The White River and Northern Model Railroad

Handy Gadgets

NOTE: You may have arrived here from one of my other model railroading websites. This is not an accident; I've consolidated reference information here so that I'm not maintaining multiple resources of the same information across different sites.

Scale Dimension Calculator/Converter

Convert real dimensions to model dimensions and vice-versa, plus convert English to Metric and vice-versa, all at the same time. Dimensions are calculated and converted depending on which value is entered first.

Example 1: To determine what a 40-foot boxcar would actually measure in N scale, select the scale, enter "40" in the Real feet field, then click Calculate.

Example 2: To determine what a 6-inch-long Z scale model structure scales up to in actual feet and inches, select Z scale, enter "6" in the Model inches field, then click Calculate.

NOTES:

  • The field containing the starting value will be highlighted.
  • You can change the modeling scale after performing a calculation, and it will immediately recalculate starting with the original value entered.
  • Real feet and inches can be entered at once, but only real meters or millimeters can be entered.
  • To clear calculated values and reset the calculator, click in any field.

Modeling scale:

Real feet:

Real meters:

Real inches:

Real mm:

Model inches:

Model mm:

 

Scale Drawing Converter

Do you have a drawing in one scale and wish to convert it to another? Use this converter to obtain the percentage to enlarge/reduce it. Percentage is calculated as the scale selections are made.

Drawing scale:

Modeling scale:

Percentage:

 

Resistor Decoder

Use this color-based decoder to determine the values of typical resistors. Value is calculated as the color selections are made.

First band:

Second band:

Third band:

Fourth band:

 
You can find more modeler gadgets here.

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Copyright © 2006-2012 by David K. Smith. All rights reserved.