Newbie question. Why are some O scale cars so much bigger than other O scale cars?

[lmxu]

Hello Gurus: 

Newbie question. I own a few sets of what I thought was O scale trains + cars.  1 or 2 of them are those standard starter sets come with boxes.  I also have a huge 2-6-6-2 Allegheny which seems to be a tad bigger than  those cars that comes with the starter set. 

The other day I went to a train show and saw them running  on O track (or maybe super O), but the cars they are pulling are HUGE, look really nice for my Allegheny. Seems like almost double the size of my regular cars. I'm pretty sure they are O scale, so what's the difference? 

I'm looking on ebay, trying to buy some cars, but I can't tell if they are the size of my cars or the size of the cars at the train show.  When purchase online at a site like ebay, what should I look out for? 

Thank you very much
 

[ChiefEagles]

Some are called traditional now.  They are the 027 size.  Then they have the scale size cars.  Some scale size cars will not maneuver 027 curves and especially 027 switch machines.  I run both at times.

[KRM]

There is a good article in the question and answer section of the January CTT magazine on this. Check it out.

[lmxu]

Thanks #Chief Eagles and #KRM. 

So if I want to buy on ebay, do i just search "Scale Size"?  It turns up a lot cars, but I don't see any one of them specifically says "Scale Size", just random listing with "O Scale" in there and I look at them, I can't tell if they are "traditional size" or "scale size"?

Thanks again and merry Christmas   

[TRAINCAT]

I think the big cars you speak of are now called "standard O", or scale.

Roger

[Penny Trains]

February issue actually.

MTH Premier, Atlas Trainman and Lionel Standard O are all scale or near scale cars which look great with big engines like yours.  Just look for those and you'll do great.  But watch your turn radii!  Big engines and big cars need big curves!  Many won't operate on anything less than O42.

Becky

[rtraincollector]

Some of Atlas O cars take O-54 minimum curve I found out after getting so guess it was good I'd hadn't built my layout yet I now plan on doing either 60" or 72" curves so I know I have the with for my out side curve and thinking of 3 loops so go down from there to minimum of 54" The 33,000 gl tank car for one and the scale boxcars I have gotten so far.

[lmxu]

Thanks #Becky and #rtraincollector! 

Standard O search works for me, a lot of results showing up, that definitely cleared up the definition for me.

Greatly appreciate it once again, great community here :)

Merry Christmas guys.  

[KRM]

 

Penny Trains

February issue actually.

 

 

Thanks Becky you are right. When you get old and get a mag in December I guess you just figure it is January's. Who would think it is February's.

[wjstix]

The issue is that there are cars built to different scales / sizes that run on O gauge three-rail track. In the US we use 1:48 scale (1/4" = 1 foot) for O scale trains. Most likely that is the size of your big steam engine. 1:48 scale cars are built by Lionel, Atlas and others. However, full-scale cars generally won't take the sharp curves (O-27 or O-31) that normally come with train sets, so there are also smaller cars available that are closer to 1:64 scale size, but still running on O gauge track. As ntoed these are often called "traditional" sized trains now, because using smaller cars with toy trains goes back long before scale trains were common, so the smaller size is more "traditional" for three rail trains.

Keep in mind too that real freight cars became bigger over time. 100 years ago a typical boxcar was 8-1/2 feet tall, and 34 or 36 feet long. By the 1940's cars were 10-1/2 feet tall and 40 or 50 feet long.

Just to be sure things are confusing, there are also "semi-scale" cars, like some of the passenger cars available, that are the correct height and width for 1:48 scale, but are shorter than the real cars - say 50-60' long passenger cars instead of 80' long.

[lmxu]

Thanks Stix. That explains a lot!.  It really gets difficult for me as a newbie to buy the correct size as most listings on E-Bay doesn't say anything about it. 

I'll try as Becky suggested, search for "Standard O" and hopefully, when I get them, those are the  correct size for my 2-6-6-2. 

Thanks again guys. Lots of stuff for me to learn here. 

[wrconstruction]

just buy the ones you like and run em'

Ryan

[overlandflyer]

prototype cars vary a  lot in height and length, but i find the one measurement that is pretty consistent are car widths (in US standard gauge) at just a tad over 10 feet.  staying true to this dimension, 1:48 scale cars are typically 2.5" wide whereas 'traditional' or O27 size scales measure out to 2.0" - 2.125" width.

[lmxu]

Thanks #overlandflyer :) 

Greatly appreciate the info!!