You know what you haven’t come across but is probably to be the next huge fad in hobbying?  What trains do hardcore toy trainers lust after?  What gauge of toy locomotive do hobbyists go coo coo for?  Alright, here it is: s scale model railroads. You got it? If you’re not that familiar with scales and gauges then you probably don’t know that this isn’t a standard gauge these days. Do you even know about different gauges?  Alright so here’s what you need to know for your next toy train railroader’s meeting:

Here’s a blast from the past, these s gauge locomotives are “American Flyers”:  

In a sense it begins and ends with American Flyer.  But a big explanation why this scale is so popular is because after having been decommissioned during World War II, American Flyer retooled and marketed a cutting edge line of state of the art trains in s gauge.  This was in large part an attempt to challenge Lionel’s O scale who was the king of the roost at the time. S gauge is an “inbetween” gauge, way huger than HO but smaller than Lionel’s O.  S scale is one 64th the size of a real train whereas Lionel’s O gauge is one 48th the size.   That is to say that S gauge is a bit more manageable in terms of the smallest space requirements for the track but still large enough for those of us that love the arts and crafts part of model training. These locomotives are a lot of fun to color and detail.

S scale is not a standard gauge:  

Another reason that s scale has gained such popularity is that s gauge is rare.  American Flyers are simply the exclusive style of locomotives that were mass produced in this scale and even American Flyers were only produced in this gauge for a brief period just after World War II. American Flyer trains from the 50’s only fit s scale and wouldn’t run on Lionel’s O.   Because of the law of supply and demand, American Flyers brief life span has increased the demand for their parts and sets.   The nature of this devotion has just made the trains that much more valuable.

American Flyers are about to enter the market again:  

American Flyer’s adversary Lionel bought them out in the 60’s and is now looking to resurrect both brands by marketing the vintage 1950’s toys that are so loved by collectors.  The s scale toys they are due to re-manufacture should take the toy train market by storm.  It might not be long before we have to make room for s gauge as yet another standard scale in the toy training world.

So if you want to get ahead of this wave, now’s the time.  This is when the early adopters jump in and check things out.  Get one of these flap jacks while they’re still hot.  Remember when I told you about this little coffee house called Starbuck’s.  Not only that, American Flyer and s scale just rock even if nobody were into them. 

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