I have both HO and On30. They both run on the same track and the price of On30 equipment is about the same as HO. On30 offers the best of both worlds: the heft and detailing of O scale and the cost and convenience of HO.
ya, HO (Half O) is just about that (HO 1:87 and O 1:48). I’m in HO and don’t really know much about O so i’ll tell you all the stuff about HO. I would go HO beacause locomotives, rolling stock (i.e. boxcar, flat car), structures, and stuff like that are cheaper and you have more variety. i like the size of HO better than O so it’s really what size is better. O scale locos and rolling stock have more detail. what size do you like better.
I am with HO, and this weekend i will buy a bachmann On30 trainset for $137.95.
It consists of a 2-6-0 loco,three passenger cars, track, and power supply. I will then
enjoy both scales, at a very reasonable price.
How much interest is there in Sn3.5 (3.5 foot narrow gauge in 1:64 S scale)?
The 3.5 foot narrow gauge is used in New Zealand, parts of Australia, Japan (everywhere except for the Bullet Train, which is standard gauge), and I also believe South Africa.
The 3.5 foot gauge in many parts of the world runs high-speed mainline trains. The other way to go would be to treat Sn3.5 as a form of selective compression and model a U.S. prototype – the slightly narrow gauge track takes some looking at to realize that it is narrow gauge – that was my experience looking at commuter train tracks in Japan.
If any of you out there know much about Sn3.5, my questions are 1) what track in HO would be better, code 83 or code 100 in modelling this, 2) if I am going to scratchbuild I am going to start with ready-made wheels and most likely even power trucks and drivelines – any suggestions on getting good wheel sizes for this scale?
This is a great question. Most above have answered, but for me the key is what do you want. HOers tend to be more toward real, O tends to be more toy. There is O that is very detailed, hense the higher price. HO clubs are rule oriented, trains must belong to area of layout, if you model west coast, you wouldn’t have an east coast train on the tracks. O 3 rail rules, if it runs, run it. Lots of action accessories. See Lionels train store, way cool with little itty bitty moving trains in the store, or the McDonalds on MTH. The lady takes your order, and talks with the customer.
I have HO for size reasons. But I want to build a garden and go outdoors. I’m not sure G is what I want to do that with, O is starting to go outdoors. I have learned HO is not an outdoors train. Track melts in the heat, its not UV protected, and bugs are huge compared to trains. G gauge and probably O gauge will squish bugs.
Look throught different websites at different models. Decide what you like. Or run both. Why not, then you really get the best of both worlds.
Tim
I recently converted from 45 years of HO, to On30. I would suggest you give this some consideration. The size of On30 equipment IS slightly larger than HO…conversely, there is a certain perverse delight in kit-bashing HO models into On30! (Yes, I have…and it was a LOT of fun!) However, a word of caution…remember that O scale structures do NOT reduce in size. You may have to rethink what structures you use, and give On30 a bit more space between parallel tracks. Everything depends on how much space you have…and this final thought: THERE IS NO BEST SCALE. Each has its own strong points, and weak ones. Have fun, making your decision!
I have been asking myself this same question recently and I am happy to have found this discussion. I inherited a 50s generation Lionel set and although it’s quite a bit of fun, I’d like to try out the new stuff. Specifically the MTH DCS or Lionel TMCC systems sound very intriguing. I am still very new to trains, however, and I know next to nothing about HO trains. Are there equivalent control systems for HO trains?
Thanks in advance.
Jeff
I asked just a wee too fast: I eventually googled my way into discovering DCC. According to the NMRA website DCC is a standard and devices built using DCC can provide similar functionality as the MTH DCS or Lionel TMCC.
Because its a published standard and because of the multitude of devices out there supporting DCC (also discovered with a couple of quick searches) I am really leaning toward buying HO.
Thanks for bearing with this publicly disclosed discovery process. I am, however, still interested in hearing about your experience with DCC, although that topic may be elsewhere here on trains.com.
Jeff
I have both O and HO and enjoy both. I started with O when I was little and have worked my way into HO. HO offers a whole lot more stuff than O. You can also make a more detailed layout with more scenery, longer trains, etc. with HO. It is also cheaper. You will get as much satisfaction from both, so go with your gut feeling.
dwfin1985 (UP fan)