Question: An "n gauge " train model is created using a scale of 1:60. If an actual train engine, the "K-4" an early twentieth-century engine,is 45 feet long, what is the length of an "N gauge" model of the engine in inches?

Jennifer

The sale of 1:60 means that the model engine is one-sixtieth of the actual engine size. The caboose of the twentieth-century train was 30 feet long. Since you want the model size in inches, first change the actual caboose length to inches. There are 12 inches in a foot so 30 feet is

30 12 = 360 inches.

One-sixtieth of 360 is

 ¹/₆₀   360 = 6 inches.

Thus the model caboose is 6 inches long. How long is the model engine?

Penny