[shaygetz]

As it turns out, O narrow gauge can use standard HO track, and HO narrow gauge can use standard N gauge track.

I would add...IF the O narrow gauge was On30 and the HO narrow gauge HOn30...:thumbsup:

 

[eljefe]

Thanks for providing some new info, haphall. A lot of people seem to be confused by what narrow gauges are relative to scales.

 

[Robes]

Can anyone post a picture of OO gauge? Is it closer to HO or O gauge?

 

[cv_acr]

OO runs on HO scale track and is very similar in size.

OO is 1:76 scale, HO is 1:87.

OO is mostly European, and European equipment generally has a smaller profile than North American equipment, which means OO and HO end up looking exactly the same size, although the European equipment should actually be a tad smaller that their North American counterparts.

There was actually a thread on this exact subject (OO vs HO) a while ago on this forum.

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=13216

I'm sure there's also been others actually.

 

[Oiler fan]

As for which one is best suited to a person, it's all about the space you have, and your eyesight. I love the size of O scale trains, but it eats real estate if you want anything but an oval. I like N scale, but I can't see that well without the cheaters. G scale is fun, and if I have a barn I'd have G scale in the basement.

 

[CTValleyRR]

I've been model railroading for a long time, and I have to say a reference like this would have been helpful many years ago.

The picture is great, but the thing that is missing is a real world object of known scale for comparison. One that I've seen uses a dollar bill (6") for comparison. For newcomers to the hobby, this would be roughly the size of the N scale locomotive.

 

[400E Blue Comet]

You're forgetting Standard Gauge, 2 7/8 Gauge, and T Gauge

 

[FM Trainmaster]

Modelers who know better seem to carelessly use the word "scale," when they mean "gauge," which I believe is a source of massive confusion for those who don't understand the distinction. It's perpetuated right in the forum titles, here.

O-gauge is typically 1:43 scale, gauge referring to the rail profile (1-1/4" centers, etc.), and not the scale size. Most model rail gauges are at odds with the true scale of the locos, as necessitated by reasonably small layout tables.

This confusion really gets people, when you start discussing On30, which is really HO gauge in O scale (~1:43). :lol


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[Big Ed]

Modelers who know better seem to carelessly use the word "scale," when they mean "gauge," which I believe is a source of massive confusion for those who don't understand the distinction. It's perpetuated right in the forum titles, here.

O-gauge is typically 1:43 scale, gauge referring to the rail profile (1-1/4" centers, etc.), and not the scale size. Most model rail gauges are at odds with the true scale of the locos, as necessitated by reasonably small layout tables.

This confusion really gets people, when you start discussing On30, which is really HO gauge in O scale (~1:43). :lol


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O scale model trains are all proportioned 1:48 to the prototype?
Which is 1/48th the size of a real train?
O scale conveniently works out to 1/4 inch = 1 foot.

You could use 1/43 size structures and cars and trucks on the O layout. But they are a hair smaller then O?
That is what I always thought.:dunno:

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

O-gauge is typically 1:43 scale, gauge referring to the rail profile (1-1/4" centers, etc.), and not the scale size. Most model rail gauges are at odds with the true scale of the locos, as necessitated by reasonably small layout tables.

Actually, it depends on what area of the world you're in. In the US, O-scale is 1:48 for virtually all the manufacturers. In Europe, and probably other parts of the world, they use 1:43 as O-scale.

Ed, 1:43 scale is larger than 1:48 scale.

 

[Big Ed]

Ed, 1:43 scale is larger than 1:48 scale.

That is right, what was I thinking?:goofball:
Must have been before I had a cup of mud. hwell:

 

[FM Trainmaster]

Interesting. I've always read that accessories for O-gauge were usually scaled at 1:45, to split the difference between the 1:48 and 1:43. In fact, I thought most of the trains were actually scaled 1:43, with the track scaled at 1:48, but I guess I was probably just assuming, there.

All interesting, but aside from the point I was trying to make!


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[gunrunnerjohn]

Well, maybe most O-gauge is 1:43, I don't know the percentage of US vs. the rest of the world production.

FWIW, FM Trainmaster would correctly be FM Train Master. A Trainmaster is a mid level RR employee, a Train Master is the locomotive build by Fairbanks-Morse.

 

[FM Trainmaster]

Doh! Oh well... lol.


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[FM Trainmaster]

FWIW, FM Trainmaster would correctly be FM Train Master. A Trainmaster is a mid level RR employee, a Train Master is the locomotive build by Fairbanks-Morse.

So, while searching for a manual to tell me how to get my 675 loco apart for lubrication and service this evening, I came across the manual for my 2321 FM Trainmaster. The original Lionel paper refers to it as the "FM Trainmaster," not the "FM Train Master". I knew I had seen it that way somewhere.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

Lionel has gotten this wrong, even in current products. That doesn't make them right.

 

[400E Blue Comet]

Great pic, man, everyone must love the Santa Fe F3 and the Santa Fe F7.
But... Standard Gauge and T Gauge are missing. Hulk smash!
One question though, why was Marx used for the O Scale F3/F7? Not that it's bad, Marx trains are fun, but it's less realistic.

 

[eljefe]

Great pic, man, everyone must love the Santa Fe F3 and the Santa Fe F7.
But... Standard Gauge and T Gauge are missing. Hulk smash!
One question though, why was Marx used for the O Scale F3/F7? Not that it's bad, Marx trains are fun, but it's less realistic.

It's not my collection--just a picture I found on another site. At the time, we had a few people here asking what size of train they should buy, so I thought this was a nice way of giving some idea how the different gauges compare.

As for what's included and what's not, you'd have to take that up with the guy who owns them! Alas, I've long forgotten where the pic came from...

 

[Aberdeen]

Did my fuzzy brain do this scale speed approximation right?

If 60 mph = 88 fps, then on a 1:87 scale, 60 mph should be about 1 foot per second.

If true, then timing my HO train at a moderately slow rate, it took four seconds to go four feet (1 fps). Therefore it was going a scaled rate of about 60 mph.

I think new people (like me) want to run their model freights trains too fast. In the 1960s, the Milwaukee Road's tracks were so bad that they had to limit freight speed to 50 MPH (as best I can remember). It was one of many nails in the coffin of that often unprofitable railroad.

 

[tjcruiser]

Yup ... "fun speed" is often much, much faster than true scaled speed!