I've been looking at E-Bay and have noticed (maybe I'm wrong) that there are very few Standard "O" cars listed. One that I do see listed frequently is a Grand Truck #9805 with 'sprung trucks'. Is Standard "O" considered too large to be a Classic Toy Train or it just a sign of the times that this particular size is sort-of out-of-favor with train folks? As always, many thanks.
Lionel 'Standard O' is very much a toy train. They have scale proportions and are detailed with many separately applied parts. Many of these cars and locos require curves of a minimum radius to run properly.
Lionel 'Traditional' as now termed, has a smaller size, and most can run on O27 track.
Kurt
traindaddy1I've been looking at E-Bay and have noticed (maybe I'm wrong) that there are very few Standard "O" cars listed. One that I do see listed frequently is a Grand Truck #9805 with 'sprung trucks'. Is Standard "O" considered too large to be a Classic Toy Train or it just a sign of the times that this particular size is sort-of out-of-favor with train folks? As always, many thanks.
I think the standard 0 tends to be larger and therefor give them a little more room for extra detail. I myself prefer the traditional scale
Kurt, Krapug1, dagison1507: My neighbor gave me a Standard "O" reefer that he no longer wanted. When I opened the box, I realized that it was much larger than my postwar O27 cars. That is what led me to look a little closer at the E-Bay ads and the reason for my post. Because I am really "into" the smaller stuff, I've decided to just display it for now. Appreciate the information. Thanks.
arkadykrapug1 is right. "Standard O" was a line of freight cars made by Lionel in Seventies. The were O scale, but had hi-rail trucks and couplers. I have one of each of them, and they're very well made and detailed.
Lionel may have STARTED building "Standard O" in the Seventies, I can't give you an exact starting date, but they STILL list "Standard O" in their latest catalog. Standard O is their term for their Scale size rolling stock. Traditional is the size of most post-war stuff, smaller than full scale size, generally "selectively compressed" and not built to a consistant "Scale". They also make some "027" stuff, which is even smaller than "Traditional".
Doug
May your flanges always stay BETWEEN the rails
Going back to the late thirties many "traditional" size Lionel (and American Flyer) O gauge equipment was built to a scale of 3/16" = 1 foot. When American Flyer switched to two rail, they basically kept the linear scale but narrowed the track gauge so it matched the linear scale.
Curiously, although Lionel steam engines and freight cars were built to 3/16" scale, most of the postwar diesels (F3, Trainmaster etc.) were built to (or very very close to) 1/4"=1 foot, correct "full size" O scale...meaning the diesels tended to dwarf the traditional sized cars that they were pulling.
traindaddy1 im going through the same thing as you are on ebay. 90% of sellers have no idea and will try to guess. Your best bet would to be to ask for the dimesions and judge for yourself. Also ive found the community on here to be most helpful and someone probably owns that engine or stock your looking at.
dagison1507 traindaddy1 im going through the same thing as you are on ebay. 90% of sellers have no idea and will try to guess. Your best bet would to be to ask for the dimesions and judge for yourself. Also ive found the community on here to be most helpful and someone probably owns that engine or stock your looking at.
Yep, E-Bay can be a real pain when it comes to buying train stuff. I buy mainly Standard O and figuring out what is advertised is a real problem. Sellers call them "O-Scale", which SHOULD mean Standard O, but often means "O-Gauge" or "Traditional size" items. What is very helpful for E-Bay is the Greenberg price guide. They tell you in there whether it is Standard O for Lionel. For things like Weaver and Atlas and K-Line and other brands. you will either have to look VERY CAREFULLY at what it says on the box, if a box is displayed. Unfortunately, some manufacturers actually put "O-gauge/O-Scale" on some of their boxes when the car was really O-Gauge. Asking the seller can sometimes be helpful. But too often you get those folks "pleading ignorance" to get their item sold. Things like "I'm selling this stuff for my Great Uncle Joe that passed away 5 years ago" and other sob stories where they state they have no idea how to grade an item or what scale it is. It's all tricky stuff that sellers use to make a deal. As always on E-Bay...Caveat Emptor....BUYER BEWARE!
Virginian Railroad
In deciding what scale a piece is, I generally go by the width, since that is pretty well standardized on American railroads at 10 feet 8 inches (128 inches). Small early-postwar 6454 boxcars, for example are about 2 inches wide, which is 1/64, or S scale. 6464 boxcars and 2400-type small streamliners are 2 1/4 inches, or about 1/57 scale. Alcos are about 2 3/8 inches, or about 1/54; so they look good pulling 2400s. I consider some items to be 1/48, at least for the purpose of visual harmony with other 1/48 pieces in a train. These, like the 773, F3s, Train Masters, GG1, and the 2500-type extruded aluminum streamliners, are about 2 11/16 inches wide.
Of course, the height and particularly the length are not necessarily to the same scale as the width; but the height is usually pretty close. The GG1 and the 2500s are good examples of this. The GG1 is about 30 percent too short. The streamliners are not models of any particular prototype; so one cannot say that they are the wrong length. But they are certainly shorter than typical for that type of car.
Bob Nelson
arkady; Doug; Stix; Dagison1507; Deputy and Bob: Just catching up on my reading. Thanks for all your input.
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