Locomotives from the past.


HO is half the size of the original 7mm/ft O ( gauge zero, vs gauge 1, 45mm gauge, gauge 2, 50.8mm or gauge 3, 64mm) scale. Americans had issues with the metric system and changed it to 1/4"/ft. It's close, 1:48 instead of 1:43.5, to the same but now American O scale uses 5ft gauge track, hence Proto48, 1:48 trains on properly gauged track with scale size wheels and track geometry.
 
If one is going to get nitpicky about O vs. 0, it's equally valid to point out that gauge and scale are two very different things; HO scale trains are 1:87 in scale, while standard gauge HO locomotives use H0 track that is 13.5mm wide, and HOn30 uses 9mm wide track, originally intended for N scale and used as standard-gauge track in that scale. And that's not getting into the weeds; British OO uses H0 track but the models are 1:76, Japanese N uses N scale track but the models are 1:150, standard O scale is 1:48 but uses 0 gauge track that measures out to 5' wide in 1:48 (1.25" gauge), but fine-scale Proto:48 modelers use narrower track that is to scale, while British O scale modelers use 1:43.5 scale models on 1.25" gauge tracks that match standard gauge--and, of course, half of British O scale 1:43.5 is 1:87, or HO scale.

Back to the OP's point, yes, streamlined trains of the 1930s-50s are extremely cool, whether they're steam, diesel-electric, or electric--or turbine! They were designed to look cool and capture the public's imagination during an era when passengers were being lost to air travel and public-funded highways.
 
William Burg said:
If one is going to get nitpicky about O vs. 0, it's equally valid to point out that gauge and scale are two very different things; HO scale trains are 1:87 in scale, while standard gauge HO locomotives use H0 track that is 13.5mm wide, and HOn30 uses 9mm wide track, originally intended for N scale and used as standard-gauge track in that scale. And that's not getting into the weeds; British OO uses H0 track but the models are 1:76, Japanese N uses N scale track but the models are 1:150, standard O scale is 1:48 but uses 0 gauge track that measures out to 5' wide in 1:48 (1.25" gauge), but fine-scale Proto:48 modelers use narrower track that is to scale, while British O scale modelers use 1:43.5 scale models on 1.25" gauge tracks that match standard gauge--and, of course, half of British O scale 1:43.5 is 1:87, or HO scale.

Back to the OP's point, yes, streamlined trains of the 1930s-50s are extremely cool, whether they're steam, diesel-electric, or electric--or turbine! They were designed to look cool and capture the public's imagination during an era when passengers were being lost to air travel and public-funded highways.
Click to expand...
And i'll add that continental European 0 gauge is 1:45 scale. It's a mess. If American manufacturers were using that scale, there would be no need for Proto 48
 
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