N Gauge - US/Can vs UK

[Auberne]

Hello.

I am putting together some plans to develop the loft space in my new house. I have always looked upon the CPrail / American Northwest style mountain railroads as being more interesting than my more familiar local railways back home in London.

Where is a good place to start purchasing some N gauge Can/US engines and wagons. Specifically CPrail.

Will US/Can work on UK N gauge track ? Is the ratio the same throughout.

 

[Triplex]

NA and UK N are the same gauge (9mm). The scale is different. NA N is 1/160; UK N is 1/148. The track gauge is correct for 1/160 and too narrow for 1/148. So yes, the track gauge will match.

 

[brakie]

As far as engines and freight cars any on line shop will work..
However,my favorites are:

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/index.html

http://www.firsthobby.com/store1/default.asp

http://www.buynscale.com/

 

[Auberne]

So buying US/Can models to run on track purchased in the UK is OK ? the ratio doesn't mean a lot to me.

The wheels will fit on the track but the body of the train will be bigger/smaller than UK trains ?

< NOOB

 

[60103]

Auberne, they have done the same thing with N that they did with OO/HO. The British trains are built to a bigger scale but the real trains are smaller so that they don't look too bad togther. However, some of the bigger North American cars may have problems with bridges and tunnels.
Over here we use the same Peco track that you make over there. The Americans complain it looks to British and the Brits complain it looks too American.

 

[Triplex]

So buying US/Can models to run on track purchased in the UK is OK ? the ratio doesn't mean a lot to me.

What I said was, you'll get the correct scale ratio only if you buy North American models! (Or continental European, but that's not relevant here.)

 

[OwenCPR]

Re the CP......are you looking at modern CP or past (Steam Vs Diesel / First Generation Diesel vs 2nd and newer?).

Am biased towards CP living in Calgary and there is lots to model with CP!!!!

 

[webmaster]

Where is a good place to start purchasing some N gauge Can/US engines and wagons. Specifically CPrail

It's always worth keeping an eye out on eBay. I pick up quite a lot of my rolling stock from there, the other good thing about buying second hand is that sometimes you will come across a model that has already been weathered.

 

[train1]

Nice to see that you have chosen a good Canadian road to model (although I'm a bit prejudiced towards CN).