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I was on another forum & I asked questions about scale 3 rail trains & they told me their forum was for toy trains not scale trains. I hope I can get answers on this forum about o scale. I have been a model railroader for 50 years in ho and n scale. Due to my eyes getting worse I sold my n scale and started to buy o scale. So far I have 5 engines,4 MTH railking steamers, 1 of those a premier diesel & 1 lionel legacy diesel engine, It was hard to switch over to o scale because of the third rail,swinging pilots,oversized couplers etc. I have learned to overlook those, but the other day  I received an 0-8-0 railking switcher that was bigger than my mikado . I know that I am being picky but the size difference bothers me a little. I cant afford 2 rail scale. I use command control & I love the sound it affords. Has anyone else run into this dilemma?

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One thing about Railking locomotives, some are scale proportioned, some larger than 1:48 proportion and some smaller than 1:48 proportion.  It varies from locomotive to locomotive and the "scale' is not always the same in any of the three dimensions (Selective Compression is the term.  Lionel was really the grand master of this.)

Both MTH and Lionel offer scale and not-so-scale products.

Add to the confusion that some Railking products are former Premier products, having been replaced by better detailed or upgraded Premier products. 

The Railking 0-8-0 is O scale proportioned, although not as detailed as an MTH Premier 0-8-0.  Your Mikado (which I'm assuming is a Railking Pennsylvania Mikado) has been selectively compressed to better suit those that have tighter curves or prefer "Traditional" sized trains.

Rusty

Where is Martin when we need him? Two rail scale is not more expensive than three rail, and sounds for 2-rail models are available for reasonable $.

The mis-perception comes from the high end, where one can spend upward of three grand for a locomotive without sound and easily $300 for a box car.  Those are nice, but sort of silly for the average hobbyist.  The moderate end is Sunset and MTH, both of whom sell 2-rail for about the same price as three rail.

The low end is eBay and shows, where older O Scale is actually less expensive than older Lionel.

Not sure about track prices, but get this - 2-rail requires only one rectifier and switch; three rail requires one in each locomotive!  Actually, it has nothing to do with the number of rails; it is an AC/DC thing.

I would suggest looking at OGR's 3RS Forum.  The approach to scale modeling may appeal to you, coming from HO and N.  That forum focuses on scale equipment, Kadee couplers, realistic scenery and buildings.  The only compromise is the 3rd rail, which is hardly noticeable when everything else is done well.  The other big advantage over 2 rail is that you can get by with smaller radius curves.

 

Bob

I have about 6 MTH engines, 5 with DCS/PS-2 in them. I like MTH engines for the price with command control installed. 

Lionel seems to be very expensive for command control stuff.

Most AC 3 rail engines made today have a bridge rectifier built into the circuit board to operate the DC can motors that are inside them. The older Lionel engines before can motors don't have bridge rectifiers(not sure of the year for can motors) and run off of AC.

One word of caution about using Williams freight cars with remote control operating system only Williams remote control works with them.

I use Gargraves track and am going to change over to Ross Custom switches. Most  brands of track other then tubular can be problematic for the beginner.

Lee Fritz

Welcome to the larger O gauge world. You'll find a lot of variety in items and prices and especially 'scales'. As mentioned by others, there is some confusion for a newcomer but take your time and ask questions. This forum is a wealth of good information and you'll meet some genuinely nice and helpful people!

 

 

c.sam posted:

Welcome to the larger O gauge world. You'll find a lot of variety in items and prices and especially 'scales'. As mentioned by others, there is some confusion for a newcomer but take your time and ask questions. This forum is a wealth of good information and you'll meet some genuinely nice and helpful people!

I agree with the above, however, avoid the confusion and stay with traditional size O-Gauge trains. I can honestly say that you will enjoy your trains more. Let the "rivet counters" have 3RS & 2RS and the headaches involved with running "scale".

The old train man posted:

. I have learned to overlook those, but the other day  I received an 0-8-0 railking switcher that was bigger than my mikado . I know that I am being picky but the size difference bothers me a little.

The "rule" with RailKing is, the smaller the prototype, the closer the model is to scale. Thus an ore car will be scale, but a 33,000-gallon tank car will be comically undersized (and in the middle, the 'modern tank car' could pass for scale since real tank cars are all over the map size-wise). The 0-8-0 as a scale model will go around 031 curves, a scale Mikado will not, thus the latter engine will be smaller than it "should be". The only real source of confusion (hence why I enclosed "rule" in quotes) is that it's difficult to define an ironclad point where "anything larger than this will be undersized".

RailKing Imperial only adds additional detail to the above methodology, so it doesn't count toward closeness to scale proportions.

RailKing Scale is limited to diesels. They are older Premier models that were engineered to run around 031 curves (mostly by raising the fuel tanks so as not to foul motor housings on 031 switches) and had less detail than is considered acceptable for a 'Premier' model nowadays. (you'll notice that the typical six-axle Premier diesel now lists a minimum curve of 042 or higher)

 

---PCJ

Last edited by RailRide

THE OLD TRAIN MAN,

    Actually I purchase the Engines I like most, I have some Scale and some not.  Got to admit I really like my new  Legacy Scale 317 Northern Pacific GP9, sounds and runs Great, pulls a full Military Train load without the use of any traction tires, which I makes me a happy runner, cause I have never liked rubber tractions on my layouts.  Not even sure if my Legacy Shay is Scale or not, and I do not really care, it fits right in with my Tin Plate Trains.  I am not a rivet counter, my layouts are a child like wonder land, with lots of differing sizes.   If you have the room, run all Scale if you like, me I choose which engines I like, as long as I can run them on my layout, I am happy.

PCRR/DaveDSCN1400

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