# Returning to G-Scale. Need a little help!



## Wr3ckage (Feb 10, 2020)

Hey everyone. New here. Recently my love for trains came back swiftly and started taking over my brain. I loved LGB when I was a kid and want to return to it now in my late 30's. I'm selling my ATV and gonna begin my G Scale journey again. But there is a lot of things I have not seen before and just have some questions.

So I wanna use LGB but I see PIKO makes 1:22.5 engines now. How is the quality? I was looking at 37243 DB IV BR50 Steam engine cause I love big boy lookin steam or the LGB Mikado.

Also I noticed MTH makes the exact big boy steam engines i love but they are 1:29. Can these even link up with LGB and if they can does the size difference look odd together. I just cant find a side by side pic of them.

Those are the two questions I was having issues finding answers for. Any help would be great. Thanks!

-Rich


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## Wr3ckage (Feb 10, 2020)

I should also add I currently still have my LGB stuff. So I'm only interested in getting Piko, MTH and LGB engines and using it with my LGB cars.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

> Also I noticed MTH makes the exact big boy steam engines i love but they are 1:29. Can these even link up with LGB and if they can does the size difference look odd together. I just cant find a side by side pic of them.


Rich,
I'd suggest you do a few searches for scale comparisons. MTH are quite good 1/32nd scale models of standard gauge locos. They look small compared with USAT or the now defunct Aristocraft.
LGB and Piko are 1:22.5 when the prototype is a meter-gauge/narrow gauge item, and sorta 1:26 or 1:29 for standard gauge items, like the LGB USA F units or the LGB Mikado. While the Piko BR50 looks great, it will probably not be a scale model (1:32nd for a standard gauge engine) but will be upsized to match the LGB locos.

Take a close look at this excellent scale-gauge comparison by Scott Lawrence and you will see what I mean.


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## Wr3ckage (Feb 10, 2020)

So what your saying is the MTH 1:32 standard is about the same size as the LGB 1:22.5 Narrow? That's what it looks like on that pic too.

I guess if that's true then I would love to get the MTH Big Boy and use LGB cars. Are the hook ups even compatible?


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## RkyGriz (Feb 14, 2019)

Hi! I own 2 Piko locomotives. A 0-6-0 Santa Fe switcher, and a 0-6-0 Camelback. They are both of good quality,have full sound,DCC,and smoke. They compare well with LGB,although I think that the Piko's could use a little more detail in certain areas.
Here's a video of my Piko Camelback running with my Bachmann On30 4-6-0 that I made yesterday:








And here's a video of my Piko Santa Fe #728 switcher:








And here's a video of the Camelback being tested on my desktop:








Piko sound systems are made by Soundtraxx. The sound is excellent. They work on either DCC,or analog. They need a power supply of at least 3 amps to operate properly.
I bought a Bridgewerks Mini Mag 3-s,3 amp power supply,as the 1 amp transformer that I was using didn't have enough amp output to power the sound system,and smoke units properly. The flashing headlight in the video showing the Santa Fe switcher was caused by this problem.
Overall, I would recommend Piko products, as they are of very good quality,and not as expensive as a new LGB Mogul with a similar sound system would cost. Their rolling stock,and trackage,while expensive, is beautiful, and I highly recommend them.
Another thing is that Piko,unlike LGB,has a service center located right here in the U.S. 

It is in San Diego,Ca,and their tech people are available to answer your questions via email,or you can call,and talk directly, to them.Dan and Jonathan are really great,and I have had the pleasure of talking to them several times. 

LGB does not offer this level of service.
All Piko products carry a 1 year warranty.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Marklin/LGB does support LGB products here in the US.


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## Lorna (Jun 10, 2008)

Actually 1:29 is visually closer to 1:22.5 models. I believe that was the reason that scale came into existence was to more or less have American standard gauge models that would match visually LGB. While LGB has always used a bit of rubber ruler for things, the American standard gauge cars are near 1:29. I know the Amtrak Genesis was fairly close to 1:29 (some odd dimensions in spots but given LGB flex pretty close).


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## Wr3ckage (Feb 10, 2020)

So I emailed Piko about BR50 scale and how it would look with LGB cars. This is what they replied with.

"The new PIKO BR50 locos are models of standard-gauge prototypes. Much as LGB has done with its models of standard gauge trains, this is not a 1:22.5 scale model. That would require a wider track gauge. So it is a compromise scale of around 1:26 or 1:27, just as LGB did. This fits with the overall size of other LGB and PIKO European style locos and cars."

So that is basically saying a 1:26/27 Standard guage is similar to the 1:22.5 narrow if I'm reading this right.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

> So that is basically saying a 1:26/27 Standard guage is similar to the 1:22.5 narrow if I'm reading this right.


Well no; actually that depends what you mean by "similar".

A standard gauge locomotive (prototype) tends to be larger than a narrow gauge loco. So a std gauge loco in 1/26th may be visually similar in size to a 1:22.5 but that doesn't make it look correct.

Here's a narrow gauge boxcar next to a standard gauge boxcar:












Now, if you made the narrow gauge (NG) boxcar in 1:22.5 scale, and the std gauge (SG) boxcar in 1:29th, then they would like similar in size.

To further add to your headache, note that NG boxcars were generally smaller, so scaling them up to make them bigger would make them almost the same size as a SG boxcar in 1:29.
This doesn't work for coaches - SG cars are generally much longer than NG cars, so scaling the NG coach up to 1:22.5 to make it match a 1:29 coach looks weird (imho.)

It basically depends on your level of tolerance for non-prototypical trains. Would a BR50 be seen pulling a bunch of USA boxcars - No. But it's your railroad, so you run what you want!


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## Wr3ckage (Feb 10, 2020)

This is making me lose my mind lol. I think I will just use the LGB Mikado to avoid the pain. It's a beautiful loco anyway. Why must there be so much variety within g scale!


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## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

There is a huge difference in real trains as Pete has shown.

Many make way toooo big a deal out of scale.


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## ddrum31 (Aug 30, 2017)

Go with what you like and looks good to your eyes.


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## Wr3ckage (Feb 10, 2020)

ddrum31 said:


> Go with what you like and looks good to your eyes.


What has been surprisingly hard is finding a video or pic with with a piko engine pulling LGB cars so at the very least I can have a visual idea.


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## fredlub (Feb 7, 2010)

For those interested in gauge and scale I have made an e-book that explains the lot. It can be read or downloaded for free here: http://sncf231e.nl/gauge-and-scale/
Regards
Fred


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## RkyGriz (Feb 14, 2019)

"What has been surprisingly hard is finding a video or pic with with a piko engine pulling LGB cars so at the very least I can have a visual idea."


HI. I have a couple of videos to offer to you. The first one shows my Piko 0-6-0 Camelback locomotive hauling a mixed consist of Lionel, Bachmann, and LGB cars with a Piko SP Drovers' Caboose bringing up the rear:






Video 2 shows my LGB 2-6-0 locomotive with 2 USA Trains D&RGW shorty passenger cars, my LGB Queen Mary Series #4175 Drovers' Caboose,with the Piko Drovers' Caboose bringing up the rear once again:






Note that the Piko Drovers' Caboose is approximately 1.5 inches shorter than the LGB version is. But it is the same height.


Hope this helps!
Andrew


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## Wr3ckage (Feb 10, 2020)

Thank you! From what I can tell there doesnt seem to be that much of a dif between the sizes. I thought it would be glaringly bad but it seems to work out just fine to my eye.


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## RkyGriz (Feb 14, 2019)

You're welcome!


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## wolfetrac (Dec 24, 2010)

Rich, you actually picked a great time to come back. A lot has changed. I started collecting and running LGB in the late 70's. You can't go wrong with that stuff. I like the newer MFX stuff that has come out in the last few years. Much better than the MTS stuff. This stuff has some great Electronics in them but make sure you get a DCC system so you can use all the cool features.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

For MTS I have found the onboard decoders with sound added are the best MTS units.
The older 55020 and 55021 decoders were limited as were the sound units.
Now I find there are great decoders available from several manufacturers and the capabilities are fantastic such as servo operations, more realistic smoke and cost for these is better.


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