Hey Everyone,
I have accumilated several hundred (688 to be exact haha) shelf plans that I am perusing looking for an exact plan to follow or something to inspire me for a custom design. Many of the plans are from Europe, mainly the UK, and OO is a very common scale over there.
I know that HO and OO use the same sized track but OO locos, cars and buildings are larger. If I am looking to use an OO trackplan, can I with confidence assume that HO locos and cars be able to clear turnouts and radius with no changes to the track plan or are there items that I need to consider and compensate for?
Thank you for your help!
UK railroads had smaller cars and locomotives than U.S. hence they may use sharper curves, smaller turnouts, etc. than you would need even given the small difference between OO and HO.
Also, any track plan UK, US, etc. may be drawn with smaller equpment than you will use.
And not every plan is always drawn carefully and may not be accurate in terms of curves, turnouts, etc.
You should develop your own track plan requirements based on the equipment you plan to run. The NMRA has developed standards and recommended practices that you can use for your railroad.
Paul
OO scale is not at all common in Europe, only in the UK. In continetal European countries, it is HO scale, just like in the US.
OO scale is 1/76 scale, which is slightly larger than HO scale, thus requiring larger clearances. Other than that, you should be fine using an OO scale transferred to HO scale, but don´t forget that couplers in Europe (including the UK) are usually truck-mounted to allow for tighter curves. In Britain, freight cars also tend to be rather short, so you may have to check the length of the sidings, if tey will accomodate typical US freight cars.
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
HO scale is about 7/8ths the size of OO scale. However, UK equipment was about 1/8th smaller than US equipment. So say an OO British 4-6-2 model is about the same size as a comparable era US 4-6-2, even though the real US engine was bigger than the UK one.
As noted in an earlier post, UK and European models are designed to able to do very sharp curves, like 14" radius, so you'd have to watch out for that in any OO layout plans from Europe.