UK Engine Compatibility with US?

[Anonymous]

Its been a long time since I was an active model railroder. Now that I have kids, I want to get started again.

My question is this. Are HO trains purchased from the UK fully compatible with HO in the US? I'm particularly interested in the electrical compatibility. Are the motors compatible with the transformers here in the US?

My kids love Thomas the Tank Engine and there are more trains available from the UK than in the US. Thanks for your help,

Gary

[Anonymous]

Hello Gary,
Bachmann Branchline, Hornby, and others companies manufacturing model railroad equipment based on British prototypes use OO scale (1:76) vs. 1:87 scale, which is HO. This means British OO scale equipment is bigger, although mosr British modelers operate it on HO gauge track.

This odd arrangement goes back to the 1930s when electric motors were much bigger and needed more space to fit inside model equipment. Because prototype British equipment is smaller than North American prototype equipment, the larger scale worked toward the Brits' advantage when they made models.

OO scale had a larger following at one time too in North America. Not many years afterward, though, HO scale became the most popular in North America, while OO scale remained the most popular in Great Britain. However, many British modelers adopted the use of HO gauge track, which is 16.5mm wide, rather than OO gauge, which would be slightly wider at 18mm. Some British modelers do prefer 18mm gauge, and call the result EM scale.

You should have no problems operating OO scale equipment with North American power supplies. The motors handle a nominal 12 volts DC, just like their North American counterparts. The equipment will look a little larger however.

Hope this helps,

Paul Schmidt
Contributing Editor
Trains.com

[dknelson]

Not to disagree with Paul but be mindful that some British (and European) makers still feature large flanges that might give trouble on some makes of track. Now that Peco is so popular perhaps that is not an issue but our flangeway standards are NOT the same as the English ones
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

Two years ago when I was in Europe, I purchased a couple of Heljan locomatives that were British prototype and OO scale. The run fine on my code 100 rail and Peco turnouts. I recently converted them to DCC and they run very well on my layout.

[Anonymous]

Right on, Dave! That's always something to be mindful of.

[BR60103]

As a British Modeller living in North America, I will state that the electrical requirements are the same.
Wheels are another matter. The recent models seem to be more compatible with NMRA standards, but there are still exceptions, and certainly some of the older stuff will bump and crunch over switches, if they run rhrough them at all. A simple oval layout would be no problem.
One of my friends immigrated from Britain years ago, and they gave away all their trains bcause they knew that they were changing from 240 volts to 120 volts. After they got here, they realized that they only needed to change their power packs. He's still trying to get the trains back from his cousins.
--David

[Anonymous]

While I fell badly for your friend, David, that's utterly hilarious! I hope he's successful.

Paul

[Anonymous]

Good story David.
Reminds me a bit of another 'scary electrical' situation from 1954.We had moved to Canada from England,in 1952, when I was nine.I had brought a Trix Twin 3-RAIL 00 AC train set from England, new in 1951, that somehow the shop had sold to my Dad without a transformer, just a rheostat, so it had never run.
Anyway, I had a school chum who had a Marx trainset, and he brought over his transformer one Saturday, to try on the Trix.
My Dad, God rest his soul, wouldn't let us try it, and claimed we would "ruin" the engine, because it was so much smaller than the Marx.
Naturally, we tried it after school one day, and it worked like a charm. Dad wasn't happy to hear of this, particularly because we didn't need the separate rheostat, but he got over it pretty soon.
Both my chum and I moved on to H0 just a couple of years later.
regards / Mike

[Anonymous]

David and Mike--both of your stories made my day! Take care.

Jim

[CG9602]

That's good to know, Paul. A few weeks ago, I purchased a 1970's era OO-guage kit of a Beyer Garratt. I look forward to assembling the kit and running it. I have been looking and searching the 'Net for a Beyer Garratt kit for some time, and was very happy to find one at a certain U.K. model railway website. Is there anyone here who has experience with running a K's kit on HO scale track? I'd like some input before I experiment.

[BR60103]

I'll stick my little finger up, as I have one K's kit that I ran on HO track. I didn't have any problems with the wheels. You will, of course, check them against an NMRA gauge -- the flanges may be a bit deep and a bit thick. If I remember, the wheels come assembled on the axles -- test them through your turnouts.
Is this the LMS version?

[CG9602]

Yes, it is. The engine is an LMS 2-6-0 + 0-6-2 Beyer Garratt from a company called K's model lits. I'm intrigued by this particular engine design, so much so that I was able to locate, via the WWW, two vendors who sell kits of other, larger Beyer Garratts. One vendor is in South Africa, & will even sell the kit fully assembled. The other vendor is the UK manifacturer, called DJH engineering. Unlike the kit I'm building right now (the 2-6-0-0-6-2), DJH makes the kits in HO scale :). So, it looks like I'll be busy for a few more weeks. It should prove to be a fun learing experience.