I can’t believe it because they don’t clearly indicate that it’s not OO gauge.
Trix official site
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www.trix.de site says “In 2023, the “Flying Scotsman” celebrates its 100th anniversary and will adorn the H0 assortment of Märklin and Trix.”
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You’re confusing Britain and the Continent. HO was invented in Germany (Marklin), 3.5mm to the foot, which is one half of European O scale (7mm = 1 foot, or 1.43.55 scale). It is the scale used in Germany, Austria, France and most other countries in continental Europe and Scandinavia.
However, when HO started, the smallest available motors wouldn’t fit in the smaller British steam engines, so they went with HO gauge track but used 4mm to the foot as the linear scale. OO scale.
So yes, Marklin and Trix and the other German companies are making HO stuff, not OO. Although they primarily do German prototypes, they do sometimes do models of other countries.
p.s. you can kinda tell by watching the model video that it’s HO; an OO model would be about 1/8th bigger and would hang over the track and not be in proportion to the HO Orient Express cars it’s pulling.
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I see numerous discussions that specifically reference the Maerklin and Trix models as being not just HO (as they put it H0) gauge but HO scale, distinguishing them from the various British OO locomotives.
Incidentally some of those discussions raised a valid point: why was there no attempt to market the locomotive in Pegler’s LNER apple-green/4472 livery to appeal to the mass of North American consumers who nostalgically remember the American touring? I could understand this for the Maerklin AC models, which have a restricted user community over here, but not the Trix DC version. (And yes, Pegler’s engine was just the same modified-to-A3 engine mechanically as it was when retired under BR.)
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Under Pennsy wire!
Scotsman_Glendale-MD-1969a by Edmund, on Flickr
I waited three hours, with my bicycle, trackside along the Nickel Plate and saw it come through Cleveland, Ohio back in 1969.
Regards, Ed
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Technically PC wire, but the magic was still all PRR.
Would that we could see this scene repeated with 5550!
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That’s a great photo. The US tour was from 1969 to 1973, so it must have run on the Burlington Northern line. I want this locomotive with the cowcatcher and a passenger train.
Are there any other British-style 1/87 scale model trains currently on sale? The only one I can remember is the same Flying Scotsman, a brass model from the 1990s.
Since OO scale is more popular in the UK, sales may not be good. If they were targeting sales in continental Europe or North America, that would be a real “blue ocean.” The preserved version equipped with German-style smoke deflectors may have an ulterior motive.
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I remember a contemporary article in Trains regarding this. (Didn’t it operate through then then-new Flathead Tunnel?) I remember a passage about the train on a grade ‘hanging on the vacuum brake’…
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Decades ago, Lima offered some UK-outline models in HO scale/HO gauge but others have been few and far between. The one Lima offering I can recall was a B-B Class 33 diesel.
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Re original post
Over in our tiny German language British Rail forum we have a size comparison between Flying Scotsman and a French locomotive:
http://75355.homepagemodules.de/t5113f33-Schotte-vs-Franzose.html
Clearly Mätrix got the dimensions for H0 scale right.
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I recall an article from some magazine from some years ago comparing the size and performance of a British Rail 9F 2-10-0 and a D&RGW 3-foot gauge K-36. There were not great differences. British equipment is built to fit a very tight loading gauge.
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From one of the German discussions of those models
– this about the actual restoration:
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From what I’ve gathered, Marklin/Trix comes out with a limited edition or ‘collectors’ locomotive each year, sometimes German but sometimes not. That is the market this is aimed at, continental HO modelers / collectors.
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I suspect one reason is that since they’re aiming it at the continental - particularly German - market, that they figure many more Europeans have visited the UK on holiday and seen the engine as it has been restored and being used now. Those folks wouldn’t be that interested in what it looked like in the 1970s, or in the 1940s.
Second, I don’t know if Trix is that well known in the US? I know they have made some US equipment (I have one of their NYC wood cabooses) but I don’t know how well even those US engines and cars sold here. The market for people in the US age 60 or older who remember 4472’s US tour and who based on that would want a model of 4472 as it appeared then might not really be that large.
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The Trix “Flying Scotsman” (the DC version of he Maerklin) is indeed correct HO scale. There have been a number of other HO scale British models, the best of which was a Fleischmann model of the Class 42 Diesel Hydraulic which was available in green or Rail Blue. I have the blue one, and it too is exactly to HO scale (I’ve compared it to HO scale drawings). Fleischmann also produced three Southern Region green passenger coaches. These are among the most suitable vehicles to run with the current “Flying Scotsman” but sadly I don’t have any. Somewhat earlier, Rivarossi produced a model of the “Royal Scot”, This was in the form that the locomotive visited the USA in 1934 except that it has a 3500 gallon tender rather than the 4000 gallon attached during the USA trip. This was sold in a set including three passenger coaches of types that also ran in the USA in 1934. These coaches could be used with the Maerklin Flying Scotsman, since the LMS colours are generally similar to those of British Railways at the time 60103 was in the condition of the model. While much less striking, the standard British Railways 350 HP diesel shunting loco is available in HO, from Roco, in Dutch Railways colours. Other British models include the EMD “Class 66” and the original Eurostar trains. At the moment, I run my “Flying Scotsman” with Rivarossi brown and cream Pullman cars (marked “Fleche D’Or”). These are somewhat longer than the British equivalents, but look the part.
Peter
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Back in the day, Rivarossi made engines and cars for a number of countries in HO scale including (IIRC) the UK?
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Indeed Rivarossi made many models of European and US trains, but the Royal Scot was the only British model. I’m told that Sidney Pritchard (of Peco) tried to convince Rossi to build the model to British OO scale, but it appeared in correct HO scale. It would have sold much better in the UK in British OO scale, since no ready to run “Royal Scot” was available. It was interesting that the model was of the train that vited the USA in 1934. Perhaps they hoped to sell the train in the USA because of the visit.
Peter
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Here is a video which includes the Fleischmann HO “Warship” class.
Some HO / OO scale British Trains, BR era and SR era and in between somewhere. 
This loco with matching coaches appears at the beginning and end of the video. The remainder of trains shown are British OO. The long distance between the coaches is quite noticeable. A later design of coupler has reduced this gap.
Peter
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I mentioned earlier that Rivarossi had produced models of the LMS “Royal Scot” locomotive and the train. I attach a link to the 1983-84 catalog which illustrates these on pages 52 (locomotive) and 92 (passenger coaches). These, and the Flieschmann coaches seen in the preceding linked video would be the most suitable BR coaches to run with the Trix "Flying Scotsman.
Peter
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Probsbly a bit off topic from the original post but still Scottish. Back in the day my wife visiting England purchased this train engine for me.
It was made by Hornby it came with no documentation the seller apparently the best train shop in London according to someone in the know at the time as my wife said. He told her it was OO scale but would run on HO tracks. Was 75£ at the time I can say it goes ok but is a bit sketchy in the smoothness department. As I investigated it to find out the loco was just used as the electrical pickup on one rail and all the work is done by the tender pushing.
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