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BADGERLAND S-GAUGERS Why Pick S-Gauge/Scale  over other scales

So you are thinking of model railroading but do not want to break the bank or have your investment donated to a charitable organization if the kids don't like it?

S Scale has a unique characteristic that other scales do not have which makes it a great starter scale for kids young and old. The hobby has three classifications:

Collectible antiques. The American flyer S Scale dates back to right after WW2.  A. C. Gilbert Was building O Gauge (1/43) prior to the war effort and switched gears to S Gauge (1/64) right after the war. Most dies he was using were actually scaled to 1/64 but had wider wheel spacing for the favored 3 rail that Lionel and Marx was using. His S-gauge track and wheel spacing effort resulted in a more scale appearing model that was proportioned to match the 7/8" wide 2 rail. 

Thousands of items go on auction each week on E-Bay as well as availability of items at train shows or swap meets. Finding high quality items are not difficult and are not extremely expensive. You may find some limited edition items that are a bit pricey, but may be worth the investment. Either way the recovery costs are near the purchase price should you choose to change your mind.
Examples are shown in our High Rail pages and eBay under American Flyer

Full Scale, Wide and Narrow Gauge. If miniature scale railroads are your forte, consider S as well. Easy to handle parts, high quality and highly detailed locomotives and rolling stock (including brass), wooden building kits that are unbelievably scale proportioned as well as realistic track that removes the "tin plate" look. 
Examples are in our Scale pages and shown below:

• Southwind Models

• River Raisin Models
  

Tweeners. This is the lower cost entrance level. This term I first heard from a club president. It is a class that takes American Flyer memorabilia and upgrades them to resemble S-scale. How far can you go? You can go from nostalgic antique collector or modify/rebuild to semi-scale. Build and add cabs, LED lights, hand rails steps, change to scale couplers and the list can go on. Locos and most standard cars are comparable to HO equipment in cost but are more KID FRIENDLY. Drop a HO car or loco on the floor and at least 5 parts go in multiple directions. Flyer was designed for kids, and runs on low voltage AC current for reliability. Log onto eBay and check out the prices. Flyer is not obsolete either, Lionel now owns rights and recreates most of the accessories as well as new more modern equipment. They have added some very nice locos with some awesome details and  wireless controllers allowing walk around that are remote and handle multiple trains simultaneously. 
Examples are:

• American Models

• Lionel S Gauge

• Mike's Train House (MTH)

So if you are thinking of bonding with the kids, getting them off of the electronic games and get them interested in being a miniature engineer, learning how to phase transformers, wire, and most of all play for hours with what they create, S gauge is worth the consideration. When it is over, and the kids aren't as excited as you may wish, the stuff can go back up on Ebay if you should decide not to keep it all for yourself. Check out prices online and at swap meets. Consider a visit to your local S gauge club to see what the possibilities are.

Plywood sheet layouts are not just for HO or N gauge. S-gauge will fit as well if space is a problem. Below is a example of an expadable 4X8 foot layout with multiple action accessories. With a phased transformer on each side, a couple fiber pins for separation, a few un-couplers, Hours of fun can be had for two engineers at the same time. Load logs on one side and drop them at the mill on the other. Load coal on one side and drop at the heating supply on the other. Your imagination and placement of items are up to the engineer running the layout that takes the same space as a HO layout that just has drop and pick up cars. One can also add a siding or staging yard on the bottom branch. Should you decide to expand, add switches on the outside corners, another sheet on either or both ends for a city or car/loco staging and turn it into a pike to be proud of.