HO Scale Question? - CoasterBuzz

How exactly does the HO scale work, like this.

If you want say a 100' hill then you take it and times it by 12 to get it in inches then times that by 1/87.

Please help me, if this is wrong.

Thanks

I thought you just took the desired true height (in your case 100') and multiplied it by the proper scale ratio.

If HO scale is 1/87 then you would take 100 X .087 whcih equals 8.7" I believe.

I am no math guru, so lets see what others say.

Shaggy

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Shaggy
A.K.A. John K.

1 real foot equals 87 scale feet
1 real inch equals 87 scale inches
1 real mile equald 87 scale miles
etc
So....
100 feet / 87 = 1.149425 feet
To translate 1.149425 into a more meaningful number, multiply by 12 to get number of inches
1.149425 * 12 = 13.7931 inches
Therefore a coater that is 100 feet tall in real life would be about 1.15 feet tall (13.79 inches) tall in 1/87 (HO) scale.

Knoebels Phoenix has a length of 3200 feet, a height of 78 feet, and a max drop of 72 feet, and it is 110 miles from my house.
In HO (1/87) scale it would be 36.78 feet in length, 10.75 inches tall with a drop of 9.9 inches, and only 1.26 miles from my door! (though at that scale I believe fitting into the seats would be kind of uncomfortable)

*** This post was edited by SLFAKE on 2/21/2002. ***

i saw the name of this topic and busted up laughing. What exaclty is the "HO" scale? Is it for RCT?

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HurricaneGeauga- Just in case

It's a scale used in making models.

No, HO scale is used in model building.... mostly model railroading.

Shaggy

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Shaggy
A.K.A. John K.

Yep use ratios.

I think you guys already have it all.

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At least I dont call a vertical loop a "loopdie-loop"!

The term HO is a model rail road scale... just like Z, N, G, S, O (the only other one I know is N = 1/164).
The term 1/87 is modeling term... such as 1/24, 1/32, 1/48, 1/72, 1/87, etc etc etc.

Minature War Gaming (see http://www.hmgs.org/ uses this sort of scale as well for its figures and vehicles / ships, with three common scales being 1/235, 1/1200, and 1/2400. War Gaming also uses a MM scale. Common figure scales are 10mm, 15mm and 25mm wich means the average figure will be 10mm(or 15 or 25) tall at its eyes. 10mm roughly corresponds to 1/164 scale wich is N scale... and 15mm roughly corresponds to 1/87 scale wich is HO scale.

Okay, so it is not related to coasters, but it is an answer to your question.
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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."

*** This post was edited by SLFAKE on 2/21/2002. ***

I always associated it with models, because I used to collect the HO scale army men when I was a kid. I forget which model manufacturer made them. Does anyone know if these still exist? I've checked a couple hobby shops in Chicago, but I can never find them.

HO is a scale, like you've all mentioned. . . it's roots lie in the term, "Half O", which was the most popular scale of trains in the earlier part of last century.

G = 1:22.5, or 1:29 depending on the manufacturer

O = 1:48

S = 1:64

HO = 1:87 (not quite half 'o')

TT = 1:96 (I believe!)

N = 1:160

N refers to 9 mm, the gauge between the rails :)

Z = 1:220

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Is there any roller coaster models out there?
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Cedar Point to the top in 2k2!Top 5 - 1. Raptor 2. Steel Force 3. Talon 4. Lightning Racer 5. Mantis

Chris: Yes, they still make the little army men... but a little more detailed than you are probably talking about.

The ones I am familiar with are not the little plastic green ones but lead / pewter silver metal ones. Got quite a few of the little buggers my self (around 3,000 10 mm tall Civil War figures, 2,000 15 mm Civil War figures, 1,000 15mm medeval figures, 300 and building 15mm American Revolution figures), all hand painted (down to the buttons etc). Quite time consuming and it can get quite expensive (anywhere from 21 cents to 46 cents per figure).

Nice thing for me, the three annual conventions for HMGS (Historical Minature Gaming Society) East are held at the Host Resort in Lancaster PA. (only an hour from my house)... and even better... Dutch Wonderland is right across the street... so last year at Historicon (the summer convention), I got in a few laps on Sky Princess between games.

*** This post was edited by SLFAKE on 2/21/2002. ***

Just keep in mind that for actual working models gravity does not scale with the model. ;)

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

If you want scale gravity, the moon is available. ;)

Seriously, on a TV documentary, an astronaut on the Space Shuttle had a loop from those toy looping car sets. He pushed a car in it & it kept going for ages, about 10 revolutions 'till it slowed down & stopped producing centripetal acceleration. Then it floated away in the zero-gravity environment. Amazing stuff. :)

Being someone who is into minatures (see above post), I would go with appearance over functionality. I would sooner have a non working scale model of a coaster that looks like a real coaster than a working model of a coaster that looks like a toy.

Thanks all,

That helps a lot. I wasn't planning on making it work I just wanted to get an idea so I could draw up some plans for a static model.

Thanks again

You might find it helpful to get a scale rule if you do a lot of modeling. A cheap alternative is to just use a regular ruler. An 1/8" is about equal to 1 foot in HO scale.

A working model coaster can be made to look reasonably realistic but it also opens up a whole new can of worms!
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everything's better with a banjo

*** This post was edited by millrace on 2/22/2002. ***

Make that a barrel of worms in my case! :)

raptor39, yes there are two commercially available kits from FALLER (check you hobby store), and there are individuals (including millrace and I) that make our own. A kit is great for a beginner, but it doens' take long for the serious enthusiast to indulge in a project of his/her own!

I also wanted to back up what Millrace just said...get a scale ruler. It will have measurements from the popular scales (N, HO, S and O). Simply use it to cut balsa, bass, sytrene, etc, and presto! An incredibly fast and easy way to make a model. I also make several drawings of each coaster model that show profile (side) and end & top measurements. I use the ruler to measure the components on the drawing and can then cut my supports and braces accordingly.

And for the record, HO is pronounced aitch-oh, not like the garden tool. :)
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Don't.....look.....back! The Headless Horseman awaits you in 2002!
Model coasters and rides

...and the lack of scale gravity somtimes requires creative solutions - such as the current scheme I'm cooking up. Which won't be revealed until I'm sure it will work. :)

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everything's better with a banjo