Pluses / Minuses O gauge, HO, etc

The trade off are simple:

Size of layout space vs Cost

Local Popularity vs Personal Likes

Eyesight vs Skill level

Toy vs Protype

All those who can not make up their minds, there is Rubber Gauge.

I buy everything and anything that I like, and never get around to building more than a test layout.

Actually, some of the costs of HO products are about the same as O!

Here's one such article, there are surely more all over the web.  http://www.toptenreviews.com/h...ize-is-best-for-you/

(Note: the article seems to ignore some other not as popular but still marketed scales such as TT)

Generally speaking, it's all subjective stuff mostly.  

O engines are impressive but too big for inside really when considering scale geographical features or buildings on or around the layout (1 mile is a 110 feet).   This part can be ignored of course and often is... For example I ignore it all the time on my layout.   Popular 3 rail track is convenient, track power is AC usually. Digital control mostly falls to two proprietary systems:  lionel and mth.     For kids:  lionel ready to run lionchief sets (a bit more on this below).

HO is "half" of that, improving the home layout scale issues for many --  and its world wide with digital control provided by a standard, DCC.  There are many 3rd party providers of DCC so tinkering with sounds (sound decoders), speakers and different components in your trains or on your layout is part of it appeal.  The track is usually DC and 2 rail which looks good but has its own sets of issues not present in O -- like reverse loops, etc..   I prefer this scale mainly due to its world wide appeal and DCC standard.    Oddly I have mostly O gauge/scale however.

Many of the other gauges/scales are more similar to HO than O in that they often support DCC, 2 rail track, DC voltage usually, 3rd party sound decoders and so forth ... my familiarity drops off with some so their vocal proponents will now chime and tell me what I should have known all along.

For children:  for very young children stick with the wooden train sets.  from about kindergarten  and up they can use the lionel lionchief driven remote with ease... except take care with 2 engines running concurrently on the track because "smash up derby" is apparently inborn human nature (at least with my kids!)  The details on all the "adult" level engines gets ripped up by the young-ens and is nigh upon worthless from that pt of view.  I do wish in fact these manufacturers would make scale but not very featured variants of their offerings -- but with high quality crash resistant plastic.   I mean even I want to secretly smash my engines together sometimes too... Don't you?   But I digress...

HO is a bit cheaper overall, and it's easier to find. Lots of vaiation, and its often to scale too. Many die cast vehicles are made in HO. The most popular command system is pretty much universal. The storage of stock takes up less space.  Parts can be delicate. Scale flanges prone to easier derailment. Wiring is more  complicated for reverse loops. Painting detail requires a steady hand, as does working with small parts.

   Durability. Traditionally O at its worst was more reliable than cheap HO IMO. It's size is more user friendly, whether the user is young or old. If space is a concern, O-27 is the space saver. If you are into the toy aspect you have a wider variety of choices in O, e.g. tinplate, operating cars, & accessories, etc ,The sound is way better from speaker size alone. The track wiring  for 3rail is simple.

O scale tracks better and is more durable. It can be as realistic as you want to make it. Obviously it takes up more room and cost more. It is easier to see, handle, work on, rerail, paint, and etc. There is less variety in products and fewer vendors in O than HO. 3 rail is also easier to wire and operate. The resale value, bad as it is these days, is still much better for O scale trains than HO.

I have done some in H.O. Mainly into 027 & O gauge trains. The track size for H.O. is not much different in curve diameters, so not much real space saving, 027 track is smaller then most curves sold in H.O. The buildings are smaller in H.O.

Like others mention the wiring(and or relays) in H.O. can get complicated when doing a reverse loop. H.O. flex track can be used but you must be careful not to go too small in diameter or engine derails.

The cost of a starter set in H.O. might be less then the cost of a starter set in O gauge. One other thing is that many more buildings and different trains are made in H.O.

I have seen some H.O. engines for sale in catalogs that are more expensive then some MTH PS-3 engines for O gauge. Also some H.O. passenger cars with lights go for almost $80.00 a piece in some of the catalogs I have seen recently.

If you can, go to a local hobby shop and check out the track sizes (H.O. and O gauge)and the prices of items before you buy something. I have not bought any switches in H.O. for more then 6 years so I don't know about the cost. Some O gauge switches can get a bit pricey but then you get better quality.

Lee Fritz

Anthony, I think it's important to consider that not long ago, Lionel meant toy trains, and toy trains only. Some of them were near scale in proportion, only with simplified detailing and therefore more durable. With the advent of TMCC in 1995, Lionel has also come to mean other things, such as realistically scale proportioned and detailed trains. Reading the train forums might lead you to the impression that Lionel is only scale, but the "traditional" Lionel trains are still made and still the bulk of the hobby.

What always was the appeal of Lionel was the play value: Operating cars and accessories that were not available in HO (though TYCO and Lionel HO did replicate some of them). The "puffing" smoke units, while not on the same par as today's fan-driven smoke units, were the height of realism at one point in time. Same for the air-driven whistle in Lionel steam engines. To anyone who was a kid in the 1950's, those toy trains looked as real as the real trains. It was called "imagination," something we've pushed kids away from over the years.

From what you've said Anthony, you're talking about starter level trains. In that case, both HO and Lionel starter sets have improved dramatically over the years. I'm impressed with the lower cost HO starter sets I've had the chance to operate. And Lionel's current FasTrack was inspired by the Bachmann HO scale E-Z track, which makes setting up a HO floor layout easier than ever. And they are definitely lower in cost than starter Lionel products. The product availability and variety are also greater in HO because it is a much larger market. And as with any hobby, there are different levels of features and cost.

But that said, the size and durability factor gives O gauge an edge for children along with the play factor. Kids are not focused on accurate realism the way adults are... they want to play and have fun. Ask anyone: The typical kid question when seeing toy trains is "how fast will they go?"

And by using 027 track (which no longer comes in Lionel starter sets, though you can still find older stock sets with 027 track), you can build a fun layout on a 30-36 inch wide hollow core door. You could do that with the 31 inch diameter Lionel FasTrack, but you'd have to spend the extra money to buy it since Lionel starter sets only come with the 36 inch diameter FasTrack.

And I want to address the common thought "you get what you pay for." I'm a long time buyer of Lionel (and other companies) starter products... that are made in China along with all the other trains. In over 25 years, I have NEVER once had a DOA of any kind... trains often ignorantly referred to as "junk" by some people. I'm still running the original starter trains I first bought which are low cost Lionel and K-Line trains. You do get more features, functions and scale fidelity by paying more. But you don't necessarily get reliability and durability.

You don't read this much, but the BIGGEST factor working against the train hobby is the disintegration of the family. This has always been a father-son hobby and Lionel used that effectively for decades in their advertising. Not that mom's couldn't do it - we have some female modelers on this forum. In years gone by, the train layout was the kid's - and dad got to play with it too. Today, it's usually dad's layout and he lets his son play with it with supervision.

By government statistics, half this nation's children are being raised in a home with no father in the house. Single parents tend to be more financially strapped, and definitely more time restricted. So they tend to buy toys that involve no parental participation, such as video games. So this is a tough sell.

Yet trains are still are great hobby. And I've personally seen this happen: You tell a reluctant kid who would rather have a video game, that you want to get him a train set. But then tell him, you're going to be involved: You're going to design and help build the layout and I'll teach you how to use power tools - and watch their attitude do a complete change.

As a final thought, here's a great website with lots and lots of information about trains, the hobby and building all sorts of layouts with all the various track types:

http://www.thortrains.net/

Good luck with your presentation!

Anthony posted:

Can someone point me to an article or website that highlights advantages /disadvantages of O gauge and  HO?  Will be doing a presentation at my clubhouse late October and the audience will be  grandparents looking to purchase trains for their grandchildren this Christmas ...

Small operating display layouts for O and HO would be worth a million words.

 O27 layout 30" x 66" O27 layout 33" x 57" HO layout 22" x 44" (8" radii)

Truly portable HO layouts can be built with curve radii of 15" or tighter if suitably small equipment is chosen. Small interesting starter layouts provide a good foundation to grow the hobby.

WOW  thanks to all who have replied.  Some great points that need to be raised at my presentation.  For me, my greatest value from toy trains was helping my dad build several layouts.  My time with him was special.

Again thanks Forum members

like was said above ease of wiring in o gauge.

Three rail O is certainly easier for little hands to mount locomotives and cars onto the track, the deep flanges, taller rails, and larger trucks are simply easier to maneuver for young people still developing dexterity. This also holds for the oversize coupler as well it is much easier for little hands to position.

The other large advantage to 3 rail is the availability of functioning accessories, these make for in interesting, entertaining and probably educational addition in that the youngster sees that railroads load on various kinds of cargo (including people), move it to a location and unload th cargo. And they see this takes specialized equipment and people in the real world as on the model to make these events happen. With HO the child is more confined due to the smaller availability of action accessories and in a more adult sense the action beyond running in a loop is more one of puzzle solving as to how trains are made up to deliver the right car load of cargo to the right geographical and customer location. This is also easy to do in three rail when moving beyond the simple loop to include switching so it isn’t exclusive to HO.

Bogie