N scale is a popular
model railway scale. Depending upon the manufacturer (or country), the scale ranges from 1:148 to 1:160. In all cases, the
gauge (the distance between the rails) is . The term
N gauge refers to the track dimensions, but in the UK in particular
N gauge refers to a 1:148 scale with 1:160 track gauge modelling. The terms N scale and N gauge are often inaccurately used interchangeably, as scale is defined as ratio or proportion of the model, and gauge only as a distance between rails. The scale 1:148 defines the rail to rail gauge equal to exactly (at the cost of scale exactness), so when calculating the rail and/or track use 1:148 and for engines and car wheel base use 1:160.