OO & HO Scale Question

Should match OK although it would be overscale. OO is 4mm to one foot, whereas HO is 3.5mm to one foot. As British loading gauge is quite small the larger scale makes the models look OK against HO, US and European models. (Even if the prototypes would not normally be seen together).

Both OO and HO run on 16.5mm gauge track unless you are working to the more approximate OO scale of 18.2mm (called EM) of the preecise 18.84mm (called P4)

Check out the wheel standards. before assuming that the Hornby train will run on your track.

It depends.

Engli***rains are significantly smaller than NA trains - so no problem with the fit. The doors, windows, etc may look a bit large.

EMD made some locomotive for England in the '90s, based on SD40-2 -but with a cab at each end, and to English standards. There was some pictures in Trains at the time - the locomotive looked tiny compared to the SD50 next to it. The OO scale model of this locomotive is about the same length as an Athearn SD40-2, but much short (height) and narrower.

For what it is worth, I run several Hornby and Bachmann Uk locos and freight cars on my layout. Standard OO models run fine on HO Code 100 and 83 track. Some of my older Hornby have huge treads and will only run on 100.

Thank you Simon for showing me the 'Mallard' once again, I still havent found one reasonably priced and I dont have the money right now anyways.... [:D]

hmmmm HST on US soil.....



Have fun & be safe.
Karl.

OO was created some time back in the early to mid 20th century. The reason OO trains are slightly larger is because the electric motors available in England at the time were a bit too large to fit in HO shells and they didn't want to buy motors from america - too expensive. Even though they now have motors to fit HO shells, the larger shells are now a standard.

[soapbox]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ukguy Thank you Simon for showing me the 'Mallard' once again, I still havent found one reasonably priced and I dont have the money right now anyways.... [:D] hmmmm HST on US soil..... Have fun & be safe. Karl.

You are welcome. My Mallard is one of the older run Hornby, Apparently the new model has more detail and costs a lot more. I try and get back to the UK at least once a year so that my kids can see their English cousins and Grandparents. When I am there I usually try and pick up a loco or a piece of rolling stock. My layout is entirely US, but I do have a nostalgic vein for the old country. I am seriously considering having a small English station on the layout, sort of a time warp diorama in the middle of the Mid West!

Metro: if you buy trains made in the last 10 years, there should be no compatibility problem with HO track. I have lots of friends who mix and match HO and OO trains; I do myself.
The size issue should be OK. One fellow in our club brough his HO BigBoy over to another OO layout and it stuck in the tunnel portals.

QUOTE: Originally posted by ukguy Thank you Simon for showing me the 'Mallard' once again, I still havent found one reasonably priced and I dont have the money right now anyways.... [:D] hmmmm HST on US soil..... Have fun & be safe. Karl.

That looks like the Australian XPT, But then we just copied off you!!

Looked at strictly from a scale proportion point of view, a 4 foot square wooden pallet in HO would be 7/8 the size of the same prototype modeled in OO.

Looked at from a more practical viewpoint, the track gauge of HO-OO is 16.5mm, just like American HO (and, incidentally, HOj,) so the wheels will roll on the same rails. Since America has a huge loading gauge, there won't be any problems with clearing fences, bridges or high-level platforms built to NMRA standards. The only thing that the scale mismatch will do is make the equipment from the UK look more massive than it is.

I model Japanese prototype in HOj (1:80 scale on 16.5mm gauge track,) so I resemble that! When I slip my HO scale (1:87.1) N&W J onto the layout it towers over everything!

Chuck

The only RTR british locos I know of in HO are the Roco class 08 shunter in dutch livery and the Mehano model of the class 66 which is the freight loco based on the EMD SD40, both are in European liveries and would need repainting.
The roof of a HO British loco will only stand just above the top of the nose of a US diesel in HO. Keep the British one in the foreground if you get a OO one and tell people you are into forced perspective modelling!
Fleischmann used to produce a steam Royal Scot and Warship (diesel) many years ago which turn up on ebay[;)]

Alright as you'll probably tell from this post, I've long been a fan of UK railroads:

I'm probably just going to pick up a Hornby HST next time I'm across the pond over in London or Manchester (so probably around November.) Some Hornby trains are avalible here in the US (most famous are the live steamers,) but not many, probably all that could be built would be a small switching railroad using Class 08 shunters and run-through power provided by Class 60 road diesels.

The only road name offered in consistant quantity by Hornby in the USA is British Railways, but pricing is reasonable especially on steamers.

UKguy, if you want a streamlined A4 Class pacific www.hornby-usa.com has the BR green and the North Eastern gloss black warpaint (which is my all time favorite A4 paint) for $150.00

Cheers!
~METRO