# What scale are USAT R190xx and Bachmann 983xx



## Westcott (Feb 17, 2009)

Hi,

Does anyone know what scale these cars are?

USAT steel boxcar R190xx (NOT 40') - seems like 1:32, definitely smaller than Aristo, more like Lionel.

Bachmann flat car with trailer 983xx - seems like 1:29, same as Aristo.


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## krs (Feb 29, 2008)

USAT steel boxcar R190xx (NOT 40') - seems like 1:32, definitely smaller than Aristo, more like Lionel. 

USA Trains shows the R190xx cars as 1:24 scale which 'scale-wise' makes them bigger than 1:29 and certainly larger than 1:32. 
Off hand I would think these cars are models of narrow gauge boxcars whereas the Aristo ones are all models of standard gauge box cars. 
Google for a picture of a narrow gauge box car next to a standard gauge box car and you will see how much smaller a narrow gauge box car is in reality. 
And remember that Aristocraft chose the 'non-standard' 1:29 scale for their standard gauge items when they started to match the narrow gauge US boxcars by LGB (which were more or less 1:22.5 to 1:24) so that their cars could run in a consist with the existing LGB rolling stoch that G-Scalers had at the time. 

If I look at "real" freight trains today, the size of the box cars even in standard gauge varies quite a bit on the prototype, some of them are much shorter and not as high as others. 
So if the couplings line up and the wheels are roughly the same diameter, the car will probably look OK in a consist.


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## Westcott (Feb 17, 2009)

Hi KRS, 

Thanks for the info. 
I knew that the USAT wooden boxcars are 1:24, but the steel ones I have are in main line colours and road numbers, such as PRR. 
They are just about the same size as similar Lionel cars. 
Yes, they look OK in a mixed consist, especially from 10' and over!


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## krs (Feb 29, 2008)

From what I know, USA Trains made three types of box cars with the R190x numbers, all supposedly in 1:24 scale (more or less I would imagine) 
…..type 1: All Wood 
…..type 2: Wood with steel doors and ends 
…..type 3: Simulated steel


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## Westcott (Feb 17, 2009)

The USAT car I'm looking at now is R-19062A "PRR steel boxcar".


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

The Bachmann flat car--if it's the one with the trailer and quasi ramp-looking things on it that the wheels sit on--is 1:22.5, modeled after an ET&WNC prototype. I don't see this car on their web site anymore. If it's their regular flat car--the one that's come with logs, circus cars, etc., it's more of a generic flat car that would look good with either 1:22 or 1:29 trains (provided you're modeling an early era in 1:29 where wood cars with archbar trucks would be prevalent). If it's their "short" flat car--the one that's only 12" long, it's advertised as 1:20.3, but of a generic design so it really doesn't have a specific scale. It actually scales out very well in 1:29 for a "typical" narrow gauge flat car; you just need to put O-gauge trucks under it. If it's their "Spectrum" 1:20.3 flat car, it is 1:20.3 as advertised. 

Later, 

K


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