Hornby info?

In message , TAB writes

Hi TAB. Yes, Hornby models are 00, which, in the UK, is as popular as H0 is in Europe and the US.

British 00 is modelled at 4mm to the foot, but running on the same H0 track as used worldwide. Don't ask why - Greg will tell you :-)

As far as I know, Hornby only produce UK outline models at present, and yes, the live steam locos are extremely impressive.

The 'steam' train you refer to is I believe the one that uses track power to boil the water to make the steam that drives the engine. I don't know how well it works. The reviews were not overly enthusiastic, so it probably doesn't work well at all. AFAIK the only model available is of a Mallard type 4-6-2 locomotive, a very handsome engine IMO.

Hornby makes OO scale trains that run on 16.5mm track. OO scale is 4mm to the foot, or 1:76 proportion. 16.5mm gauge is correct for HO scale,

3.5mm to the foot, or 1:87. This means that the models are slightly oversize for the track. However, since British trains are smaller overall, the models are about the same size as the HO models of our N. American trains, which are higher and wider than the British trains.

Hornby models vary in quality, as they have not been consistent in upgrading older models. On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate them at 6. I bought one of their models of Oliver (one of Thomas the Tank Engine's friends.) It is an accurate model of a Great Western 0-4-2 tank engine, except of course for Oliver's face on the front. It looks very nice. Its running qualities are merely fair however. Good enough for under the Christmas tree, where it went round'n'round as it hauled two Troublesome Trucks. He's been retired, as this year my grandchildren preferred to see "real" trains, so we set up a Great Northern (US) train instead.

HTH

HEY!!! ;-)

They own Electrotren (Spanish HO), Rivarossi (HO Euro and US), Lima (HO and OO), Jouef (HO), Arnold (N) and Pocher (Rivarossi HO)

Regards, Greg.P.

Since Greg didn't, I'll provide some of the history!

Way back in the dim dark ages, (1938 + ) when HO was first appearing, the electric motors available were not small enough to fit within the bodies of English (British) steam locomotives. Going from 1:87 to 1:72 in scale provided enough additional space to be able to motorize some of the larger locomotives. (Even so, some of the smaller locomotives were dummy (unpowered) with a 'motorized' tender, or in some cases of really small locos, a motorized 'baggage car' of 'box car' to move the train. By the 1950s, the available motors were such that such a solution wouldn't have been needed, but there was already to large a number of modelers using the OO/HO system, thus it continues through the present, with some modelers using 19mm (true OO gauge), most using 16.5mm, and most being quite happy with their results. (Which is what really matters)

Chuck Davis

Close - 1923 on. Bing.

Europe 1:90 (Trix) - 1:80 (Rivarossi) scale but settled at 1:87 in the

1950s. Great Britain and USa 1:76.2 4mm:1 foot. scale. 18.82mm gauge - quite popular in Britain.

While researching British OO + HO before WWII, I found that the terms were interchangeable until Hornby Dublo released their range in 1938, HO could be applied to 4mm scale and OO to 3.5mm scale or vice versa.

Regards, Greg.P.

Greg Procter spake thus:

[...]

I dispute this: when did we (US) use anything other than today's HO scale?

And in any case, why do you insist on denigrating us with that odd abbreviation (USa)? What's with the lowercase "a"?

Maybe we should retaliate by abbreviating it "Nz", eh?

On the other hand, I would expect that "model" to be something geared to the mass market and made in a cheaper fashion than the high end models.

What is the problem with the model?

Not enough power pick-up points to run reliably? Noisy motor? Rough or binding mechanism?

Well, we're wandering off railway topics here, but you yanks do seem to insist on hyjacking the term "American" to mean "of the USa". The lower case "a" is my little objection. BTW I use the term "yank" with no intention to offend, (just as I assume you use the term "American" with no intent to offend) It's the only term I know other than "citizens of the United States of America" that is understood world-wide without the sideways spit. "Yank" with the uppercase "Y" apparently is offensive to many of you. "Nz" would just be interpreted as typical US inability to spell, just as in "colour", "aluminium", "tyre", "cheque" and etc. =;^)

Regards, Greg.P. (retires to concrete bunker)

How about prior to WWII ---- LIONEL produced OO Scale in both two and three rail (To 19mm gauge, 2mm/ft. scale the 19.92 gauge is 'Fine Scale standards (GB) maybe a lone wolf or two here in the States)

Well maybe if you can't allow for obvious typos, go ahead. It would seem quite juvenile to me. JMHO

Chuck D.

Charles Davis spake thus:

Check his previous post; not a typo. I hit the nail on the head.

You did absolutely!

Regards, Greg.P.

Hi, Just my little contribution, the proper gauge for doing 4mm modelling with 00 stock is called P4 (which stands for protypical 4mm scale).

There is also EM gauge (eighteen-millimeter) which is not as accurate as P4, but looks the part.

Cue flame war between EM and P4 evangelists (if there are any in the US).

Sincere regards,

Robert.

Charles Davis wrote:

I know this is hairsplitting, but P4 is actually 18.83mm...

Davesteve, OO was produced commercially in the US before WW2, and just after. I 've got some ancient, *NON-MOULDY* MR's that feature OO scale models.

Cheers,

Marksteve

All three axles are fixed in the chassis - the trailing wheels are not on a separate truck (this is prototypical, BTW). The second driving axle has a traction tire which makes that wheel slightly oversize, so that the engine rocks on it. Under load it tips to ride on the second driving axle and the trailing axle. Then the front driving axle rides slightly above the rail. This has two effects:

a) it reduces the reliability of electrical pickup from that axle, since it picks up only from the flange; and

b) a slight mismatch at the rail joints can cause a derailment.

The loco runs better backwards than forwards.

A bit noisy at first, but a judicious use of Aero-car's excellent lubricants fixed that.

It also lacks some of the more delicate detail, which is not a problem

-- it's Oliver after all. :-)

The flanges are deep, which means it won't run well on my shelf layout hand-laid code 70 track. Also, this engine uses one of Hornby's older wheel profiles, so it gets annoyed when asked to run thorough one my hand-built turnouts (built to the tightest allowable NMRA dimensions.)

Despite that, it performed well enough under the Christmas tree once the flanges on that high riding front axle had worn off whatever oxidation made pickup erratic. Fun!

HTH

O.K., so it's him with the attitude. It's still a bit childish.

Chuck D.

If this isn't too OT, I wonder how many have many have ever heard of E scale. It was originated in the '30s by Paul Egolf and was based on a proportionality of 96:1. There was alway some doubt as to whether the "E" stood for Egolf or "eighth". Its selling point was that the ratio used was more rational (easier to work with?) than 87:1 The models in this scale would be about ten percent smaller than HO. There is some mention of it in the hobby journals of the period. At the end of that decade Knapp commercially produced a line in E scale featuring a mountain (4-8-2) type locomotive. The dies for this engine were later obtained by Bowser. The post WWII mountain offered by Bowser is AFAIK essentially the same model with a widened guage. I hope this may be of interest. Thank you.

Jerry

It's a gentle hint that you're insulting all the people of the Americas in using "America" to indicate the citizens of the USa exclusively..

Regards, Greg.P.

Yes, there have been 4mm:foot 19mm gauge models produced in the USa - like Marksteve, I'd have to dive into my oldest carton of MRs and reread all the ads to find the brand name.

Regards, Greg.P.