British N gauge

British N gauge
British N gauge
	Unnumbered Peco Jubilee
Scale	2.06 mm to 1 ft (305 mm)
Scale ratio	1:148
Model gauge	9 mm (0.354 in)
Prototype gauge	Standard gauge

British N gauge is a model railway scale and gauge, rolling stock is to a scale of 1:148,^[1] track is 9 mm (0.354 in) width as with all other N gauges making track and rolling stock approximately 10% out of scale with respect to each other. The 9 mm (0.354 in) track width derives from a scale of 1:160 for 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge rails.

Background

When N gauge was developed it proved impossible to fit the then available motors into scale models of British prototype locomotives. British railways use a smaller loading gauge than those in Europe and America, resulting in smaller locomotives. A greater body size was required on the models to accommodate the motors, so instead of adopting the correct 1:160 scale, 1:148 was used. This allows larger models, but means that the gauge is not an accurate representation of standard gauge. A similar problem and solution was adopted with OO gauge and British TT gauge in Britain. However, since N scales to 1,332-millimetre (4 ft 4.4 in) gauge, it is less out of scale than OO (1,257 mm or 4 ft 1.5 in) or TT3 (1,219 mm or 4 ft 0 in) in representing the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge.

Manufacturers

Graham Farish is the most prolific manufacturer, producing British locomotives, rolling stock and buildings.
Peco manufactures track and British outlined buildings in kit form and rollingstock.
Dapol produces locomotives and rolling stock.
Revolution Trains produce British locomotives and rolling stock
Fleischmann produces track locomotives and rolling stock etc.
Other companies produce kits for buildings, rolling stock and other parts - including Metcalfe models, Ratio, P&D Marsh and others.
CJM Models produce hand built models of locomotives and other rolling stock.^[2]

Former manufacturers

Minitrix/Hornby - prior to being taken over by Märklin Minitrix produced British outline rolling stock and locomotives, which were sold in association with Hornby.^[3]
Lima - Produced some rolling stock and locomotives
Hornby produced British outline buildings in N gauge as part of its Lyddle End range.