Traditional vs Standard - How can I tell them apart?

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post...I've been lurking for about a week or so.  I've been looking around on ebay for good deals on rolling stock.  Anyway, if the seller doesn't state whether it's traditional or standard size, how can one tell?  

 Thanks for your time.

Jerry

[chuck]

If they've included the stock number, look it up in a catalog.  If you drop the catalog number into a search engine (like Google), you'll probably get a reference to the catalog the item appeared in and then can reference that.

[vbkostur]

good question. i have some older steam engines(chigaco alton and blue comet hudsons from the late 70's and early 80's) and was also not sure if they would be considered standard O or the slightly smaller traditional O. i would appreciate any help also. thanks!

 

[Chris F]

Jerry -  

As chuck noted, Lionel catalogs can be helpful, as can Greenberg books covering locomotives and rolling stock.  Lionel's website shows catalogs back to 2000; Greenberg books (if you can find them) span the years 1900 to 1995.  The "dark territory" is 1996-1999 - you really need hard copies of the catalogs for those years.

You might ask about specific pieces here (as long as the list isn't too long!).  For example, the Chicago & Alton and the Blue Comet Hudsons from the MPC era are known as "Baby Hudsons"; they're traditional size.  Standard O/Scale-sized Hudsons from the MPC/early LTI era would include the 783 and 784 Hudsons.

[Birds]

As mentioned earlier, if a seller doesn't tell you what curve it runs on, then you may need to use the stock number as mentioned, or you can do a search on the description of a car.  You can always e-mail the seller and ask if they know.

It can get tough if you aren't into the history of the products.  That's one reason I typically by new products. 

The length of a car can be a pretty good gauge - but it also depends on how the engines and cars are built and if they have any parts hanging low off the bottom that could catch on switches.  13" long cars usually handle O-27 curves.  16" cars usually handle O-31 curves.  18" cars usually handle O-54 curves.

Engines are a bit different because it depends on how articulated the trucks/wheels are.

Diesel A-B-A, or A-A, or single engines usually follow the same sizing.  So an A-B-A set that is 39" long total will have three cars that are 13" long.  This will most likely handle O-27 curves.

Steam engines are a bit different because it depends on how many drive wheels there are, and how long that wheel segment is.  As an example a Williams J-Class steamer and tender is 22" long but Williams says it needs a minimum of O-31.  The Williams S-2 steamer and tender is also listed as 22" long, but Williams states it will run on O-27 curves.

Hope this helps.

Chris