True O gauge (1:48 scale)

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ICG/SOU

ICG/SOU

HO & O (3-rail) trainman
I've got the O portion of my layout down, and have a few cars. Some are the traditional semi-scale O gauge (like O27 stuff), and some are scale O (Atlas O). What I'm fuzzy about, and just want to clear up, is how to tell the difference if purchasing online.

Atlas O--everything is standard size unless it is their Industrial Rail line
KLine--some is O, some is O27...can't tell which unless "Standard O" is in the product name, which is rarely
Lionel--same as KLine. In the store, I can see the difference, but online, not so much.
MTH--I'm guessing the Premier line is standard O, but everything else isn't.
Williams--all of it is semi-scale

Is all of what I'm thinking correct? If not, what is? Even thought I used Fasttrack, I'm attempting to make the layout more standard O rather than semi-scale. I'm looking at some older stock that MTH and others put out with the roadnames I want (ICG, IC, SOU, GM&O), and want to make sure I'm buying more standard O.

Thanks in advance, everyone.
 
Well being a fellow 3 railer myself, I feel and understand your pain. There is NO simple answer here. I have been burned in the past buying on Ebay, assuming I was getting scale sized equipment but didn't. Especially on Ebay, and especially with people who are not very experienced with selling (and you can tell from there auctions), read carefully, look at all the pictures, ask direct questions and ask for more detailed pictures.

Atlas -- Like you say, very easy to figure out.. Scale sized unless it's the IR series

Lionel -- Standard O and 027, if it don't say, study the pictures, search stock numbers on the Lionel website or get a current Lionel price guide

K-Line -- more difficult to tell... Classic Series is scale, most of the others say 027 right on the box

MTH-- Premier Series is scale, stock #'s start with 20-xxxxx, some of the older stuff doesnt have near the detail the new stuff has, especially diesels and rolling stock Rail King is not scale...except there structures and access.

Williams-- I won't touch the stuff especially since Bachman owns it now, mostly copies of Lionel Postwar equip and LionMaster series (all not scale)

You can tell a lot about the rolling stock by the retail price. Do a search online with stock #'s to find the MSG Retail. ie: Atlao O Box Car $54.95, Industrial Rail $24.95

If people on Ebay don't have good pictures, there is usually a very good reason. Obviously you already know the O market is still limited, even with all the new scale sized equipment. Now you are looking for a couple roadnames in a very specific time period. That will be tough for sure. If you were doing the 40's,50's,60's or even the 70's, it wouldn't be too bad ;)

All I can say is spend your time doing your homework, especially when it comes to buying
on Ebay. You can contact me direct any time with your questions, laidoffsick@verizon.net. I do custom painting, weathering, structures and am always buying and selling on Ebay, strickly O scale, 2 rail but mostly 3 rail.

Good luck with your search.

Doug
 
Thanks, Doug. That helps greatly. Especially with the MTH equipment and accessories.

There are a couple of ICG cars (an Airslide hopper, a PS2CD hopper, and N8 Caboose) that MTH has released in the Premier line that I am interested in. All say "1:48 dimensions" which says to me "scale" but I wanted to double check.

I have a local shop that carries a ton of Lionel, so I can hold things in my hand to verify size and such. However, they concentrate primarily on SF, UP, MP, SP, and some of the older fallen flags, so not a lot of SOU, IC/ICG, GM&O, L&N, Frisco, or other lines that ran through Mississippi, which is more of my focus.
 


In looking around the internet, I've found another brand, Weaver. What are they like on the detail and dimensions?

Thanks very much.
 
Weaver makes very nice, true scale products. They tend to be expensive and only produce in limited runs so you have to get your order in early or hope you can pick up the model in the aftermarket.
 
Modeltrainstuff.com has a few tank cars that look nice, but since their pictures are small, I couldn't tell how the detail was.

They're also not that expensive, either.

Thanks for the help.
 
ICG/SOU said:
I have a local shop that carries a ton of Lionel, so I can hold things in my hand to verify size and such. However, they concentrate primarily on SF, UP, MP, SP, and some of the older fallen flags, so not a lot of SOU, IC/ICG, GM&O, L&N, Frisco, or other lines that ran through Mississippi, which is more of my focus.
Click to expand...

That was the situation in HO not to many years ago. If you wanted something in those roads loco wise, about all you could do is buy brass. Now these roads are more commonly available.

Another option to consider is having, (or doing it yourself), the locos custom painted. Microscale makes decals for SOU, GM&O, Frisco, IC and L&N for O scale. No ICG thou.
 
Weaver made a GP38-2 a few years back in the grey and orange ICG paint, but finding such now would be a problem. I did just pick up the Atlas O GP35 ICG in orange and white, and it is nice. Since an O scale loco is 5 times the cost of a plain RTR HO Athearn (HO will always be a primary focus), and I can't run more than 2 on my O scale layout without upgrading wattage (currently 180 watts), I figured I'd look for a nice O scale SOU loco and be done with it.
 
I found out something that may help others. I was told by a Lionel dealer that the Standard O rail cars usually start with 17xxx and 27xxx, while the semi-scale stuff will be other numbers.
 
As for the non-true O stuff, what scale is this stuff typically? Are all Lionel TMCC engines (except LionMaster) true scale?
 


NOT ALL Lionel TMCC engines are scale. They have a lot of trainset type stuff that is TMCC but not scale sized.....still O-27. Just like MTH, they have a ton of stuff with Proto Sounds 2.0, but unless it is Premier series, starting with the stock 20- **** it is NOT sc`ale size either...just O-27. Scale size = 1/48 ..... non scale is not any particular scale. They are all a bit different.
 
Laidoffsick said:
NOT ALL Lionel TMCC engines are scale. They have a lot of trainset type stuff that is TMCC but not scale sized.....still O-27. Just like MTH, they have a ton of stuff with Proto Sounds 2.0, but unless it is Premier series, starting with the stock 20- **** it is NOT sc`ale size either...just O-27. Scale size = 1/48 ..... non scale is not any particular scale. They are all a bit different.
Click to expand...
So how can you tell with Lionel?
 
NO....if you look under the "FEATURES" bullet in the description.... the scale is Traditional O ....... all the scale sized stuff is STANDARD O

Even in the Lionel Catalogs, the index has them listed seperately

Traditional Locos

Standard O Locos/Steam/Cars etc etc
 
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