Hi, I have been purchasing American OO scale, that was manufactured by Lionel and other American manufacturers produced during the 1930's till the end of the 1950's, off Ebay. There is a Facebook site, Yahoo group, and an American OO scale blog, but has very little traffic. There must be a number of American OO scale enthusisists out there, based on Ebay sales, but barely any communication amongst OO scalers. Anyone here retro-model in American OO scale? For the record, it is not the same as European OO scale.
Sorry, I have never known anyone that modeled in American OO scale.
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I, however, do collect European TT scale trains. Weird, huh?
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I don't know how active they are, but the NMRA has SIG (Special Interest Group) for American OO here.
I think this scale died because it was too close to HO. And S scale is more in the middle for those who want something between HO and O.
Paul
British OO is 1:76 scale...whatever is sold for British OO would probably work with US OO
azrail British OO is 1:76 scale...whatever is sold for British OO would probably work with US OO
Well, then you get British OO trains running on the proper gage (19mm). Which is great, perhaps, if you are modeling a British prototype.
Ed
Well, British OO runs on HO track. So you have to replace or regauge all the trucks and/or wheelsets - simple for cars, harder for locomotives. British trains are very different from U.S. trains so you probably can't use them very well as American trains.
A better approach might be to use On3 trucks and locomotive mechanisms since it uses the same gauge as American OO. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of On3 and in this day of RTR lcomotives, getting the running gear for locomotives may be problematic. I have no idea how well On3 cars and locomotives would work in appearance or how much modification might be necessary to use as OO.
HO and OO are the same "gauge", just different scales. A little backstory on OO. In Europe, O scale is 7mm = 1 foot, or 1:43.5 scale, rather than the US 1/4" = 1 foot, for 1:48 scale (neither of which is correct for O gauge - should be 17/64" = 1 foot, or 1:45 scale.)
Anyway, when "Half O" (HO) trains first came out in Europe, they used half of European O: 3.5mm = 1 foot, or 1:87 scale. However, British trains in that scale would have been too small for the available electric motors, since UK trains were very pretty small compared to US or European trains. So UK manufacturers kept HO gauge track, but increased the linear scale to 4mm = 1 foot.
Interestingly, if you put a model of a US HO and UK OO engine next to each other - say two 4-6-2 steam engines - they'd be about the same actual size. OO trains are about 1/8th larger than HO, but real UK trains are about 1/8th smaller than US trains...so it works out to be about the same size model.
Since most early US model railroaders had to get equipment from Britain or Europe, some decided to use the 4mm scale OO instead of 3.5mm HO scale. Lionel made a good line of OO products before WW2. OO never had a really big following in the US, but there have been a few US OO layouts built over the years.
Some British modellers use 18.83mm gauge. I'm not sure whether there is any practical difference between that and 19mm, but such track should be available.
I think some current models at least can be converted simply by substituting wheelsets of the correct gauge.
A number of vehicle types used in the UK, such as container flat cars, gondolas and tank cars could be used on US prototype layouts.
Peter
wjstixHO and OO are the same "gauge", just different scales.
No! HO gauge is 0.651 inches, Scale ratio 1:87.1, 3.5mm = 1 foot
OO gauge is 0.752 inches, Scale ratio 1:76.2, 4mm = 1 foot
https://www.nmra.org/sites/default/files/standards/sandrp/pdf/s-3.2_2010.05.08.pdf
Most British modelers model HO/OO. OO scale trains running on HO gauge track.
HO scale is 1/2 British O scale. HO/OO supposedly developed because the motors available to British modelers were too large to fit in most British prototype locomotives. They increased the scale ratio so the motors would fit in the locomotives, but kept the 1/2 O gauge for the track.
British modelers who model OO scale with the correct gauge track are a minority.
American OO gauge uses the 0.75 inch gauge track, not HO track, although there is probably some HO/OO also.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
erierailroadLionel was the main stay of OO scale from 1938 till 1941. The people who follow OO must be on the toy side of trains.
Well, the title of the topic uses the word "Retro-Modeling".
But, yeah, I don't think there are going to be any cutting-edge layouts turning up in American OO.
I've got a couple of decidedly retro HO models: American Flyer DL600B (with working bell!) and PRR 0-6-0 (with possibly working puffing steam!). Good news is that, if I can find them and they're in the mood, I can run them on my track. Bad news is that, these days, they're pretty awful models.