![]() ![]() Each region tends to design models to its own scale. O Scale in the UK is commonly 1:43.5 or 7 mm to the foot, in continental Europe it is commonly 1:45 or 1:43.5 is also used particularly in France, and in the USA 1:48. Scale is the ratio of a model dimension to the real life dimension. Most commercially produced model track is a compromise between appearance and a trouble-free running surface. Scale refers to the size of the model relative to the actual full-sized object being represented, while gauge is the width of the model track. O gauge model railroad tracks typically have their rails spaced 1.25 in ( 31.75 mm) apart with the United States National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) standard allowing spacings between 31.75 mm and 32.64 mm. The differences in the various O gauge and O scale standards can be confusing. ![]() who from 1920 produced a range of clockwork and electric models under the "Hornby" name. In the United Kingdom the dominant O gauge manufacturer before World War II was Meccano Ltd. However, newer manufacturers including MTH Electric Trains, Lionel, LLC, Atlas Model Railroad Co and Weavermodels are making very exact, 1:48 scale models of trains. Since the early 1990s, O scale manufacturers have begun placing more emphasis on realism, and the scale has experienced a resurgence in popularity, although it remains less popular than HO or N scale. This has been reflected in the change of name from O gauge to O scale: gauge describes merely the distance between the rails, while scale describes the size ratio of a model as it relates to its real-world prototype. Yet all of these designs ran on the same track, and, depending on the manufacturer(s) of the cars, could sometimes be coupled together and run as part of the same train.Īfter World War II, manufacturers started paying more attention to scale, and post-war locomotives and rolling stock tended to be larger and more realistic than their earlier counterparts. Early Marx Trains and entry-level trains, usually made of lithographed tin plate, were not scaled at all, made to whimsical proportions about the same length of an HO scale ("half O") piece, but about the same width and height of an O scale piece. However, many designs were 1:48 scale or 1:64 scale. The Märklin specifications called for 1:43.5 scale. The Great Depression wiped out demand for the expensive larger trains, and by 1932, O gauge was the standard, almost by default.īecause of the emphasis on play value, the scale of pre- World War II O gauge trains varied. One of the Lionel Corporation's most popular trains, the 203 Armoured Locomotive, was O gauge and ran on tracks with rails spaced 1.25 inches apart. In the United States, manufacturers such as the Ives Manufacturing Company, American Flyer, and Lionel Corporation used O gauge for their budget line, marketing either Gauge 1 or 'Wide gauge' (also known as 'standard gauge') as their premium trains. It was created in part because manufacturers realized their best selling trains were those built in the smaller scales. The name for O gauge and O scale is derived from "0 gauge" or "Gauge 0" being smaller than Gauge 1 and the other then-existing standards. The size of O is larger than OO/HO layouts, and thus is a factor in making the decision to build an O gauge layout.Ĭollecting vintage O gauge trains is also popular and there is a market for both reproduction and vintage models. It still remains a popular choice for those hobbyists who enjoy running trains more than they enjoy other aspects of modeling, but developments in recent years have addressed the concerns of scale model railroaders making O scale popular among fine-scale modellers who value the detail that can be achieved. Detail and realism were secondary concerns, at best. O gauge had its heyday when model railroads were considered toys, with more emphasis placed on cost, durability, and the ability to be easily handled and operated by pre-adult hands. ![]() In Europe, its popularity declined before World War II due to the introduction of smaller scales. Introduced by German toy manufacturer Märklin around 1900, by the 1930s three-rail alternating current O gauge was the most common model railroad scale in the United States and remained so until the early 1960s. O scale (or O gauge) is a scale commonly used for toy trains and rail transport modelling. Between 30 mm ( 1.181 in) minimum and 33 mm ( 1.3 in) maximum, depending on the standardġ,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1⁄ 2 in) standard gauge ![]()
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