I’m a child of the late 50’s, of course had a few Lionel trains growing up and of course have always been intrigued with the really nice setups I’ve seen over the last few decades. Now that I’m ‘retired’, a question:
Is HO basically still the guage of guages? I know there are many, even some I’m sure I’ve never heard of. I’d be more interested in scalability and ease of acquisition over time level rather than a collectible or carve my own logs level hobby. Cost is also a factor. I exist on SSDI. Thanks.
I do believe that HO has more of a following. However, I believe that O gauge has grown more it the last few years than HO. It all come down to what you like. Eyes getting bad? Probably want to stay away from HO. I personally like the size of O gauge, not to fond of the third rail, but no way to fix that one easily.
Welcome USAPatriot. [:)] I agree with previous poster. Just a few thoughts as I know others will fill in blanks here. As a start, just comparing O and HO, HO is scale. There are 3 rail O scale locos and rolling stock that are 1:48 proportional and then there is the O guage semi scale O product lines that are not scale proportioned but compressed to run on small diameter curves. You already know that I am sure. If price is a concern, I believe you will find O scale/guage more expensive than HO as a general rule. Room for a layout is a consideration. I am a one time HO modeler that came over to 3 rail O scale. I built a 9 X 5 O scale layout and it was fine for me until I needed larger diameter curves and switches for larger locos. If you hang out at a train show and look at product and some club layouts this may help you decide. At any rate, you are bound to enjoy. [:)]
I have had SOME experience in every scale except “Z”. They all have their own plusses and minuses. I think the most frustrating one for me is “S”…makes great sense except for choice of “correct” buildings/people figures. My favorite has been 3-rail “O”. Spend some time looking at layouts at shows, and visit different scale “forums”. Also, start small. Bigger need not always be better. Joe
I use both 3 rail O and HO/HOn3. Nothing beats 3 rail O for just plain letting them run, smoke, and make noise. And of course the variety of out-of-scale operating accessories, operating cars, and animated stuff is not duplicated in any other scale/gauge.
If you want serious switching, prototype operations, and mostly scale fidelity, HO and N are much easier to achieve the desired end state in a reasonable space.
The last sentence is the key to picking your scale/gauge - what do you want from your trains, who will be operating them, and what kind of space do you have available? Obviously, there are different answers because each scale/gauge answers these questions differently.
I’ll chime in too. I was in HO for about 35 years. As I push 50, I enjoy O 3 rail for several reasons: nostalgia, easy to work on (the traditional, conventional stuff anyway) and easy to hold and see. If you are on a limited budget, there’s a lot of good used O gauge equipment from Lionel, Marx and K-Line plus some other manufacturers out there. I’ve had good luck on Ebay finding deals. Some good informational links have already been shared above.
Great info, thanks. Limited space and budget, definitely. My main hobby is benchrest shooting and handloading, has been for 30 years, but the advice I always give is look before you leap. I seems to me that I have a LOT of looking and thinking to do.
Starting small is a given, budget restraints or not. If I could actually just buy a hyper-accurate rifle and ammo to go with it, that would be far less satisfying than building the gun to my specs, doing all the tuning of the ammo, etc myself. That’s the fun of it. So it must be with trains or anything else. The journey is far better than the destination. -Rod-
I would suggest you visit a local hobby shop and pick up a Lionel Catalog. In the first few pages they give you the run down on scale stuff and semi scale stuff. While you are there pick on a CTT (Classic Toy Trains) magazine.
If price is a big concern then an O guage set is the place to start and you will probably want 027 cars. O sets can be had mail order for just over $100. Just decide on the manufacturer first (Lionel, MTH Railking, or K-line). K-line is now bankrupt but a they made a ton of low cost sets that sell for good prices on sale (I get mine at Hobby Lobby usually at 40% off).
This hobby can be a ton of fun at under $200 or you can spend $2,000 (or more) and still not have everything you want.
I had some of the same decisions to make myself. As far as the space to build a layout I was limited to 8’ x 14’ . I figured if I went with a smaller guage like HO or even N I could pack more into my confined space. But I also figured that then I would have two or three times more things to buy to fill that space. Since I have a limited space and budget I figured O was the best choice since I ran out of space faster I don’t have a reason to buy much more than the five engines I can run at one time!
HO doesn’t really take up less space than O. This surprises people, but a circle of standard HO track is 36 inches in diameter. A circle of standard Lionel Fastrack is also 36 inches in diameter. A circle of traditional tubular is smaller, either 31 or 27 inches. So even though the trains are bigger, you don’t actually get any more track onto a 4x8 table by going with HO. You can get more scenery onto the table, since the scenery is actually smaller, but that’s usually a secondary consideration for most people.
To actually put a bigger, more complicated track plan on a 4x8, you have to step down to N scale.
Most full 1:48 scale locomotives and cars will have trouble negotiating that layout, but the traditional semi-scale stuff does just fine, because it was designed with those tight curves in mind.
Now, if you want scale fidelity and lots of realism, you won’t get much of that on a tight budget in O. But if you’re willing to settle for some compromises (beyond that third rail), O scale can be cheaper than HO too.