MODEL TRACTION in the MEGA-GAUGES

What are the Mega-Gauges, and why use the term at all?
Because the traditional gauges --- historically the earliest in time of the popular scales, Gauge 1, 0 scale, and H0 --- have become the usual fare of the model railroad hobby, it’s easy to think that they are the entire hobby.
Live steamers certainly can tell you differently; it’s interesting to note that the Mega-Gauges are considered the Live Steam gauges. I’m talking about --- from the smallest to the largest --- ¾th inch to the foot (1:16 scale), one inch to the foot (1:12 scale) and 1½ inch to the foot (1:8 scale).
To these, I would like to add 2 inches to the foot (1:6) for reasons that I will explain in a later post.
For historical reasons, 1:16 scale is the premier size for model trams (British for “trolley”) in Great Britain, so I find it necessary to establish its presence to those unfamiliar with the hobby overseas. It’s the scale in which Jimmy Sparkman’s extraordinary models of Philadelphia’s SEPTA transit system are built, but unfortunately, not much else.
I’m suggesting that a couple of those scales are ideal for development (in every sense of the word). I’m thinking, in particular, of one inch and two inch scales. In a later blog in this series, I will explain their role in railway modeling and, in particular, in transit modeling. I will state my case for their use in trolley models in tomorrow’s blog.
This is all leading to my view that we can’t sit still and hope people will become interested in model traction. We need to convince everyone in the hobby that we all need to get the word out. Can you imagine how few folks would be driving automobiles if Henry Ford was content to sit in a garage in Detroit waiting for customers to stumble over his Tin Lizzies? Just remember that Joshua Lionel Cowan publicized his model trains by setting up layouts around Christmas trees in the display windows of Main Street department stores across the country.
We need to do something similar --- and not just an occasional exhibition in, say, a university in suburban Philadelphia, where we preach to the already converted.