S Scale Model Railroad

by Tom Taggart

You want to know what's really at the cutting edge of model train hobby? What's about to break that has each and every model trainer tossing and turning with anticipation? What gauge of model train do collectors go crazy for? Alright, here it is: s gauge model railroads. You got it? You don't even know what size that is, do you? Do you even know about different scales? Alright, well let me give you the nitty-gritty on these before you start reading about them in the news:

Two words, "American Flyer":
This brand of trains has entered the hall of fame of toy trains. Nostalgia explains a lot. American Flyer's s gauge locomotives had their hey-day right after WWII when the baby boomers were starting to sprout up. American Flyer played Spartacus to Lionel's Roman Empire and although their revolt was doomed it is not surprising that toy trainers now stand up and yell "I am American Flyer" in defiance. S scale toy railroads are a bit smaller than the Lionel O scale. Real world locomotives are 64 times larger than s scale models whereas real world trains are 48 times the size of Lionel's O. That signifies that S scale is slightly more manageable in terms of the smallest space suggestions for the track but still big enough for those of us that love the arts and crafts part of toy training. These trains are a lot of fun to paint and decal.
S gauge is not a standard gauge:
Since American Flyer pretty much invented s gauge and then went out of business a little while after, you don't come across it much. A.C. Gilbert, who ran American Flyer at the time, manufactured this gauge as an attempt to create a brand of locomotives that would challenge Lionel by introducing high quality locomotives that weren't interchangeable with Lionel trains. American Flyer trains from the 50's only fit s gauge and wouldn't work on Lionel's O. Because of the law of supply and demand, American Flyers short life span has inflated the demand for their parts and sets. The nature of this devotion has just made the trains that much more sought after.
Lionel LLC has promised to produce new "vintage" s scale locomotives:
Lionel LLC, who took over the American Flyer company when it went under in 1966 has recently started re-releasing popular American Flyer trains. The huge success of these releases has driven Lionel to promise to bring back the s scale locomotives that avid fans are so infatuated with. So any day now you may be seeing new toys in this gauge and hobbyists will have yet another size to play with.
Now's the time to put your chips down if you want to cash in early on this tip. This is when the early adopters wade in and check things out. Get one of these flap jacks while they're still hot. It's like the coffee house craze of the early 90s. Not only that, American Flyer and s gauge just rock even if nobody were into them.

About the Author

Tom Taggart is a Model Train enthusiast. Here is more information on Model Train Scale. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.