What is the difference between scale and gauge?
A. If the real life rail car is 40 feet long, a half scale rail car would be only 20 feet long, one quarter scale would be 10 feet long and so on. Gauge refers to the distance between the two rails on a railroad track. Full scale standard gauge railroads use track with rails that are 4 foot, 8 inches apart (56 inches). Some of the more common gauges in live steam and diesel railroading are 360mm, 2″, 3″, 4″, 7″, 15″. In the North East US and most of Europe, 7 is used in place of 7. most popular gauges Read a complete treatment of this subject written by Rick Henderson by Riding Scales & Gauges. Q.