Standard Gauge?

[hellgate]

Hello
I am new to Anyrail and bought the full version to plan my layout.  However I do not see Standard gauge?  Am I missing it, or is there no track library for standard gauge?
Thanks
Mark

[Jeff]

There are lots of standard gauges. What scale do you model in?

[hellgate]

Jeff,
Thanks for the reply.  I did mean Standard Gauge.  I am familiar of the difference between gauge and scale... because of your underline, I am forced to Wikipedia ya
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Gauge_(toy_trains)

[hellgate]

Standard Gauge (toy trains)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about a rail gauge for toy trains. For real-life rail gauge wider than standard gauge, see broad gauge.
Standard Gauge, also known as Wide Gauge, was an early model railway and toy train rail gauge, introduced in the United States in 1906 by Lionel Corporation.[1] As it was a toy standard, rather than a scale modeling standard, the actual scale of Standard Gauge locomotives and rolling stock varied. It ran on three-rail track whose running rails were 2 1⁄8 in (53.975 mm) apart.
Contents  [hide]
1 Origins
2 Lionel's competitors
3 After Lionel
4 Manufacturers
5 See also
6 External links
7 References
[edit]Origins

Lionel dubbed its new standard Standard Gauge and trademarked the name. Lionel's Standard Gauge should not be confused with standard gauge for real railroads, or the later 1:64 scale S gauge popularized by American Flyer after World War II. Due to the trademark, Lionel's competitors mostly called their similar offerings Wide Gauge.[2]
Historians disagree on Lionel's reason for creating Standard Gauge, giving two stories. One story is that Lionel misread the specifications for Märklin's European Gauge 2, measuring the distance between the inside portion of the rails rather than between the centers of the rails as Märklin did, thus accidentally making a slightly larger and incompatible standard. The other story is that the change was a deliberate effort to lock out European competition by creating incompatible trains. While many believe the latter is more likely, since several U.S. companies such as Carlisle & Finch were producing trains to that standard, no definitive proof in favor of either theory has ever surfaced.
[edit]Lionel's competitors

Whatever the reason for its initial creation, Lionel's Standard Gauge caught on at the expense of Gauges 1 and 2. No fewer than four American competitors adopted Lionel's gauge: Ives in 1921,[3] Boucher in 1922,[4] Dorfan in 1924,[5] and American Flyer in 1925.[6] While all the manufacturers' track was the same size and the trains and buildings approximately the same scale, the couplers for the most part remained incompatible, making it impossible to mix train cars from different manufacturers without modification.
The increased number of manufacturers seemed to give legitimacy to Lionel's gauge, and because the boom of the 1920s made large toy trains affordable, Standard Gauge had its heyday in the mid-1920s only to virtually disappear during the Great Depression. Ives filed for bankruptcy in 1928 and its offerings were off the market by 1932. American Flyer discontinued its Standard Gauge trains in 1932. Dorfan went out of business in 1934. Lionel discontinued Standard Gauge trains in 1940. Boucher, the last of the Standard/Wide Gauge manufacturers, folded in 1943.
O gauge, was smaller, less expensive to manufacture and it required less space to operate a layout. Thus became the most popular scale in the United States almost by default.
[edit]After Lionel

However, Standard Gauge managed to survive in South America. Doggenweiler, a firm in Chile, produced a small quantity of trains in Standard Gauge and Gauge 2 from 1933 until about 1960.[6] Standard Gauge also was revived in the United States in the 1950s by the small firm of McCoy Manufacturing, who produced trains of original design well into the 1990s. In the 1970s, Williams Electric Trains began producing and marketing reproductions of Lionel trains of the 1920s and 1930s. This line was later marketed by Lionel itself, and is now produced and marketed by MTH Electric Trains.
A number of smaller manufacturers, mostly one- and two-person operations, hand-build and market reproductions of very early Standard Gauge trains.
[edit]Manufacturers

[hellgate]

Here is a pic from Lionel's website

[RhB_HJ]

Mark,

Thanks for that Wiki link.      Contrary to popular believe there were/are a lot of different gauge/scale combos that fall outside what most people are used to.

But to be honest, when I got the first track planning inquiry for a Standard Gauge layout I was a bit puzzled too.

[David]

If you have a reference or source for the relevant track parts with dimensions, we'd be happy to add it!

David.

[hellgate]

David,
Thanks for the reply!
I will absolutely get you that info!
Thanks!
Mark

[hellgate]

This is from a 1935 Lionel catalog I have.
Standard Gauge track looks just like O gauge track just larger.
It is 2 1/4 inches wide versus 1 3/8 of O.
"C" Curved Track 16 Inches Long
"S" Straight Track 14 Inches Long
1/2 S-Half Section of Straight Track 7 inches long
1/2 C-Half Section of Curved Track 8 3/8 inches long
SS special insulated straight track 14 inches long.  Complete with Lockon and connecting wires
SCS special insulated curved track, for automatic accessories.  Complete with Lockon and connecting wires.
No. 223R Standard Gauge Non-derailing Distant Control Switch:  15 1/4 inches long, 8 5/8 inches wide.
No. 223L Standard Gauge Non-derailing Distant Control Switch:  15 1/4 inches long, 8 5/8 inches wide.
No. 210R Standard Gauge Hand Operated Switch:  15 1/4 inches long, 8 5/8 inches wide.
No. 210L Standard Gauge Hand Operated Switch:  15 1/4 inches long, 8 5/8 inches wide.
No. 20 90 Degree Crossing 11 3/4 inches square
No. 25 Illuminated Bumper or Car Stop 14 Inches long, 3 3/4 inches high

Here is a start.  I am going to try to find the diameter/degree for the curves
Thanks again for the help, I appreciate it!

[hellgate]

The diameter of a Standard Gauge Circle is 42"
Please let me know what else you may need!

[RhB_HJ]

I'm not sure if this is the same Standard Gauge track as the one from GarGraves.

Back when I got a copy of RR Track (GarGraves edition) I'm re-installing and having a look how much was on there. I'll report a little later.

Update: GarGraves lists 1:30 scale in the library section of RR Track; I doubt that it is the same "Standard Gauge".

[hellgate]

1/30 scale seems right.  It is larger than O which is around 1/48.
I know that cargraves and mth both made track for standard gauge trains.

[RhB_HJ]

Mark and David,

If that is the case, I have the GarGraves product list from 2006, as well as their illustrated catalogue from the same year.
If David wants to have a go at it, I can scan what I have and email it.

[David]

Yes please!
I don't make promises, but it might be worth a try.

David.

[hellgate]

David
Did the info on the tinplate original lionel track help? Let me know if you want me to get any other info for you!