Common model rail scales explained

This is a list of the gauges that I have seen, although there are others such as S, EM, EEM, TT, 000, S
Going down in the list from the largest scale of ‘1’ gauge to ‘Z’ gauge the smallest:

Scale	Guage	Scale	Track Guage mm	Track Guage ins
1	32:1	10mm/1ft	45	1.75
0	48:1	7mm/1ft	32	1.26
00	76:1	4mm/1ft	16.5	0.648
H0	87:1	3.5mm/1ft	16.5	0.648
N	160:1	2mm/1ft	6.6	0.225
Z	220:1	1.4mm/1ft	6.6	0.225

You’ll notice that HO & OO share the same gauge for rail track, hence both gauges permit their rolling stock to run on  the H0 & 00 tracks. However if you compare the HO model figures with the 00 figures,  the 00 models and everything else in 00, is larger. Consequently, buildings, cars, bridges etc. in 00 are too big for a H0 layout.

That’s only if the correct scale is of importance to you in the enjoyment of the hobby, some layouts I’ve seen use a variety of scales and are just as much fun.