# Benefits of HO vs O Scale



## thomashmaine (May 4, 2010)

What are the benefits of going HO Scale vs O Scale. I am trying to decide which one to go with. I understand the obvious

1) space - you can fit more HO scale they O scale
2) price - HO is cheaper then O Scale

what otheres are there?

is there any different in funcationlity and options available?

Thanks

thomas


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

Hi Thomas,  

You hit the two biggest reasons...space and cost.

If you have children, O is way more robust and hands on "play friendly". O is also satisfying to collect because of its history. HO, although more fragile, has more potential for modeling realism. I really like O because that's what I had when I was a kid, but I chose HO because of its relatively low cost and economy of space.

Greg


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## thomashmaine (May 4, 2010)

yeah i really would like to go with O b/c i like the larger size and the way it looks. currently i am going to start with a 4x8 layout, so HO is more appealing b/c i can fit more into it. I dont know how much expansion i will have. i do have an unfinished garage i could move the layout to eventually but that opens up a whole new can of worms.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Thomas,

And just to boggle your mind with options further, some people with larger layouts intentionally choose to have two different scales modeled together ... the larger in the foreground, and the smaller in the background (usually raised up a bit on a hill or similar) to offer some sense of depth and perspective.

As far as the O vs. HO debate ...

I jumped in 6 months ago with a fun 4x8 HO layout (hill, tunnel, trestles, etc.). With the train "bug" in hand, I finally dusted off my family's old Lionel O set, got that running, and have now built a little O layout, too.

Maybe try both?!?

TJ


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## thomashmaine (May 4, 2010)

Thanks TJ,

i did think about that and very well may do that.

What do you think about functionality between O and HO. do the trains have all the same features? what about the features of dcc vs dcs?


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

I'm both old-school O as well as old-school HO, so my experience with newer tech and DCC is nil.

That said, I've done only minor fiddling with the electro-mechanics of HO stock. Simple motor lubes, cleanings, and the like. It's all DC, so the wiring / powering concept is simple to understand. Yet, the motors are so small and cheap, that often it's easier to ebay-buy a replacement, rather than to go into tiny surgery.

On the flip side, the older O has considerably larger motor components ... brushes, armatures, gears that you can fiddle with a bit easier, in my opinion. I like the old-school mechanics ... no diodes, no chips ... simple circuits made out of beefy, generally durable parts. I've been having fun hunting down some old, beat-up locos, and fiddling to get them running and cleaned up a bit.

The guys here who run DCC (on any scale) generally praise its merits. Basic systems are much more affordable these days, and the required wiring for complex layouts is much simpler than traditional "zone" setups. Definitely worth considering on your end.

TJ


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

in a word HO is more of a model, O is more of a toy. i seen some model grade O scale items, gorgeous. but at what price! larger size dictates significantly more detail to look realistically and as such expensive. people will collect all kinds of stuff, but all this tinplate and such is not my cup of tee... 

benefits are moot point - iscale is apersonal choice


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Or -- dare I say it -- if you'd like a sense of history in a smaller-scale layout, consider S / American Flyer. At 1:64 (vs. 1:87 for HO and 1:48 for O), it may have some nice merits for your needs.

And (it pains me to say this), we have a couple of guys on the forum who would go ga-ga if they had another S buddy to play with! 

TJ


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## markone (May 23, 2010)

Hi. I’m just switching from O scale to HO, first I want to say that my layout was O scale, I means Scale, with 2 rails, not 3 rails. The O scale offer the most beautiful engine, but you have to spent a lot on brass engine, Atlas make nice plastic switchers, but the rest is base on cheap vertical motor design for Toy train. 
The cars are nice too, especially if you like weathering . What make me change was the lack of stuff, it’s very hard to find and hard to build trees in that scale. One of my main interests is the buildings, and all true it’s simpler to scratch build in O scale with wood, Brick structure is another thing, only few windows are available. Track work too, unless you hand laid your track, you stuck with only few item from Atlas. You have to order everything in O scale, no shop keep inventory. 

In resume, it was more a matter of choice than space and cost.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

markone said:


> ... it was more a matter of choice than space and cost.



As it should be!

TJ


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## markone (May 23, 2010)

tjcruiser said:


> As it should be!
> 
> TJ


sorry , my bad english, I means not a matter of choice.... but a matter of less choice in the items availables in O scale, compare to HO .


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

You're English is just fine ...

I'm just saying that choices and decisions going into making a person's layout only have to satisfy one person: the person making the layout! As long as things put a smile on your face, then you're making all the right choices!

Best of luck,

TJ


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

HO is the largest modeled scale for a reason, in fact many reasons. Selection, cost, availability, basic quality of the majority of manufacturers, size and proportions,........

Want to see the epitome of O-scale, well gauge I guess as this unit is three rail....... Drool guys, this one is a beauty!!!! Owned by a guy I've dealt with in the past for parts and old collectible cars and engines. This one is a tad salty for my pocketbook, however. 
http://cgi.ebay.com/SCRATCHBUILT-BR...ewItem&pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item563a4504bb



Bob


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## mr_x_ite_ment (Jun 22, 2009)

It is hard enough to find decent space for a good-sized HO layout...I can't imagine trying to find space for an O gauge that has lots of operations on it. I have nothing against O gauge...I just like that most local hobby shops carry mostly HO scale items.

As far as DCC vs. DC, I would narrow it down to this; if you have a small layout and will only be running one train, there is probably no need for DCC...but if you want to run two or more trains at once on a larger layout, then DCC is the way to go. This is just my opinion of course.

Chad


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## Simplexbike123 (Apr 26, 2010)

I guess I might as well throw my two cents in here.

Sometime back, my daughter gave me a Lionel 225E + whistling tender for Fathers' Day. 225Es are fairly common, but since this is a prewar train, it calls for metal cars. I love the metal, but not being into trains for many years, about passed out when I saw what one single metal car costs if it is really detailed. So far, for the really nice ones, I have seen prices mostly between $100.00 and $200.00. I have been scrounging around Ebay to buy at least four cars and a caboose for this engine so my daughter doesn't think I just let it sit. Found two simpler less expensive cars, but still need more. I guess later on, I will bid on the really nice ones every so often. I have seen train sets up to $1500.00. In my opinion, collectors are ruining this hobby by driving up prices so high. Lionel keeps coming out with remakes, and they are very expensive. Accessories are equally as high.

I am also in HO. Wasn't until my son gave me a Bachman Monopoly set (1996) last Fathers' Day. It has all the cars, transformer etc. What my son didn't know was the engine (steam) was broken on the side that goes down in the box. Rest of the set looks like noone ever used it. Sent it to Bachmann to see if they could do anything. They said they could put an up-to-date motor in it, but told me the body part that was busted (where the pushrod goes into) wasn't available. However, when it came back (very fast service) it had the body part fixed. Guess they found one. Cost, if you can believe this, was a big total of $15.00. I told the lady "you mean for postage right?" She said "No, that is for everything."works great. So, like the Lionel, I am somewhat tied into HO too. Besides, like was said, HO is so much cheaper.

Now, my only gripe about HO is that I haven't seen any real moving accessories, such as log loaders, coal loaders, etc. Lighting towers and stuff like that can be made out of wood and painted to look nice. Too, with all the LED stuff available at Radio Shack, I am sure I can come up with some signal lights of different types. Will be fun to try anyway.

Jack

P.S. If I don't reply back for a few days, it is because I am having my second heart Ablation tomorrow. Word is that the second usually fixes the rhythm problem.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Simplex,

Good points above.

My Dad had ablation about 6 months ago ... big improvement. Best of health and happiness to you!

TJ


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

stationmaster said:


> HO is the largest modeled scale for a reason, in fact many reasons. Selection, cost, availability, basic quality of the majority of manufacturers, size and proportions,........
> 
> Want to see the epitome of O-scale, well gauge I guess as this unit is three rail....... Drool guys, this one is a beauty!!!! Owned by a guy I've dealt with in the past for parts and old collectible cars and engines. This one is a tad salty for my pocketbook, however.
> http://cgi.ebay.com/SCRATCHBUILT-BR...ewItem&pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item563a4504bb
> ...


I saw that and marked it for watching. That guy is NUTS no one is going to pay 25G's for that.:laugh:


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

Actually, BigEd, Sean is a pretty nice guy. I've had many dealings with him obtain parts , old collectible engines and such.

"Nutso"? Hardly....

Bob


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

Simplexbike123 said:


> Now, my only gripe about HO is that I haven't seen any real moving accessories, such as log loaders, coal loaders, etc. Lighting towers and stuff like that can be made out of wood and painted to look nice. Too, with all the LED stuff available at Radio Shack, I am sure I can come up with some signal lights of different types. Will be fun to try anyway.
> 
> Jack


Go for it, Jack. 

There are many layout features that you can move yourself...

I have lots of manual switch levers, 2 manual turntables, a variety of removable cargo to load and unload manually, and have been looking for a cheap manually operated coal/ore loader for my planned layout.

Greg


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

stationmaster said:


> Actually, BigEd, Sean is a pretty nice guy. I've had many dealings with him obtain parts , old collectible engines and such.
> 
> "Nutso"? Hardly....
> 
> Bob


Might be a nice guy but I still say he is nuts if he thinks he will get 25g's for it.:laugh:

edit......
Then again someone just might be nutter (and rich) and give him 25g's for it.

Thats why I am watching it.


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

big ed said:


> Might be a nice guy but I still say he is nuts if he thinks he will get 25g's for it.:laugh:


I'd sell it for $25g. I don't think he really wants to sell it anyway. But, if someone were to come along and want to pay the price.....

And as far as "moving" structures and such, Faller or Kibri, I believe, sells many. I have a transfer table that moves. Turntable.

Bob


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

stationmaster said:


> I'd sell it for $25g. I don't think he really wants to sell it anyway. But, if someone were to come along and want to pay the price.....
> 
> And as far as "moving" structures and such, Faller or Kibri, I believe, sells many. I have a transfer table that moves. Turntable.
> :thumbsup:
> ...


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

Nope, Ed, I've had mine a while now. I have two turntables on my layout. One of the new ones from Walthers and another custom made for my BIG engines like the Mallet and such. Both turntables are DCC as is the transfer table. 

I've got a third turntable that I'm giving thought to using on a diorama, one of the old Walther's 90-footers that I removed when I replaced it with the larger Walther's unit. Good for smaller steam engines and diesels.

Bob


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

big ed said:


> stationmaster said:
> 
> 
> > Did you just win the transfer table on e bay?
> ...


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## Simplexbike123 (Apr 26, 2010)

Thanks TJ. Got out late Thursday night. Doc says it will take a while to find out if it all worked out. He was very optomistic. My second one, but find that isn't all that uncommon. Am up and around as of yesterday morning.

Jack


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

Welcome back, Jack. Looks like all went well. Did you have a pacemaker before the surgery to regulate your heartbeat?

I've had two spinal surgeries in the past few years. I don't know if I'd have them again as neither corrected the problems. As it turns out, I have cervical and lumbar stenosis. Other surgeries are ruled out as a treatment since scar tissue from them is problematic as it will encase the nerves and cause even bigger problems. Pain is a part of my every day living now.

But, glad everything came out OK for you.

Bob


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## Old Bob (Apr 2, 2010)

My wife has stenosis in one disc and had a shot above and below it. This worked but didn't last long. The doc says that located the correct place for the shots so he will do it again with a method and medication that should last longer next time, which she has scheduled. Unfortunately the shots are not a permanent solution. A lady at church had the shots until they no longer worked and then surgery to correcct the problem. She was very pleased with the outcome.

The shots are relatively easy to apply under a fluoroscope but she has to be driven home because of the pain killer. 

In her case the stenosis caused sciatica; this is a pain down her leg plus the back pain.


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

The shots, usually a cortisone like drug, provided temporary relief.

I had a procedure to deaden some of the nerves. I was awake through the procedure but had problems, started feeling like my stomach was getting upset, and they stopped the procedure and put something in my IV. Made me stay an extra hour after the procedure to make sure I was OK.

This gettin' old crap ain't like you read about....

Bob


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