Re: CAR SIDING

James

Drawings and photos on the first few pages of Narrow Gauge Pictorial volume IV would seem to confirm the 3-1/4 inch dimension.

The drawing shows side grabs as having 20 inch bolt hole centers. The photos reveal that there are six and a healthy fraction boards between bolts. Scanning and greatly enlarging one of the near broadside photographs for careful scaling could differentiate between 3-1/8 or 3-1/4 inch. A call to the CRRM round house in Golden might get an actual measurement.

It is good to have source material known when looking for information as specific as the width of tongue and grove siding.

If you are building a large scale model, stuff such as this is significant. In the smaller scales it would likely not matter. In HO scale, 1/32 inch scribed siding would probably suffice, even though it would be 1/2 inch off of proper scale reduction.

Scribed siding of 3/64 inch pitch is close for HO scale. Northeastern Scale Lumber makes this size scribed siding, in 1/32 or 1/16 thickness, 3-1/2 by 24 inches in size. The 2013 price list shows this at $3.89 per piece.


Good luck with whatever you are planning to do.

Rex Beistle
NMRA RMR
Estes Valley Division