Info please

[Mancave]

What is the difference between o gauge and o 27?  Is it the height or with of the track?  I have old Lionel trains and track.  Thanks for any help in this matter!

[cowman]

Welcme to the forums.

If you go to the Classic Toy Trains section of these forums you will find many folks that have the larger scale trains of the past.  This part of the forums is mostly folks in HO and N scales.

In answer to your question (as an old Lionel owner) the height of the rail is different but the rails are the same distance apart.  027 makes a circle 27" across, if I remember correctly 0 is 30".  You can run larger locos on the O.  There is also 042 (42" circle) and other larger premade curved track, but I never had any.

Hope this helps.

Good luck,

Richard

[galaxy]

I agree that this would be better placed in the classic Toy Train forum here:

http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/default.aspx?groupid=5

But: {from wikipedia}

O gauge model railroad tracks typically have their rails spaced 1 ¹⁄₄" or 32mm apart with the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) standard allowing spacings between 31.75mm and 32.64mm

O-27 track is spaced at the same width as regular O gauge track, but is slightly shorter in height and has thinner rails than traditional O gauge track. A shim underneath the O-27 track enables the use of O and O-27 track together.

The O-27 name also comes from the size of the track's curves. A circle made of eight pieces of standard 45-degree curved O gauge track will have a 31 inches (787 mm) diameter. A circle made of 8 pieces of 45-degree curved O-27 track is smaller, with a 27 inches (686 mm) diameter. Full-sized O cars sometimes have difficulty negotiating the tighter curves of an O-27 layout. Although the smaller, tin lithographed cars by American Flyer, Marx, and others predate the formal O-27 standard, they are also often called O-27 because they also operate flawlessly on O-27 track.

Hope that all answers your question.

[Texas Zepher]

Mancave

What is the difference between o gauge and o 27?  Is it the height or with of the track?  I have old Lionel trains and track.  Thanks for any help in this matter!

The width of the track is the same that is what makes it O.   The height of the rail is different O is taller.   Also the size of a loop of track is different.   An O-27 circle of track is 27" across, while regular O is O-31 where a circle of track is 31" across.    Then the train cars and locomotives are different sized also.  O-27 being slightly smaller.

[Stourbridge Lion]

Topic has been moved to the " Classic Toy Trains Forums"

[gunrunnerjohn]

Does this answer the question?  O-27 on the left, O-31 on the right.

 

[Mancave]

My o guage train sets are from the 1950. I have put it together in my Mancave! When I learn how to send videos of my neat set up I will send them to you. Again, thanks for info! [e-mail]

[rtraincollector]

you need a hosting site like photobucket.com or shutterfly.com and then you can post the link in here to show your videos/pitcures

[lionelsoni]

A circle of O27 is 27 inches in diameter to the outer ends of the 2-inch ties.  A circle of O31 is 30.534 inches in diameter to the outer ends of the 2.25-inch ties.

An O27 straight is 8.839 inches long.  An O31 straight is 10 inches long.

The O27 radius to the center rail is 12.5 inches.  The O31 radius to the center rail is 14.142 inches.

An O27 railhead is 7/16-inch high.  An O31 railhead is 11/16-inch high.

An O27 track pin is about 3/32-inch in diameter.  An O31 track pin is about 7/64-inch in diameter.