# Vehicles for HO layouts.



## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

I would like to ask all of you to contribute to a list of HO vehicles and their manufacturers that would be acceptable on an Ho layout. Any kind of vehicle is ok like trucks, cars, military vehicles,and farm machinery but ships and airplanes probably wouldn't be needed.
What is making me wonder about this are the toy vehicles I see in all kinds of stores that look like they may be HO size but when I get them home they are either way too big or way too small. None of the manufacturers seem to find it necessary to indicate on their packaging what the scale of their vehicles are. This leaves it to us to guess at what will look good and what won't. Since vehicles from companies like Walthers, for one, are pretty expensive it would be helpful to know what to look for when we're in Wallyworld or CVS or Walgreens ect. for vehicles that would look presentable on a layout.
Hope you can help with this list or offer any advice when looking for HO vehicles. Pete


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## Southern (Nov 17, 2008)

When I go looking for a car for the layout at a store that is not a LHS I will take a know 1:87 car with me to compair.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

That's a good idea but I'm not always in a store looking for trainstuff. I can imagine what a HO vehicle would look like after me hauling it around for a week or so. Ha! Wouldn't be much left of it I'm afraid. But still I guess that would help a lot when I go to Walmart. They alwys have neat looking die cast stuff. Some I buy just beacuse they look good. No way will they fit on my layout. pete


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

Pete,
The Walthers catalog is a great resource for 1:87 vehicles/manufacturers.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Yes I know that but the prices are pretty high. $14 for a Ford Station wagon seems like a lot to me. I'm looking for the stuff you can buy on the spot wherever you may be shopping. 
Like Hot Wheels for instance. Are they of a scale that would be compatible with HO? And Maisto makes a ton of neat looking die cast models but they are too big or at least some of them are. Too bad too. Nice stuff and the price is right. I just bought a fuel tanker made by Maisto for $3.35 and it looks ok but it's about 25% too big. Enough to make it NOT Ho or even close when put nect to an HO truck. 
Here is a page out of a Walthers monthly flyer for HO vehicles. They are all from $8 to $18 on sale. Buy one and it costs another $10 for shipping. Buy four of them and it's $40 at the least plus the postage. Ya can't buy just one without costing Twenty bucks and that's a lot for a little toy car to put on your layout and it just sits there doing nothing. I need vehicles for $5 or less and I need about 40 of them. Pete


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

Most of the stuff at Walmart, etc are closer to 1:64 scale. Hotwheels did have a line of 1:87 cars, but they have since either discontinued them or just really limit production (as far as I can tell) When they are 1:87 scale, they seem to be marked as such.

Here's an example of the hotwheels 1:87. I see them every once in awhile at Walmart, but not very often (I check every time I'm at one.)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HOT-WHEELS-...17105?pt=Diecast_Vehicles&hash=item1c216786b1

Here's a bunch on the hotwheels 1/87 on ebay...watch out though....I looked through that list and not all of those are really 1:87. The trick is to look at the wheels. If they look really oversized and toylike, those are 1:64 cars. The 1:87 are very realistic and nice. Great cars for the price and just as nice as the Busch, etc cars that are going for $10-15

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw...vehicle&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

I really like the Boley trucks and will buy them at train shows for $10-15 (Fire engines, etc.)

Even Johnny Lightning, etc are a little big for HO scale.

I'll have a few nicer cars that are to the front of the layout, but I'll populate the background with something like this. I bet once you weather them, etc they'd look pretty good. Decent filler for $1/each.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-Scale-1-...322224?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item27c12798b0


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## hoscale37 (Nov 20, 2011)

I have seen, and I know that they are not that expensive as I went to the flea market this past weekend. Model Power carries an entire line of newer style vehicles and they retail as I have seen for about $3.99-$4.99 per car.

There are some on ebay as well.


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## hoscale37 (Nov 20, 2011)

Just to follow up:

There are 11 pages of "Standard Mini's" (Mini Vehicles) on Model Power's website. These are all 1/87th scale which is HO Scale.
http://www.modelpower.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=90

Semi Trucks are a little more expensive at $8.98 a shot:
http://www.modelpower.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=92

Older vehicles, $5.49 for each :
http://www.modelpower.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=91


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Brian and Scott those are very good links and Model Power seems to be in the best price range as well as offering more American cars. Again ebay seems to have the best selection at the best prices. It's hard for people to tell the scale so your right about looking at the item closly to try and verify the size of it. This is all great info and I'll make a list of what's been mentioned so far. Pete


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## jonyb (Mar 20, 2011)

I've been buying Model Power, and Busch vehicles from Burbank House of Hobbies lately. Some of them are as low as $3.98 each, and the quality/detail is just as good as the Woodland Scenics cars.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

I don't pay more than $1-2 apiece...I pick them up at train shows and swap meets, even an occasional Wal-Mart clearance. Sometimes I'll top out at $5 for trucks, but only because it opens the market for me a little wider...never at full retail though. I did break down and fork over $12 for a Mini-Metals Trailways bus but only because the girl priced it wrong. I took it to the manager, who went back and corrected it...still thinking it wasn't quite right, I bought it and found later that even the manager got it wrong.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I bought one of those trailways bus also. Very nice. They retail
for 24.95. Got mine at hobby lobby with a 40% off coupon. They
have other mini metals but are kinda high if not on sale.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

They are pretty...she had priced it at $8, I showed the manager and he corrected it to $12. I figured I did my part, when I got home, I saw their store sold them for $20. With the 40% of coupon, $12 would have been correct, so I lost no sleep---they've since been corrected to $20.


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## THE TYCO MAN (Aug 23, 2011)

Fresh Cherries were once sold at Wal-Mart. dunno what happened. Model Power and Bachmann sell HO cars cheap.MP sells a single diecast car for like $6.Highly detailed and is HO.Bachmann has a package of a few cars for less than $10.


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## hoscale37 (Nov 20, 2011)

It kind of sucks though with Hobby Lobby. They only sell a few of those buses, and shrubbery parts, etc. 

They have *maybe* a few complete HO scale or N scale kits that are available in the store. The Hobby Lobby near me- my wife goes there to buy a lot of beading supplies; and the clerk told me that they discontinued selling a lot of their train stuff in store about a year to almost 2 years ago  

You can still buy sets off of their website, but that's it


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

No, not much for our hobby at hobby lobby. I don't think walmart
right now are selling any 1/87 cars. I found a plastic bag down
staires just yesterday with these in it. They were from walmart.
Still had the reciepts in the bag. I paid $2.22 each for them. First
is a fresh cherry and the others are malibu.

'81 escort









'72 chevy pu









'70 GTO









'77 trans am


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Hey, Mopac...you gotta pose than Trans Am right....


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Nice. That does look better.


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## alocsin (Jun 26, 2011)

At the 99 Cent store, I occasionally come across small cars that can pass for 1/87. They don't have much detail but at the price for six or seven, they're great for filling in background spaces. Adding a bit of paint improves them quite a bit. Bringing a scale HO car would be good in such cases.


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## Smokinapankake (Sep 8, 2011)

I gotta echo the comment on Fresh Cherries. Walmart had them a few years ago at about 3 bucks each. Nicely detailed and were 1:87 as well. Mostly '70's vehicles as I recall but I haven't seen them for some time...


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