Hi all,
I’m new to the site and am looking for O gauge building plans for my layout. Is there a website/s that have them or books. I’ve looked on the net but haven’t had much luck. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Josh
Errrmmm… When you say “0” gauge do you mean 1:43 scale (aka 7mm scale) or 1:19.1 (aka 16mm scale) ??? All of my 16mm scale building were made my simply scaling available blue prints. They are all GWR buildings as all come from “GWR Country Stations vol2”. The original drawings in the book were 00 scale (aka 4mm scale). regards ralph
By “O” gauge I mean to go with my “O” gauge Lionel trains. I was always under the impression that “O” gauge was 1/48 size, is this wrong?
You’ve inadvertently stumbled on one of the most confusing concepts in model railroading, the difference between gauge and scale. They’re mistakenly used synonymously by thousands of model railroaders, but the terms have very different meanings.
Gauge is the space between the rails. In the case of “O” gauge, it’s 1 1/4" or 32mm depending on which side of the Atlantic you’re standing on.
Scale is the size of the trains themselves. “O” scale is 1:48 or 1:43, again depending on which side of the Atlantic. (1:48 is the US scale of Lionel, MTH, and other O scale trains.)
The confusion really arises because different scale trains can run on the same gauge track. For instance, Ralph’s 16mm (1:19) scale trains run on O gauge track, which at that scale represents the 2’ gauge track of the prototype. This is a very common scale/gauge combination in the UK. Many “narrow gauge” modelers (folks who model trains that ran on rails closer together than the common 4’ 8.5") use track from existing smaller scales, so it can get confusing real quick.
So, when you want to find something that is the same size as your trains, use “scale” to avoid any confusion.
Now, to answer your question, I don’t know of any offhand, but there are a few folks who do plans to 1:24 (1/2") scale. This works out to twice O scale (in the US) so you could simply half all your measurements. The upcoming issue of GR has a survey of many building kits and manufacturers, along with the scales they build to. Alas, O scale is not included in the survey.
If you haven’t already, ask on the O scale forum. I’m sure that crowd will know a bit more than we do here, since O scale is not a common garden railroading scale.
Later,
K
Hi All: Any one looking for scale plans take a look at Tracksidepatterns sit. they do and have plans in all scales.
http://tracksidepatterns.esmartdesign.com
Ralph ckrtrains