How can I tell the difference between O and 027 track? I think I have both but I’m not sure how to tell the differfence. Thanks!!!
Eddie
Eddie,
O and 0-27 are very similar.
While both are the same gauge (the distance between the outside rails), the space needed for a complete circle of each track differs.
O-gauge track makes a minimum circle of thirty-one inches in diameter. The height of the track is eleven sixteenths of an inch. It is of a heavier gauge steel stock, too. The connecting pins are larger in diameter, the ties are typically black.
0-27 track makes a circle only twenty-seven inches in diameter. The height to the top of the rail is seven sixteenths of an inch. Lighter steel, & smaller pins, ties may be black, brown, silver, woodgrain(early MPC).
All 0-27 engines can negotiate O curves, but some larger engines made specifically for O track derail on the tighter 0-27 curves.
Rob
With new track being made today, O27 has brown ties and O has black ties.
With all track ever made, the standard straight track length with O is 10", and 8 3/4" with O27.
O has a higher profile, about 5/16" as compared with about the 1/4" of O27.
Currently, O-27 track is available with curve diameters of 27, 42, and 54 inches, while O gauge track is available with curve diamters of 31, 42, 54, and 72 inches. Therefore, measuring the curve diameter won’t always tell you what track you have.
As Ben noted, measuring the length of a piece of regular straight track will be more definitive.
Put a piece of your track on a flat surface and measure from that surface to the top of the rails. Whether curved or straight, O-27 rail height is 7/16", while O gauge rail height is 11/16", or 1/4" higher than O-27.
O27 also comes in O72 and O34 (old Marx track). The diameters are to the outside ends of the ties. The length of an O27 straight is 8.839 inches.