HO/OO

[TrainDude645]

I saw a hornby oo scale starter set on ebay and did some research and learned that oo can run on ho track but I couldnt find out how big the hornby pullman cars and castle class locos are compared to something like an ho amfleet 1 and I dont want anything to big on my layout so are the hornby ones about the size of an ho scale train or bigger??

[Irbricksceo]

OO locomotives and stock are slightly larger in scale than HO but they look about the same as British rail equipment is smaller that almost all US equipment. If you are not too concerned about "realistic scale" then by all means go for it, I used to have a OO set that I ran.

[Bucksco]

Perhaps HORNBY has an online forum.....

[Doneldon]

TD-

"OO" is 1:72 scale, "HO" is 1:87. This makes OO about 17% larger than HO. One HO foot is a little less than  1/7" while it is 1/6" in OO. Some OO things, especially small things work relatively well with HO models. The biggest problems, unsurprisingly, are when HO and OO items are displayed in close proximity or when things are specific sizes. Thus, an OO box car or an OO street vehicle will look very out of place on an HO layout but trees made in one scale can be interchanged with no problems at all. And it works the other way, too. An HO box car in an OO train will stick out like a sore thumb.

To my eye, the size difference usually detracts from the overall effectiveness of the model. You can certainly do whatever you want on your own layout but I urge you to stick with one or the other. In terms of availability in the US, that means HO. Heck, Bachmann alone offers more HO models than what you can find here in OO.
                                                                                                                                                                                 -- D

[Len]

For locos and rolling stock OO = 4mm/ft (1:76.2) and HO = 3.5mm/ft (1.87.5).

So technically HO (16.5mm gauge) track used for OO trains would only be 4ft 1-1/2in gauge, vs the actualy 4ft 8-1/2in gauge of the prototype. But it's "close enough" manufacturers aren't going to run out and start a whole new track line for what, in reality, is a limited market. Which is why Peco track is labeled "HO/OO", even though it's 16.5mm gauge.

Len

[ebtnut]

Just for some background, HO was initially developed in England back in the late '20's - early '30's.  Continental O scale was/is 7mm = 1 foot, so "Half-O" or HO was 3.5mm = 1 foot.  However, as noted, the British rolling stock was smaller than in the U.S., and back then there were no electric motors small enough to fit in an HO scale British loco.  So, they decided to increase the scale a bit to 4mm, but for some reason left the track gauge at true HO gauge.  Thus came HO/OO.  I believe all of the Bachmann Harry Potter stock is 4mm scale.

As an aside, the U.S. developed its own OO scale in the late '30's which was 1/72 with a track gauge of .75".  O scale modelers recognized that this was 3 foot gauge in 1/48 and adopted these wheel and track standard for On3.

[TrainDude645]

so woud a bachmann 2-6-2 be about the same size as a hornby castle class?

[Irbricksceo]

Well, I only have seen the Hall Class but they are relatively similar, the Hall is shorter but slightly longer.

[TrainDude645]

ok thanks what about the pullmans? what ho scale passenger car sould they be the size of amfleet 1? superliner?

[Irbricksceo]

You may already realize know this but Horny Equipment won't couple to american equipment if you don't modify it. European equipment uses a different style coupler.

p Also, just so you know, the British coaches are not Necessarily Pullmans (I don't even know if the UK had any Pullman equipment but i doubt it.    Pullman was a company that made Railroad equipment, primarily sleeper cars. It is true that their name was often applied to one signature feature of cars, the beds which both folded down and folded into seats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_Company

[rogertra]

Pullman cars in the UK were luxury passenger cars, unlike North America, they were not sleepers.

They were cars fitted with individual loose seats and waiter service was provided at your table.

They were premium price cars with a fare over and above even the First Class fare.

They were painted an attractive brown and cream colour and even though they were luxury cars with premium fares, there were still first and second class Pulmans.  British class system at it's finest. Most Pulmans ran in complete trains with kitchen cars (Meals were served at your seat) though there were a few passenger trains that carried one or two Pulman cars in their formation.  The "Brighton Belle" was an all electric multiple unit Pulman train, there were less than half a dozen complete trains, and the Belle ran between London's Victoria station and down to the coast at Brighton.

Cheers

Roger.

[TrainDude645]

I dont really care about the couplers I can easily modify them what I want to know is the size of the model pullmans compared to other ho coaches I am asking about the pullmans because those are the coaches that come in the train set that I was looking at

[Irbricksceo]

All OO coaches I have seen look a bit too big. They are similar in length but a bit taller and wider than looks quite right.

[Doneldon]

All OO coaches I have seen look a bit too big. They are similar in length but a bit taller and wider than looks quite right.

Irb-

If the trains are real "OO," they are 1:72 scale which makes them about 15% larger than HO.
Actually, they are just over half again as big (~1.15³).
                                                                                     -- D

[TrainDude645]

OK thanks can you reccomend the best brand of HO passenger coaches? they dont really sell passenger coaches at my local hobby shop so I dont really know the quality of the different brands. I've been looking at athearn, bachmann, con cor, and IHC coaches.