Sadness about S scale


ChinaHaun19

ChinaHaun19

Active Member
I am in the process of looking forward to the idea of soon getting a new train set. My main interest are the scales S and G. I already have something in all the other popular scales and want a unique product. What makes me sad is that I have seriously considered S, and I am coming up with not much of anything. There is a fair amount of used stuff in S but even then, not that much. As far as new train sets, there appears to strictly only be 2 variants of Lionel American Flyer, and retailers are quite inconsistent as far as having this in stock. That is a shame because I think S is a really cool scale. I don't mind the idea of limited options, but this isn't just "limited options". It's two options as far as new sets. Yes, there is a small array of high end S locomotives, but that is not really my direction. With O, you have piles and piles of sets. A tetris tower of square boxes containing O sets just waiting to be plucked. Not so with S.

I know that ultimately I will probably go into G, and I guess I am grateful for the idea of just being able to get something cool but then again G is expensive. S would be more discreet and has some of the benefits of O but is likely quieter.
Screenshot 2022-04-20 12.50.00 AM.png
 
S is generally made to the same standards as O, just smaller, in two rail, instead of three, as you would find in most tinplate. Think of S as a smaller version of O, not a larger version of HO. It is, as you have found, not a popular scale.
 
bnsf971 said:
S is generally made to the same standards as O, just smaller, in two rail, instead of three, as you would find in most tinplate. Think of S as a smaller version of O, not a larger version of HO. It is, as you have found, not a popular scale.
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I finally did find a purveyor who has significant access to S gauge, and a little more in the way of NEW S sets than I had known of when I posted this yesterday.

I knew that Charles Ro up in Massachusetts was a large store and kind of an authority when it comes to selling model trains. But I had been frequenting their website on my smartphone and it didn't initially seem like they had much for S either. That was, until I went on their website on my laptop. I found the website much more well-laid out when I used a regular computer to visit it and when I did, I found that they have 3 different S sets in stock, each being under $500. There are also several more sets that the website states you can back-order, though I am not really into parting with my money if I am going to wait months to get something. I am just too impatient. When viewed from a computer the site breaks down which brands they have in each scale. With S it's still mostly just Lionel American Flyer but the site states that you can special order sets from American Models. I imagine that would be so cool, so its too bad you'd have to probably wait although when I am ready to buy I will probably ask them how long something takes to get.

It's great to have pulled the veil off of what is going on over at Charles Ro. I knew they were the best store in the region, if not the entire USA, but up until using my laptop, their site always seemed pretty opaque when trying to shop using a smartphone.
 
https://www.lionelstore.com narrow your search for S gauge.

Lionel Catalogs are also helpful.
Many dealers will send you Lionel catalogs, some for free if you sign up through their website.
If you are outside of the US, MB Klein has reasonable international shipping rates for catalogs and other items. Unfortunately they have little no stock in S gauge items.

https://www.trainworld.com another good dealer with S gauge in stock!
 
Bruette said:
https://www.lionelstore.com narrow your search for S gauge.

Lionel Catalogs are also helpful.
Many dealers will send you Lionel catalogs, some for free if you sign up through their website.
If you are outside of the US, MB Klein has reasonable international shipping rates for catalogs and other items. Unfortunately they have little no stock in S gauge items.

https://www.trainworld.com another good dealer with S gauge in stock!
Click to expand...
I might need to order a new one.

I had the 2021 Lionel catalog for months and would read it a lot last year but I don't know where I put it. I was working 25 hours a week for a few months, which was enough that I had no energy whatsoever for my hobbies until I scaled back and now I don't know where it is. I can order a new one I guess, I remember all the S stuff in it. I don't know what the time frame is for having my hobby stores have these shipped. I really prefer just rolling into the store and plucking things off the shelf. But just my luck, Charles Ro is within reasonable driving distance or a rare occasional buy.
 
Iron Horseman said:
American Models only makes S-sale. They have lots of options. Even though the founder has passed the family intends to keep the company going.
https://americanmodels.com/

I particularly like their Texas and Pacific GP9 sets.
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Thank you. I did spend several hours total perusing internet resources to investigate options in S, and G scales, and I did not see this site. In fact, I mainly found a few forum threads from that infamous O gauge forum, and dudes were lamenting the impending demise of American Models, and S helper. These posts were mostly from around 2012, so obviously it conveyed outdated discussion about the matter.

These American Model sets are what I consider to be moderately priced, and were generally just over the budget I had to work with at the time I posted this thread.

I wound up with a hobby grade G starter set... a basic LGB American passenger train dealio. I love the track.

I am really glad you posted this link because it seems like American Models makes some really nice, seemingly not mass produced, S stuff and I may well wind up in a position to give something a try from there. It could be a long time since I am currently going to focus on G, but I know myself well and the desire to run S scale is always going to be with me. It's just a great size, merging the benefits of HO and O for its dimensions.
 
ChinaHaun19 said:
I wound up with a hobby grade G starter set... a basic LGB American passenger train dealio. I love the track.
Click to expand...
You cannot go wrong with LGB. Much of my Christmas fleet is LGB brand. Their USA Mogul 2-6-0 is possibly the most reliable model railroad locomotives of all time. I have one painted in each Colorado Southern, D&RGW, and Coke.

My issue is that my G-gauge is 1:20:5 scale North American 3' Narrow gauge. Family and friends know I like LGB but they always want to buy me equipment that is European or Standard Gauge. Such a simple concept for a modeler is lost on non-modeling folks.
 
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