge car. It will suffice.
The Passenger cars match later cars and can be lowered for the earlier era.
A Uintah flatcar on the left and a Bachmann On30 flatcar on the right on HO Track
Steve Jones's 55n3 layout
Ted Hawkin's pioneer 55n3 layout
