[Dave Brown]

I went to the National NG convention yesterday in Portland,OR and one of the fine gents from Accucraft was walking around with a new loco they plan on offering next year. The model is a copy of their 1:20.3 Plymouth, but this time it is in 1/32 scale and runs on standard O gauge track. This would scale out to a close 1/32n42, a popular scale in New Zealand for prototypes that ran on 42" gauge. There's plenty of room to narrow the wheels down if a more narrow gauge were to be desired. They also had it on display next to their 1/32 cabbooses and it was a visual treat.

You might recall Russ was a big supporter of 1/32ng in the old Outdoor Railroader (later Finescale) Magazine. It was touted as "the perfect scale", and now I see why. Once you see it, you understand.

The Plymouth has the mass for outdoor operation, but it is a nice enough size you could do a indoor layout with it. Easy on the eyes and hands too.

For those who love critters, this could very likely be the perfect scale.

Sorry, no photos. It's identical to Accucrafts Plymouths in 1:20.3 and O scale.

The Rep said Accucraft is looking at doing many more models in this scale. He was very proud of this little critter.

Congrats to Accucraft for taking a leap in a new direction.

Dave Brown

 

[gregcoit]

It's very possible that I just don't get it. Do we really need a new scale/gauge combination? Is there really a market for NG models between F and O scale? Is there anyone out there that thinks that O scale is too small *and* F is too large? Maybe it's just me, but I just don't see the potential. I also worry a bit that Accucraft (whom I greatly admire) is stretching themselves a bit thin by now making models in at least 6 scale/gauge combinations (Fn3, 1/24n40 (?), 1/32, 1/32n42, On3 and On30). I could think of a dozen or more Fn3 models that I would love to see produced but probably won't be since Accucraft is focusing on recreating current models in other scale/gauge combinations.

Maybe it's just me.....

Greg Coit

 

[Dave Brown]

This is just my opinion:

This scale does work with the "correct" 1/32 on 45mm track, so it's just an extention of an existing scale.

1/32 does have a large military and auto scale following.

1/32 does size well for those want critters.

The challenge will be is there a market for it. When I saw the model of the Plymouth, I can easily see a small garden railroad using Atlas O track, which is UV resistant and availible at most hobby shops. A small Micro Layout would be super in 1/32.

Yes, a challenge will be fitting it into the production schedule of the other scales that Accucraft produces.

The market will determine if this is a good decision.

The price point was said to be less than the larger scales of the same model.

I will be reserving a Plymouth.