I mostly collect and run model trains representing trains from Japan, and places in Europe: Mostly Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and some other central European areas. I do have a small amount of U.S. models — all Union Pacific, as that is what we see in my local area.
Japan. There are several makers of model trains in Japan. The two big ones are KATO and Tomix. Two smaller but also mainline makers are Greenmax and Micro Ace. Widely available but yet smaller are Popondetta, and Modemo. Tenshodo makes high end brass in H0. There are other smaller boutique makers. N-scale is the most widely sold and used scale in Japan. N-scale in Japan is mostly 1:150, though Shinkansen are usually 1:160. Most of the rest of the world, the UK excepted, use 1:160 for N-Scale. H0 has a following in Japan, but is much less popular and a lot more expensive. In Japan, H0 is 1:80, while most of the rest of the world uses 1:87 for H0. These differences in scale are mostly attributed to the fact that most Japanese actual scale trains are mostly Cape Gauge, and not Standard Gauge. So to make the track to train look better, they use a slightly large scale.
