Don't let the scale guys get you down, Ernest. I (and many others) only run traditional O gauge and have no intention of changing. You can build a very nice, good looking layout with traditional pre war and/or post war size trains. Scale trains are great if you have room for very large curves to run them and if you're willing to pay for scale. Scale or traditional doesn't matter as long as you're having fun.

 

But anything you buy like buildings, bridges, portals, cars and people are all the wrong size. You spend all that time and effort on a layout and it looks funny. So what's the point?

 

Most of our buildings are undersized, or selectively compressed, especially industrial buildings. 1/43 cars are oversized even for scale but look good anyway. Things like bridges, portals and many other things don't have an exact size in the real world, some are bigger and some smaller. These are some pictures from my recently dismantled layout. The trains are traditional/post war size. I think the scenes are convincing and look good. It might be a case of beauty in the eye of the beholder but I'm very happy with semi-scale trains. I think it's well worth the effort and I had a lot of fun with the layout and look forward to building and running the next one using the same trains. It's not necessary to spend a thousand dollars and more on a steam loco to have a fine layout.

 

Ok, I am getting ready to build a set and would like to be somewhat accurate - my thoughts people and buildings are different sizes (a buildings footprint) in this world; however some thing have a basic standard such and floor heights 8' or 10' and then there is warehouses that may not have a standard height depending on what was going to happen in the building. But typically one wouldn't want it undersized if they wanted it to be similarly realistic.

So on average - how tall is today's loco? Or maybe a better question is, if I was to place a house or building with what would be an 8' ceiling or a 10' ceiling or a 12' ceiling what would these measurements be in inches for an average O scale?

 

So on average - how tall is today's loco? Or maybe a better question is, if I was to place a house or building with what would be an 8' ceiling or a 10' ceiling or a 12' ceiling what would these measurements be in inches for an average O scale?

remember, O scale is 1/48 which is 1/4"=1foot, 1"=4 feet, etc.

i believe most locos are generally around 15 ft tall.

 

True O-scale is 1:48 if you live in the US, but 1:43 if you live in Europe. Add to that all the semi-scale stuff that is sized between 1:48 and around 1:55, and you can see why there is confusion about what scale O-scale really is.

If you wonder why there are so many 1:43 vehicles, but very few 1:48 ones, you can blame the Europeans!

 

That's true @gunrunnerjohn : we have 1/43 and 1/43.5 scales here, both called O gauge, or 0 (zero) gauge for some...

Below you have an (UK) ACE Trains A3 "Blink bonny" 1/43.5 4-6-2 cruising over a stopped (US 30s) Lionel 262E :

Another 1/43.5 from (UK) Bassett-Lowke 4-6-2 "Lady Patricia", measuring 540mm long, bumper to bumper (which is circa the length of a 1/48 Lionel 773-style, if I am correct) :

This (French 50s) JEP CC7001 electric engine is a 1/43 scale (a full die-cast, dual motor 10kg item) :

Personally, I find that over the scale, it's the proportions of the item that counts. For example, the proportions of the Lionel 221 are fine, despite it's not a scale locomotive, but an "evocation"...

But it's me, OK ?

OACE

 

dadblamed metric system probably

 

Well thanks a lot Team, you guys have done it now! With this report of O scale between 1:43 - 1:55 you have me in a quandary. I currently run. 1:32 and/or HO in Slot cars, not a huge fan of HO because they just look like a colored dot zooming around the track, can't really tell they are actually cars. The 1:32 is most popular and very much car like; but now I can see where the 1:43 scale Slots will compliment my O scale trains more better. I am thinking I will have to start completely over in the Slot Car business. Woe is me.

 

I:43 slot cars are much closer and more realistic on an O-Gauge layout than 1:43, 1:87, or 1:64. I thought long and hard about going with them instead of 'Streets ten years ago when I wanted O-Gauge cars and trucks on my layout. You can't race "Streets cars well, but they run at much slower scale speeds and without hassle, so I'm happy. But racing slots cars is fun and I wish I had room for a 1:43 racetrack on my layout.

 

Caboose sizes

Can someone post pictures of the different sizes of O scale cabooses? I am looking for a big one! Thanks, Don

 

Over on the OGR forum there used to be a huge thread on intermodal equipment. The thread got deleted a few years ago, and it has never been built back up to its original wealth of information.

When it comes to various sizes in O gauge railroading, containers and intermodal equipment provide a wealth of confusion and inconsistency.

Is there a comprehensive listing of the various container dimensions from O gauge suppliers (Lionel, MTH, Atlas, K-Line, Weaver, ROW, others, and with this week's announcement, Menards)?
What brands of containers can be stacked on each other?
What brands of containers will fit in what brands of intermodal stack cars?

 

So here are a series of Cabooses that I have.

Left to right:
MTH O scale, Lionel Semi-scale, and Lionel 027

 

Great thread! Santa brought my first 027 in 1951. I could never get the later-added 2500 series passenger cars to run well and, at the time, couldn't figure out why Lionel made them so big. I found big radius 027 curves and switches just a few years ago that let them run.

 

Decided I needed some more trucks on the layout. Went to Diecast direct and amazon and picked out a few that looked good. 1/43, two made by K-Line so I thought they would be OK. 4 of the 5, including the K-Line, were HUGE. Nearly a foot long. Said 1/43 of the box. Could not possibly be right. Right?

The fifth one just arrived and is what I expected. Thankfully.

Yikes.

Can you explain that?

 

Sounds like you got a different scale?
Someone there s crewed up?

 

Says 1/43 right on the boxes.

 

They may be 1/43 scale Forrest. Use a scale person to check the door size. If the door size looks right then it's the right scale. Trucks are pretty big.

 

It would be handy to actually see the truck and the K-Line product number Forrest.

 

Doors are 1 1/4” tall. Seems too big. These are longer than my scale FEF (without tender).

 

The K-Line pictured is K-8110TT. The other item is NewRay, but I am uncertain of the part number. I bought 2 K-line items and two NewRay, All from DieCast Direct. All listed as 1/43. The NewRay shows 1/43 on the box That is a 16 inch ruler in the picture. All four are around 16 inches long. They dwarf the other 143 items i have.

according to Wikipedia, 1/43 trucks are larger than other 1/43 vehicles. "There are many manufacturers in 1:43 scale producing everything from customized and accurate race cars to emergency vehicles, family sedans and SUVs. Trucks and tractor trailers can also be found in this scale, but they are comparatively larger...'

go figure.

 

A 40 foot trailer is a very common item on the roads, that equates for a 10" long 1:48 scale trailer. Add the size of the tractor and it's around a foot. 1:43 will be even larger. FWIW, there are trailers as long as 50' driving the roads.

 

OK, i’ll Take your word for it, but these will be reserved for grandson play.

 

I think Lee mentioned that he prefers the 1:50 trucks as they look plenty large for O-scale, and the 1:43 seem to be too large. Here you go, proving him right!

 

I went through my pictures here to try to find a picture for size reference. I know I have one somewhere of my truck and tanker sitting next to a RR tanker car but can't find it.
Look at this tankers size compared to the locomotive behind it.
Now in your mind turn it sideways next to the Locomotive.

 

I thought I would contribute more photos to this thread. On the left is a Lionel 6464-style traditional O gauge boxcar made in 1996 and on the right is a Lionel PS-1 O Scale (1:48) boxcar made in 2005.

 

Very nice boxcar size comparison / contrast!

 

O scale track

Is there a difference between Atlas O 2-rail and Atlas O 3-rail track other than the obvious missing center rail?

It's the same width right?

Anyone else make prototypical 2 rail O track?

I'm tinkering with a battery conversion that will be a wasted effort if there is no 2 rail O to run it on.

Thanks.

p.s. Nobody mentions price. I always thought HO meant Half price O.

 

The big difference, beside the missing rail, is Atlas 2-Rail is lower profile rail. However, if your battery powered conversion has 3-rail pizza cutter wheels, it will NOT run well on 2-rail track, the flanges will hit every tie.

 

Thank you.