S Scale Model Railroad
You know what you haven’t encountered but is likely to be the next big thing in hobbying? What’s coming down the pike that has every model trainer anxious with anticipation? What gauge of toy locomotive do collectors go coo coo for?I could go on and on like this, but let me just let the cat out the bag: it’s s gauge toy trains. You got it? You don’t even know what scale that is, do you? Do you even know about different gauges? Alright, well let me give you the low down on these before you start reading about them in the news:
Two words, “American Flyer”:
In a manner of speaking it starts and ends with American Flyer. Nostalgia explains a lot. American Flyer’s s scale trains had their hey-day right after WWII when the baby boomers were starting to sprout up. American Flyer took on the role of Spartacus to Lionel’s Roman Empire and although their revolt was unsuccessful it is not surprising that toy trainers now stand up and yell “I am American Flyer” in revolt. S scale is an “inbetween” gauge, way larger than HO but smaller than Lionel’s O. S scale is one 64th the size of a real train whereas Lionel’s O scale is one 48th the size. These are still pretty hefty trains but not so much so that you would have to have them only outside. You can still really get involved with detailing with these big toy locomotives.
S gauge is not a standard gauge:
Another reason that s scale has gained such a wide following is that s scale is uncommon. A.C. Gilbert, who owned American Flyer at the time, produced this gauge as an attempt to make a brand of locomotives that would keep up with Lionel by producing high quality trains that weren’t interchangeable with Lionel trains. American Flyer trains from the 50’s only fit s scale and wouldn’t run on Lionel’s O. Because of the law of supply and demand, American Flyers brief life span has inflated the demand for their parts and sets. All of this has made American Flyer the Holy Grail of model trains for many fans.
Lionel LLC has promised to market new “vintage” s gauge trains:
American Flyer’s adversary Lionel bought them out in the 60’s and is now looking to reinvigorate both brands by re-introducing the vintage 1950’s toys that are so loved by hobbyists. The huge success of these releases has driven Lionel to promise to reproduce the s scale locomotives that committed fans are so in love with. So any day now you may be coming across new toys in this gauge and hobbyists will have yet another scale to decide between.
Now’s the time to put your chips down if you want to cash in early on this tip. If you want to say “I told you so” to your toy train friends you should jump in now. Don’t say I didn’t give you the skinny later on. It’s like the coffee house fad of the early 90s. And you said no one would ever cough out more just for some coffee.
Here is more information on Model Train Scale. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.
Tags: A C Gilbert, American Flyer, American Flyer trains, model train scale, model trains, s scale, s scale model railroad, scale, train scale
