Railroad modeling is a very popular hobby in many parts of the world, not only in North America. Reading articles in the North American magazines or websites you could be forgiven for thinking that nobody else models trains. Here is a short summary of the major features of railway modeling around the world.

North America

This market is dominated by HO (1:87 3.5mm/foot) scale which represents possibly 60% or more of the market. N scale (1:160) represents probably around 16% with O scale (1:43) following along. Other scales have still smaller user base but remain popular and string in their following but with limited involvement. Perusing the magazines you could for forgiven for thinking that NA model railroading is dominated by the HO scale "Basement Empires", and you might not be far wrong. Most locomotives and rolling stock are purchased "read to run" with some customization and weathering being done by the hobbyist. Only in O scale do we see much in the way of scratch built or kit built locomotives.

Scenery seems to be the one area where NA modelers do a lot of scratch or kit building. Laser cut wood models of structures have become common in recent years and the variety of molded plastic structure kits is quite exceptional, especially in HO and N scale.

Britain | United Kingdom

As a quirk of history and as a reflection of the difference in the size of the prototype vehicles, models in the UK use slightly different scales. The major one being OO (1:76.2 4mm/foot) which uses the same 16.5mm track gauge as the North American HO standard. Like HO in NA, OO is dominant in the UK, followed by 'N' scale (usually known as N gauge in the UK) which is a 1:148 scale (close to 2mm/foot). O scale and others are also not uncommon in the UK, but do not have the same market size as OO and N. One major difference in the UK is the variety of 'fine scale' standards and groups which exist. In parallel with the OO standard is the 4mm 'fine-scale' known as P4, or in some quarters, Scale4. It uses a track gauge of 18.83mm which is much closer to scale. EM gauge (18mm gauge) uses a track gauge of 18.2mm and is not as common. For the smaller scale modeler, their is 2mm fine-scale which is precisely 2mm/foot or 1:152. 2mm scale uses a track gauge of 9.42mm against 9mm for N scale.

The UK market has many more small manufacturers offering a wide range of products in all scales, in part because the market just isn't as large as North America, but also because their is a far wider range of locos, rolling stock and related items to select from when you look at the prototype railways systems. In NA, etched brass kits are most commonly seen in O scale. But in the UK they are very common for OO and N scale as well as for P4 and 2mm scales.

In the UK there are far more exhibitions than in NA. The country is more compact and more people do not have space for the 'empire' found in NA modeling. Clubs and individuals have been known to devote years to building layouts that will go on tour around the country.

Japan

Whilst some of the largest model manufacturers are Japanese, they tend to produce one range for local consumption, and another totally different for the rest of the world. The Japanese situation is the reverse of most of the rest of the world with N scale (1:160 for the Shinkasen standard gauge trains and 1:150 for everything else) dominating. The Japanese market does not have many HO scale products at all - they just don't have the space in their homes.

Europe

In Europe and Scandinavia there seems to be a modeling market in most countries. Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Poland and the Scandinavian countries all seem to be represented. Again 1:87 HO scale is dominant, with N scale being 1:160 in Europe. Some 2mm fine-scale modeling appears their as well. The market in the individual countries is smaller, obviously, but the quality of models in Europe possibly equals the Japanese and is generally excellent.



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About the Author
Learn more about this author, John Day at Helium.com