Scale HO.

[joe123]

Hi Would HO Scale 1.87 look out of place on a 00 gauge layout. 1.87 scale compere to 1.76 scale. Is there big difference ? And would HO Loco work on a 00 gauge track ? Thanks Lads.

[Junctionmad]

00 track is essentially H O. If you mix the stock HO looks all wrong. If it's all the same stock it's will not look too bad. Things like platforms tend to look wrong , I.e anything that shows up the smaller scale

[Broithe]

Hi Would HO Scale 1.87 look out of place on a 00 gauge layout. 1.87 scale compere to 1.76 scale. Is there big difference ? And would HO Loco work on a 00 gauge track ? Thanks Lads.

 

The track is the same 00 will run on H0 and vice versa.

 

The scale difference is about 10% - it is noticeable, but whether it's too much difference is up to you.

 

H0 road vehicles are less of a problem than H0 rolling stock, from an appearance point of view.

[joe123]

Thanks lads for your input

[David Holman]

My advice would be 'don't do it'! At least, not if you are planning any scenic work. On the other hand, if you are simply planning something 'train set' like, then as the others have said, HO stock will run on 00 track, because the gauge is 16.5mm for both.

The history behind 00/HO, is that HO = 'half 0'. in other words 1:87 instead of 7mm scale, which is 1:43... In the good old, bad old days, 00 was created because British outline locos, being smaller than European and American counterparts, were too small to fit in the then new small mechanisms.

The result of course is that Brtish 00 stock has forever since run on track that is 4'1" gauge, instead of 4'8.5 - which means that Irish 00 stuff running on 16.5/00 track has a gauge which is over a foot/30cm narrower than the prototype.

On the same principle, N gauge[9mm] track is only 4'6, while TT [3mm scale] track at 12mm gauge is only 4'. All this means folk have developed P4 [18.87mm] track for 'proper' 4mm scale or EM [18.2mm] as a reasonable compromise, though with wheel standards similar to 00 fine scale. As that were not confusing enough, in the '50s & '60s there was 'Trix Twin', which aimed to be a compromise & is therefore [i think] at 3.7mm/ft.

Anyone still awake now has permission to run out of the room screaming.

[Horsetan]

...and in the 1960s/70s, Fleischmann got into the act by making some models which turned out to be 1:82 or 1:85....

[DiveController]

...and in the 1960s/70s, Fleischmann got into the act by making some models which turned out to be 1:82 or 1:85....

Cover all bases, …. or not great at arithmetic

[Blaine]

To really throw things into the mix, HO gauge trains on EM gauge track is 5'3 in 1/87 HO scale - same as 21mm track in OO gauge

[Glenderg]

To really throw things into the mix, HO scale trains on EM gauge track is 5'3 in 1/87 HO scale - same as 21mm track in OO gauge

 

Fixed it for you Ed.

[Blaine]

Ah tanx bud xx