Is Ho The Same As 00??

Daniel Finn

New Member
Hi,

Is HO gauge the same as 00 gauge?

If so are they compatable with each other?

Daniel

P.S. I dont know if I am allowed ot ask but are there any other model railway forum for UK people on the net?
 
HO & OO

HO & OO use the same track size, but HO is 1:87 scale, while OO is 1:76 scale. they tend to 'not look quite right' beside each other, but there is no technical reason they can't run together
 

basementdweller

New Member
Daniel, OO is the metric equivelent of HO, I use Atlas HO flex track with Peco OO turnouts, there is no problem. I use HO scale locomotives and rolling stock, I also picked up some OO scale Hornby in the UK this summer and it all works together just fine.
I believe the difference is too small to notice.
Where in the UK are you? I used to live in Guildford in Surrey.

As for UK forums, you may check with Jon Grant who is a member on here, he is also in the UK.
 

mykroft

New Member
OO is not the metric equivalent of HO, it's another scale entirely.

There are two kinds of OO. Both are 4mm scale (1:76), British outline OO runs on HO Gauge track, while US OO (Which is almost completely dead) runs on 19mm OO Gauge track. Both are mixed metric/imperial scales (3.5mm to the foot and 4mm to the foot).

There are two other 4mm variants, EM (18mm gauge) and ScaleFour (18.83mm exact scale track gauge).
 

CharlesH.

Member
If I'm not mistaken, OO used to be a popular scale during the hobby's beginings, but the scale wasn't 1:76, it was a bit bigger. Lionel produced some rather gorgeous models in this scale during the late 30's.
 

mykroft

New Member
No, it's always been 1:76, It's pretty much midway between HO and S scale.

American Flyer was S Scale, while Lionel has always hovered around 1:48 O (Some of their stuff was almost S scale in size though, it varied widely to ensure operation on O27 curves, which is why the small Lionel stuff is often called O27, to differentiate it from the scale-sized O).
 
CharlesH. said:
If I'm not mistaken, OO used to be a popular scale during the hobby's beginings, but the scale wasn't 1:76, it was a bit bigger. Lionel produced some rather gorgeous models in this scale during the late 30's.


No, you are thinking of 'O' not OO. OO was introduced in 1937 or so, took off in Britain, while HO (Half O) took off in the US
 

Daniel Finn

New Member
I run my track on the new 00 gauge but i have some old 00 gauge whihc is the same width but the rails are much thicker.

I have a reallty nice loco called princess victoria that must be 40 years old, in pretty good nick but wont run on new 00 as the wheel rims get caught on the sleepers

Daniel
 

Jon Grant

Member
Hello Danny,

As the previous answers said, the main difference for modellers is the scale. American HO is 3.5mm to the foot and British 00 is 4mm to the foot.

Put as simply as possible this means a model of a 6 foot tall man would be 21mm in HO (6 x 3.5mm), but in OO would be 24mm tall (6 x 4mm).

the track that Peco and Hornby make is correct for HO - 16.5mm between the rails, but is slightly narrow for us Brits. That's why some British modellers build their track with rails 18.83mms apart - they are the P4 modellers.

Hornby and Bachmann UK compromise and sell locos with the narrower wheels so they can run on the most popular track.

Here's a pic of some HO stuff on my British OO layout.
aai.sized.jpg



Regarding British forums, I haven't come across one yet:cry:


Hope this helps.

Jon
 

shaygetz

Active Member
Daniel Finn said:
I have a reallty nice loco called princess victoria that must be 40 years old, in pretty good nick but wont run on new 00 as the wheel rims get caught on the sleepers

Daniel

I pose my 50-year-old HO Marklin DNR 4-6-2 with its HUGE pizza cutter flanges on my code 70 rail diorama just to keep the rivet counters floppin' around ;) :thumb:

:thumb: :thumb: on that pic, Jon.
 

Daniel Finn

New Member
Hey Jon,

Do you have msn, if so I really need to talk to an experienced english person about my new layout I am planning. I will post plans tonight.

Daniel
 

cobra

Member
This discussion has prompted another question , similar topic .Decades ago ( 60's ? ) a neighbour had , I think , TT scale . This was during the O scale heyday back then . Was it close to HO ?...seemed to be although it's hard to remember .

NEIL
 

brakie

Active Member
SS,Actually,O Scale outside 3rd rail(NOT like the LIONEL 3rd rail system)) was the most popular.Second was O scale 2 rail..HO would struggle into the early 50s.OO was around as was TT but both was thought to be to small to be taken seriously as was HO and later N scale when it was first introduce in the 60s....Also 3/16ths was a popular scale in the early years of the hobby and thought by some to be the ideal size. :D
 

60103

Pooh Bah
Daniel:
I have the same problem with my 40 year old Tri-Ang. If you want to run it, you will need to set up a separate loop using coarse scale track or old Tr-Ang/Hornby track. Some of the old stuff works, but a lot of it either jams in the check rails or gets lifted up on the chairs. (Recent Lima stuff has the same problem on code 70.) I have a lot of Hornby Dublo that runs through it fine.
I run British prototype over here in Canada, but I stuck with the HO track width so I can run my Canadian trains. There are no EM conversion kits for Athearn diesels.
 

60103

Pooh Bah
Neil: TT was 1/10" to 1 foot or 1:120. It struggled for a while, but went down when N came out. I think that it was too close to HO, just as S was too close to O. To make a mark, a new scale needs to go down close to 1/2 of the next scale. (O - HO - N)
Tri_Ang made a version called TT-3, at 3mm to 1 foot.
And Lionel did make OO before WW2; it was an overly ambitious project, with 2 and 3 rail pickup and fine and coarse scale wheels.
 

cobra

Member
Boy , I had forgotten all about Tri-Ang , but that's what the guy had , now that you mention it . I had a Marx O scale (3 rail ), but remembered thinking at the time that the TT could get more train in a smaller space ( duh ) ...I was a little slow on the uptake at 12 years old . HO had not arrived , atleast in Canada , at that time or else it was very obscure .
So TT was 1/120 and in my mind ( now ) I had it larger than HO . Of course I was SMALLER then but ......what was the question ?? I think I'll quit while I'm ahead , and still sane .
BTW , I run HO now .

NEIL
 
Top