(, literally European Standards for Model Railways, known in the UK as Normal European Modelling Standards (NEM Standards)) are standards for
model railroads, issued by the
MOROP
MOROP is a European association that federates national associations of railroad and model railroad enthusiasts.
MOROP was founded in Genoa, Italy by Italo Briano in 1954, and now has its headquarters in Bern, Switzerland. In 2006, MOROP federat ...
.
Standards
The NEM standards are defined and maintained by the Technical Commission of the MOROP in collaboration with model railroad manufacturers.
The NEM standards define the
model railroad scales and guide
manufacturers
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the
secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...
in creating compatible products and assist modellers in constructing
model railroad layouts that operate reliably. The standards cover areas like suggested
grades,
turnout radii, wheel profiles, coupling designs and
Digital Command Control (DCC) and are mostly scale specific. A fundamental principle in NEM standards are compromises in the exact scale reduction ratio in order to favour operational reliability of model railroad systems. An example for this is
wheel flanges which tend to be proportionally wider in smaller scales to ensure reliable operation.
The NEM standards cover areas similar to the standards and recommended practices defined by the
National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, but the two standards are not universally interchangeable. In recent years, MOROP and NMRA have been working more closely together to establish common standards for developments such as DCC. European model railroad manufacturers generally follow the NEM standards, while North American manufacturers generally follow NMRA standards.
See also
*
List of rail transport modelling scale standards
*
Rail transport modelling scales
References
External links
*NEM standards on MOROP website
English(outdated)
an
MOROP websiteNEM article in DCC Wiki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Normen Europaischer Modellbahnen
Rail transport modelling
Rail transport modelling standards
Standards of Germany