Possible Sources for 1:32

Written by Paul D. Race for Family Garden Trains

Okay, so you've done the math, and you know that 1:32 is the correct scale for modeling modern North American trains on 45mm (1.775") track (the kind used by G scale trains). But most Large Scale models of modern trains were 1:29 in scale, 10% too big for the track they run on. For many years, model railroaders wo were dead set on modeling in 1:32 had to scrounge from a handful of hard-to-find products, use toylike equipment, or build everything themselves. Back in those days, I wrote this article to help people in that position find something they could use to put together a 1:32 railroad.

Today, the MTH RailKing 1:32 products, such as the MTH Challenger, have changed all of that. After a few delays (common to Large Scale manufacturing, so you can't just blame MTH), MTH is making a pretty good variety of 1:32 equipment, including a mix of passenger and freight equipment, and a few fine, reasonably-priced locomotives. If you want to model 1:32, there is very little stopping you at the moment, especially if you are modeling railroads for whom MTH is making prototypes. But if you want to look beyond the MTH RailKing catalog and see what else is (or has been) available, this article lists possible alternatives.

Theoretically speaking, 1:32 equipment should be about 10% smaller than equivalent 1:29 equipment. A well-proportioned 1:32 model will be about 90% of the size of a well-proportioned 1:29 model in every direction. Details like handrails should also be smaller and closer together than similar details on the 1:29 models.

Unfortunately some people think that any car that sits lower or is shorter in length than a similar 1:29 car "must be" 1:32. This isn't true at all--the car may be a model of a different prototype (such as a narrow gauge car), or it may have proportions that are out of scale with itself (say, 1:24 in height and 1:32 in length and width).

For your help in sorting this out, my article "Mixing and Matching Large Scale Cars/ Sample Car Measurements" provides measurements of many freight cars and cabooses from most LS manufacturers. But, for ease of use, I've determined to organize the same information from the point of view of a reasonably serious Large Scale Standard Gauger who really wants his or her trains to be 1:32.

You know, of course, that you can use anybody's track products. However, if you really are starting from scratch, you should consider using a lower profile than the LGB-style rail that most folks are using in Large Scale. After all, one of the reasons for going to 1:32 instead of the better-supported 1:29 is that the relationship between the train and the track it runs on is supposed to be more realistic. Running the relatively small 1:32 equipment on rails that are way too tall for 1:29 would not exactly enhance realism.

The rest of this article deals with rolling stock, which, once you get outside the MTH catalog, is a little harder to come by than low-profile track.

Who (besides MTH) Makes Stuff You Might Use?

• MDC
• Lionel Large Scale
• Maerklin

Also, in case you've heard otherwise, painting first-generation narrow gauge LGB-proportioned cars with Standard Gauge road names does not make them 1:32 (or 1:29). For more information on this urban legend, refer to the Appendix of my article "Which Scale Should I Model?"

MDC (Model Die Casting)

Issues you face when you're selecting MDC equipment include:

• Disappearing Stock--Even when they were in business, MDC manufactured in spurts, so something could disappear from the shelves then reappear a few years later. Now that they're out of business, of course, the products are becoming much harder to find.
• Toylike Details--Some MDC models are characterized by very toy-like levels of detail, as though they enlarged their molds for their HO models and did not add or modify any details. On earlier MDC refrigerator cars, for example, the handrails and ladders are molded on, the truck-frames have springs molded into them, etc. The molded-in handrails aren't as offensive on the ore and hopper cars, since there is still a "see-through" effect, but it makes those early box-cars and reefers look like oversized postwar American Flyer.
• Offscale Equipment--While I haven't measured an MDC locomotive, I have measured the freights and cabooses, with widely differing results:
  • The refrigerator cars and hoppers seem to be 1:32. (They certainly look too small to work with 1:29). Friends who owned a string of the hoppers were pleased overall with their look.
  • The cabooses are 1:24. (The AristoCraft wooden bobber caboose is actually smaller in scale, although it's advertised as 1:29.)
  • The ore cars seem a little oversized for 1:29, which would make them even more out of scale for 1:32. I use mine chiefly with some 1:24 stuff. Still, you might could get by with them, since the overall size of the cars is still fairly small, due to the choice of prototype. That said, if you can come across some of these fairly cheap, pick them up, period--they're very useful and attractive.

Lionel

• Spurty Manufacturing--Lionel's manufacturing was even more erratic than MDC's--At this time, Lionel has "officially" abandoned Large Scale manufacturing, except for Thomas, and some Christmas trains, but even when they were supposedly active, they would go for years without making anything but new paint jobs on old shells (as though they thought the same approach they've been using to "milk" O-gauge collectors all these years would work in a new scale without an established collector market).

  Now there are rumors that they may come back, but don't hold your breath waiting for a particular item to show up new in the stores. Still, you occasionally see some Lionel in closeouts, auctions, and the like, so you might as well know something about it before you bid on it or "write it off."

• Poor Detail--Lionel box and refrigerator cars have molded-on handrails, ladder rungs, and roofwalks. Combined with the offscale proportions, these cars look even more toylike than the MDC equivalents (except that some of the paint jobs are a little nicer). That said, I have one Lionel refrigerator car that I run with my "milk run" passenger trains on occasion. I have heard better things about some of the other freights that I haven't seen, such as the tank and ore cars, though.
• Offscale Equipment--Like its O-gauge kin, Lionel Large Scale equipment seems to be too tall for its length. Much of it comes out about 1:32 in length and about 1:24 in height. Still, some of it is usable, especially if you can get it cheap. The 0-6-0 locomotive, for example, is very reliable, if a little noisy because of its gear drive. In addition, I have a used a couple of the 4-4-2 (Atlantics), in various paint schemes, and they're relatively reliable overall, although the cab is scaled a little too tall for 1:32.

Maerklin

• Most of their US-style 1:32 equipment is literally tinplate, that is stamped, lithographed steel with details painted on like the Ives cars of the early 1900s. In addition, the steam locomotives have Euro-style steam chests, an odd oversite. If you are really a closet Ives fan, you'll enjoy these trains, but don't expect to use them for a "serious" model railroad.
• The Maerklin F unit (streamlined early diesel) is injection-molded plastic, but handrails and many other details are molded on, still giving it a toylike appearance.

So What's the Short List?

Good quality and usefulness in most 1:32 applications:

• MDC Hoppers (Good proportion; see-through structure masks the molded- on handrails.)
• Lionel "Geep" freight diesels (Detail isn't great, but proportions seem about right. Don't run on PWP track without disconnecting the RailSounds system first.)
• Lionel Ore Cars (Reputedly good proportion, see-through structure masks the molded-on details.)
• Lionel Tank Cars (Reputedly good proportion, though not spectacularly detailed.)

• Lionel Atlantic steam engine (4-4-2) (Just don't run the sound version on Aristocraft PWP-powered track without disconnecting the RailSounds system first.)
• MDC Ore Cars

• MDC box cars and refrigerator cars
• Maerklin trains

• Lionel box and refrigerator cars (almost an inch too tall, so you can't use them with MDC or MTH house cars).
• Lionel gondolas or flats, if you're modeling an old-timey or industrial RR where their silly length is "justified."

• AristoCraft 20' cars (they sit slightly "high" for 1:32 and some details are oversized, but the handrail and rung spacing, etc. are compatible with most equipment labeled 1:32. This includes the AristoCraft wooden "bobber" caboose which is actually smaller than some cabooses labeled for 1:32.
• Hartland Locomotive Works (HLW) "shortie" cars, for equipping an industrial train, etc.
• Flat cars from most companies.
• Aristo heavyweights if you have a 1:32 Hudson and really wide curves (8'-radius or more is better). These are the only 1:29 passenger cars that don't sit too "high" out of the box. So they may overwhelm the Hudson's appearance lengthwise, but they shouldn't heightwise.

• Lionel Cabeese, 0-4-0, or 0-6-0 (They're all about 1:24 in cab and door height)
• MDC Cabeese (They're about 1:24, you'd be better off with the AristoCraft Bobbers; which sit lower and have smaller door heights.)
• ANY company's passenger cars (with the possible exception of the Aristo Heavyweights if you use them with a really big 1:32 engine). No one currently makes a usable heavyweight coach in anything like 1:32.
• Any first-generation narrow-gauge-style box cars, reefers, or stock cars (from LGB, USA, Bachmann, etc.), even if they're labeled for a Standard Gauge line.

Hope this helps. Please contact me if you have corrections, questions, or concerns on this subject.

Paul

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