# HO or O Scale with Porcelin buildings?



## allscalesaboard81 (May 11, 2015)

Hello folks, hope all is having a great week. I am very new to this site and new to forums but I do know I love this hobby and everything that comes with it so figured this would be a great place to ask questions.
I have many buildings by Lemax, Department 56, Hawthorne, etc. Well I know these type of buildings don't fit the scene well at times but I will have a layout with many different buildings and landscape to equal the playing field.
The problem I am having is with these type of houses, what Train Scale and what type of Scale of buildings should I start with? Hope this all makes sense and looking forward to hearing tips, tricks and advice.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Hello and welcome. This is a great hobby, and this is a great place to get advice.

I'm not familiar with the buildings you're referring to, although I imagine they're like the Christmas villiage that my inlaws set up every year. So I'll ask you a question: what scale are the buildings? If it's like the Christmas village, there's no consistency: larger buildings are made to a smaller scale than the smaller buildings, so that all the buildings are of similar size. This means you can use whatever works. 

US HO scale is 1/87 scale, British OO is 1/72, S is 1/64, O is 1/48. And there are others. Guestimating from my in-laws set up, S might be your best bet. If a human is about 1-1/8 inches tall, that's S.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Remember, too ...

Most model RR scales / gauges are reasonably true ... 1:87 for HO, etc.
The big exception is O ... though nominally at 1:48, much of the stuff (especially prewar stuff) varies from this +/- significantly. Scale is "fuzzy" at best, with much of O. That can be a benefit, though, when choosing buildings and scenery. Some of the best O layouts really mix apples and oranges with the scale of items, but do so in a fun and enticing way.

TJ


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

It's always fun to help a new guy just setting up a layout. But we can
be best in assisting once you decide on a scale. Check the scale 
information from CTValley against your buildings and see if you
can find a match. That's when you will really have a bunch of
questions. There are many differences in building, wiring and
operating the various scales. There are also differences in cost.
So you'll want to be aware of all these factors before making your
final choice.

Don


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Which scale you ultimately use will also depend a lot on the amount of space you have available.


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## rkenney (Aug 10, 2013)

'scale' those are the things you scrape off a fish, aren't they?

When I modeled 'N' gauge trains I was obsessed with everything looking the correct size. In the smaller scales differences in scale seem much more apparent, at least to my eye.

Now that I concentrate on 'O' stuff I don't worry about it. In fact I read someone once who called it 'tin' scale in reference to all the tin lithographed cars common to Marx and early Lionel, Ives...

True O scale is 1/4 inch equals a foot. Lionel figures are 1 1/2 inches tall (6 feet). Post war Barclay 'Little People' are 1 3/4 inches (7 feet). Brittains, both pre and post war are 54 mm, about 2 1/8 inch (8 foot giants).

I use all of them.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Lemax buildings all seem to be around the same general scale from my experience (I own around 20-30). I use them each year on an O scale Christmas layout, and they seem to fit in pretty well. In reality they may be closer to S scale, but they've never looked out of place to me with my O scale trains. Obviously the ceramic figures you buy to go with them are closer to G scale, but I use them anyway since I don't go for an overly realistic display.


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Do what you like. Are you familiar with both scales o, ho? Lots of people mix and match, o is bigger , more money and takes up more space but for me is easier to work on. Ho is cheaper , less space needed. So look at some layouts on the fourm, a think There is pics of Lexmark village in o scale, and check out ho, take your time then decide!


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

To answer your question it might be best to start with HO. You get a choice of many prototypes from a wide timescale and at reasonable cost, especially if you go secondhand. Equally track comes from many different makers at various price points. Once you have got a basic layout down you can then see which of your buildings 'fit in'. If it looks right, go with it. HO is 1:87 scale but don't worry if your buildings are not, the scale railroad police are not going to come knocking at your door!


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## allscalesaboard81 (May 11, 2015)

Wow, This site is amazing and a lot of great people with advice. Thank you all for the advice and tips. I do have a lot of thinking to do and also which guage to start with. HO and O are neck and neck right now but we will see lol. Again thank you and I plan on reading every Forum on this site.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

allscalesaboard81 said:


> Wow, This site is amazing and a lot of great people with advice. Thank you all for the advice and tips. I do have a lot of thinking to do and also which guage to start with. HO and O are neck and neck right now but we will see lol. Again thank you and I plan on reading every Forum on this site.


EVERY thread? You have either a lot of free time or absolutely no life! 

Seriously, even sticking to just ones that interst you will take a while. I would recommend that you read many of the ones designed for beginners, then search for and read others as you get to that point in your design-build-run process.


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## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

i find most of the lemax, dept 56, other x-mas type buildings are of the S or O scale size.

bradford exchange, danbury, and the like are often more HO.

if u have both, but decide to model O scale, u can put the smaller sized to the far back parts of the layout. this makes an illusion of distance, and makes things look farther away.

"that's an old modelers trick, so keep it under your hat":smilie_auslachen::smilie_auslachen::laugh:

keep us posted


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