when i was young (groan!) there was Lionel and AF. i knew about HO but the name LIONEL was better known.
LIONEL was .. some relative size to real trains. I knew nothing about scale. These were TOYS! that moved that used electricity that I could control. that was fun.
Much much later when i came back to trains I started to ask why are the LIONEL "people" attached to the accessories SO BIG compared to the trains. That was the first time I considered scale. But THEN, there were no alternatives for scale.
Looking back at HO and 2-rail, these guys understood SCALE. So from then I tried to hand-build new things that were SCALE-LIKE.
now I can 3D print actual 1/4" scale with ease so i do.