O Gauge Trains
As most train modelers know, the most famous train scales or gauges are the HO gauge and the N gauge.
However, these are not the only gauges there are. For example, O gauge trains are somewhat popular. They used to be the main standard in model railroading more than 50 years ago. It wasn’t until the 60s came, that technology allowed manufacturers to build smaller trains that made O gauge trains fall in popularity.
O gauge trains were introduced to the market somewhere around the year 1900 by a German company called Marklin. As you can imagine, in those times, people used trains all the time to move from place to place. In fact, trains were a very real part of everyday life. Model trains weren’t known as such. They were considered toys meant for kids.
In fact, O gauge trains were popular because they were big, attractive to the eye, and easily handled by children. Manufacturers didn’t pay a lot of attention to the level of detail, being focused more on making a toy that was resistant and attractive for gameplay.
Because O gauge trains were considered a toy, and not representations of real trains, the actual scales vary from model to model or from manufacturer to manufacturer. Specially for models built before World War II.
If you don’t know the difference between a scale and a gauge, a scale is the comparison of the size of the model train to the size of the real train, and is used to represent the dimensions of the real train. A gauge is the inner distance between the parallel rails of a track.
In the case of O gauge trains, the gauge is 32 millimeters, or 1.25 inches. The scale can vary though. Common scales are 1:43, 1:45, 1:48 or 1:63. For some O gauge trains, there isn’t really a scale, as they were built as toys and not really looking to represent exactly a real train.
Nevertheless, all of these trains will run on a 32 millimeters track, and if they have compatible connectors, they may even form part of a longer train.
In practice, a lot of people use the terms “O gauge trains” or “O scale trains” indistinctively, so it’s always a good idea to ask the actual scale ratio. Of course, a lot of people who like O gauge trains are more interested in the train than in the layout, so having an exact scale might not be important.
In any case, if the idea of spending time building a layout for your model trains isn’t very appealing, you might want to try O gauge trains, and find out why they were once the kings of model trains.