# Mixing Fn3 and G



## c&s (Mar 21, 2009)

Hi there. New to this and just bought a few Bachmann Spectrum Fn3 cars and loco. Now I'd like some passenger cars but I can't find any reasonably priced Fn3 cars - what do the LGB G Scale Passenger cars look like alongside the larger Fn3 stock?

Thanks,

Mark


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## steam5 (Jun 22, 2008)

What loco 1:20.3 loco would you use to pull the 1:22.5 passenger cars? 

They will look way to small behind a Bachmann 2-8-0 or K-27. 

Maybe okay behind the older looking Bachmann 4-4-0 or 2-6-0, I do not have one of these to take a picture for you. I seem to remember seeing a picture on these forums showing this. 

I am away from home so I can’t help you with any pictures as I own a few Bachmann 1:22.5 passenger cars. But I only pull them with a 1:22.5 Annie as they look small up against my other 1:20.3 stock.


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## Steamnutt (Apr 12, 2008)

Mark, 
The real question is how they look to you. If you are super detail oriented, and you want everything just perfect and to scale, then you will want to spend the big bucks on the 1:20.3 cars. If you just want to run trains, then they will work fine. I've been to many open houses where 1:20.3 engines are pulling 1:22.5 cars. Doesn't matter if it's passenger or frieght, I've never heard anyone say "sure would look better if it was all in the same scale". The honest thing is, most people don't even know about scale. Yes there is a difference, but as long as it looks good to you is the important thing. Like for example, on my 1:20.3 Shay, it pulls a line of logging cars followed by a 1:22.5 kitbashed caboose. I know the scale is different, but it looks good to me. In real RR'ing, look at the different sizes of box cars that move down the track in a single line of cars, there are alot of different sizes. Would something like the K dwarf the cars, yes, but we've pulled strings of boxcars behind a Connie, and it looked fine. 
Again, it's all "how does it look to you" 
Welcome to large scale RR'ing, and the most important thing........Have fun!


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

There was a recent thread where one kind poster showed a pic of the correct Fn3 passenger car compared with the 1/22.5 Bachmann J&S version. Remember, too, that the so-called 'G-scale' car is already compressed and minimised dimensionally. 

The Fn3 car looks gigantic by comparison. 

However, IF you have the Bachmann Spectrum Mogul or American the 'G-scale' cars don't look too bad - after all, these are models of 1880's era locomotives, and they are pretty small by comparison with a K27 or similar. 

As the man noted - 'does it look good to you? 

If so, run them in good health. 

Best wishes and WELCOME! 

tac 
www.ovgrs.org


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## Ted Yarbrough (Jan 2, 2008)

Mark, 
Go to http://pages.sbcglobal.net/fdoti/ and at bottom go to the link 'more G scale layout photos' and you will see what I think is a FN3 C-16 pulling LGB passenger cars. Now, a C-16 is much smaller than a K-28! This particular photo looks great to me, but I have seen some that do not. Again, like others have said, it is certainly up to you and what you like. I do run the 1:20 4-4-0 with the 1:22 rolling stock and looks fine!


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Mark,
 
There is an awesome difference between 1:22.5 and 1:20.3. The photo below is one of my LGB coaches, coupled to one of my AMS Fn3 J&s coaches.
 










(Instead of posting the photo as a link, I just copied Pete's resized photo instead.- mod)


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Gary,

Great photo. Hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of reposting it at a smaller size, before our Moderator converts yours to a link as it is too big!


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## c&s (Mar 21, 2009)

Thanks for all your useful info guys. Nice to see phots for comparison. At the moment the loco I have is the 2-8-0 Yellow Pine Lumber Co and from what I can see, the LGB cars would look a bit small behind it. I'm not too fussed on scale to be honest - just want it to look ok - I will have to borrow a car from someone to see what it looks like.

Mark


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Gary's photo sums it up nicely. Most 1:20.3 scaled items do not mate well with LGB 1:22.5 scaled trains. And as Tac mentioned about the Bachmann J&S cars, LGB coaches too are compressed in 1:22.5 scale so they aren't even true 1:22.5.


Below are some of my 1:20.3 - 1:22.5 comparison photos. You can't really tell much from them since at the time I tried to minimize the scale differences in the photo angle. But trust me, there is a big difference between the two scales.


This first one is a Bachmann 2-8-0 with LGB coaches:











And here is that same train pulled by the Bachmann 2-8-0 along with an Accucraft C-16, one of the smaller 1:20.3 locos out there, with more LGB coaches:
















And Ted, thanks for the mention of my San Juan photo. Below is an MLS size friendly version (and yes the C-16 is 1:20.3):


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Pete. I appreciate that.


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## studeclunker (Mar 15, 2009)

San Juan, that shot of #278 and 375 looks similar to one I saw in a book by Lucis Beebe. There was a Standard and a Narrow Gage train sitting side-by-side. The size differential is almost identical to what your picture shows. Beebe’s picture had a greater difference, but… well, you get my drift, right?


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Question: How much wider is the AMS Fn3 J&s coaches compared to the LGB Coaches? Is the difference all in length and heigth? 

Randy


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Randy,

The width is very different also.


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Gary


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Here are two more comparison shots - scratchbuilt 1:20 combine and stock Bachmann 1:22 coach 



















Later, 

K


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Now if only we could get these and other comparisons of different scales put in a sticky where they could be easily found. 

Randy


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

Great photo comparisons. I too didn't know the difference was so astounding until I saw it. Seeing is believing. 

I suppose the same comparison might be made with 1:29 and 1:32? Might that too be astounding?


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

It's a difference of about 10% in all dimensions. Whether that really stands out depends on a bunch of things. 


If you're imagining that your line is a local branch line, then it real life it probably would have been hauling a mix of stuff of very different sizes. If you are imagingin it as a modern mainline, then you would want to see consistency.


First, the kind of car matters--it really shows up with passenger cars and boxcars. It's less obvious with flatcars. And it also depends on the prototype. I have two pieces of 1:32 rolling stock, an MTH flatcar and an MTH reefer. The MTH reefer is a nice model but it's noticeably smaller, too small most of the time. The MTH flatcar is based on a bigger, more modern prototype and it's much more reasonable



A thirty foot narrow gage boxcar looks ok next to a 40 foot 1:29 boxcar, as long as you ignore the details, like the ladder or the brake wheels 


I used to not care, but the more I do it the more I tend to notice


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

I'll get out my LGB Conoco tank car and a 1:20.3 AMS Conoco tanker and get a few pix today.


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## Dougald (Jan 2, 2008)

It is indeed only 10% difference in each dimension. Our brain thinks linearly and say 10% is not a whole lot. Our eyes see in three dimensions (by volume) and say (.9x.9x.9 = .72) wow ... that Fn3 car is half again (100/72=~1.5) the volume of the 1:22.5 car. And that is why out of scale by 10% stands out dramatically.

Some folks do not care ... more power to them. But as lownote says, the more you know the more you care about the scale issue.

Regards ... Doug


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Some great scale comparison photos can be seen on Barry Bogs' website. 

Barry models in the LGB sized 1:22.5 scale. He has a large roster of beautifully scratch built locos and rolling stock all in 1:22.5 scale. His collection contains some of the finest work I've seen.

An interesting comparison can be see in his photo of a scratch built to scale baggage car next to an LGB baggage car. Note that both are in 1:22.5 scale. Yet the size difference is incredible. It clearly shows how much the LGB model is compressed:











The baggage car photo above is narrow gauge. Barry also models in 1:22.5 standard gauge. There are some great scale comparison photos of his standard gauge and narrow gauge equipment side by side on his website. A trip to his website is definitely recommended. It's amazing to see all of the great work on his layout.


Here's a link to Barry's website:

Colorado & Western Railroad


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