# Correct width for streets???



## A&NRR (Aug 2, 2015)

I'm trying to figure out the correct width for 2 lane farm market roads, HO scale. Different people have told me different sizes. In the past I took HO scale vehicles and just eyeballed it. This time I'm very picky about accuracy and detail.
I am so confused


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## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

A&NRR said:


> I'm trying to figure out the correct width for 2 lane farm market roads, HO scale. Different people have told me different sizes. In the past I took HO scale vehicles and just eyeballed it. This time I'm very picky about accuracy and detail.
> I am so confused


I think your local DOT might have that information on line for different classes of road.


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## A&NRR (Aug 2, 2015)

Thanks Doc, I'll google that. Thank the good Lord for the internet, lol.


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

HO Scale is 1:87, so one foot = 87 scale feet

Roads vary from 10-12ft wide/lane. 

10ft lane would be 120" wide or 120/87 = 1.38" wide
12ft = 144" wide or 144/87 = 1.65" wide


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

Well, you can check local DOT standards. Usually they have them on line: a couple of years ago I downloaded a .pdf of the City of Chicago's street dimensions and requirements, which was super detailed, but that was for doing city streets. I'd think state or county governments would have similar for farm to market roads. 

Of course, that would be for today. It you are modeling, say, the 1930s or even '50s, I'd go back to you original method and eyeball it: standards were a bit looser then, and folks built what worked for them.

From experiment and "attempts that didn't work," I've learned that the width of the shoulder/side of the road has a lot to do with the right look, too. In the scene below (O-Gauge), the road lanes have been widened from Bachmann EZ-Street roadtrack's standard width to a full scale ten feet, which is the minimum I think works for a road to look "real." The shoulder shown here and the standoff distance to the fence are as compressed as I could get them and have it look at all good: I didn't have a lot of room to work with and I made several attempts before I got just the look I wanted. It was surprising how bad the whole thing looked if the shoulder & standoff to the fence were either too narrow or too wide.


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## A&NRR (Aug 2, 2015)

Thanks, guys, I'm modeling the '50's early '60's so I can have the S.P. black widow paint schemes on my early diesels. And still have at least one steam engine sitting around. Measuring my HO scale vehicles about 12 ft. lanes look about just right. with side roads being 10 ft. Going to try a 3 ft. shoulder on a mock-up Since I have a small layout details make all the difference, I think.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

The 50s and early 60s in the US saw a lot of fairly narrow 2 lane State and U.S.
highways, and fairly narrow shoulders, if any. It was not unusual to
encounter what we called 'square' turns, a curve so sharp it was near
that of a city street corner. This was especially true in Illinois.

Today's drivers would be shocked
at how poorly engineered were those roads. So, you can be fairly 'sloppy' with
your model road work and it would be correct for most areas. Incidentally, some
State highways were had less than 10 ft wide lanes back then.

Don


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## A&NRR (Aug 2, 2015)

Thanks Don, I'm modeling small town deep East Texas, they do have fairly narrow roads with no shoulders. Nothings really changed up there in the last 50 years. I'll be up there for Thanksgiving, I pay close attention to the roads maybe get some pictures for reference.


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## tkruger (Jan 18, 2009)

In Ohio where my grandparents were the rural roads were ogten only a lane and a half wide with no lines on then. Oil and gravel, no asphalt. This was true right through the 90s, have not been back since. I believe 60 - present highways are generally 12 ft per lane. I use the what looks right on my layout. One day I am running 1930s steam and the next a Dash 9. Everything is kept kind of generic on my layout for that purpose.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

sstlaure said:


> HO Scale is 1:87, so one foot = 87 scale feet
> 
> Roads vary from 10-12ft wide/lane.
> 
> ...


Sstlaure gave you the best answer so far: calculate the width of the road you want to model. There really is nothing like a standardized width. State and Federal roads are built to standards, but these almost always specify a range, not an exact width. Local roads are a real crapshoot.

On a supposed two lane road near me, there is a cut that was probably made before the Revolutionary War. Two passenger cars can sneak past each other in a pinch; two large pickup trucks would remove their side mirrors. If I see a pickup or delivery truck coming in the other direction as I approach, one of us is going to wait for the other to pass through!

The rule "there is a prototype for everything" definitely applies to roads of varying widths.


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