@Mark V. Spadaro posted:Can someone explain the difference between O Scale and Proto-48? Thanks.
Mark,
The most direct explanation I can give is as follows:
O gauge, O scale and Proto-48 models are 1:48 (1/48th actual size). That is - one-quarter inch on a model is equivalent to one foot at full scale. On a real railroad, the gauge (distance between the insides of the rails) is four-feet eight-and-one-half inches (56-1/2 inches). Dividing 56-1/2 inches by 48 gives 1.177 inches - which would be the exact gauge for model track at 1:48. Lionel arbitrarily decided to make their O gauge track 1.25 inches (1-1/4 inches) between the rails - which is equivalent to 5 feet at full scale - and O scale also adopted the 1.25-inch (5-foot) track gauge. Therefore, on O gauge and O scale models, the track gauge(1.25 inches) is slightly too large for a 1:48 scale model. Proto-48 models operate on track with the correct gauge (1.177 inches). Proto-48 also has more accurate (scale) wheel profiles, flanges and wheel width, and has higher fidelity to other aspects of modeling as well.
MELGAR
