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O gauge scales!!??

3170 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  alastairq, 
A
Do any of you out there, with more ''specialised'' knowledge of European manufacturers of O gauge stock [Spur O?]...happen to know whether there was any variation in the actual SCALE used?

[ie, the scale as a ratio?]

The reason I ask is...I have gradually been getting together odds and ends of O gauge european stock, to go with my [as-yet-unfinished] modest conversion of a Lima 4 wheel diesel into a 'typical' [ex?] DB/DR Lok......to give it something to shunt....?

To date I have acquired what was believed to be a Rivarossi van....[I think it's really a Lima item]...a Lima bogie oil tank...and an old Pola Maxi open wagon.

On casual inspection I note the distance between buffers on each individual piece of stock, to be slightly different.....ie the Pola Maxi item has buffers placed slightly further apart than the Lima item....including the loco.

does this mean that the scale 'ratio' used by different makers, was slightly different?....[as is seen in N gauge?]

Secondly....do any of you more knowledgeable people know of a [German??] maker of wagons who goes by the actual title of ''Spur O''??

[I have seen some O gauge tank wagons for sale on German Ebay, in the recent past, but not frequently.]

Or have I lost something in the translation?

They were, I'm sure, pretty brand new.

Ta folks!
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adecoaches26point4
alastairq,

I have found some links, which might be of use.
http://www.lenz-elektronik.com/spur0/index.php
http://www.kiss-modellbahnen.de/index.php?language=de O and Gauge I.
http://www.spur-0-bw.de/index.html
http://www.wunder-modelle.de/ O and Gauge I.
http://www.spring-ltd.ch/home/

These are the main ones that spring to mind.

David
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M
I think that there were several different scales used, lima O was 1/48, pola-maxi 1/45, riverrosi was/is 1.43.5 ie the correct scale. There have been some odd items that were 1/50 from the japanise that are listed as O and do run on 32mm gauge track. In the 60's I think that most of the european makes worked to 1/45 which looked right size against british stock at 1/43.5, the buffer hieght being the only giveaway as to the size being wrong!

regards

mike g
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A
phew.....thank goodness for that!

I thought I was going to have to re-position the lima diesel's buffers......still, if I fit larger diameter items that shoul resolve any running problems.

OK..another qusetion gents/ladies.....

not being an officianado of german railways....can anyone advise what types of RAIL were in use, from the 50's up until the end of the century?

I am more interested in industrial or yard/siding trackage.....was it ALL flatbottom [vignoles-tpe] or did 'bullhead' types get used?

there IS a reason for asking......and those photos I have scrutinised aren't too helpful in this department...since it isn't the TRACKAGE the photographer is/was interested in...
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andrew
Scales are a sore topic with me… I am quietly going mad at the variations while trying to rationalise some bridge designs. The mixed units don't help much: 7mm/ft (1/43.5) for UK '0' scale, but it's 1/48 scale in North America - a bit smaller, but the loading gauge is bigger. Then there's either 10mm/ft or 1/32 scale for '1' scale. I recently went to see someone who said he wanted models for 'G' scale, which is usually narrow gauge 1/22.5 scale. What he actually wanted was 1/29, though it uses the same 45mm gauge track as traditional '1' and 'G'. But it was a garden railway, and as far as he was concerned, that was 'G' by definition. End of rant...

I'd also be interested to know where else bullhead rail was used. I've always had the impression that is was almost unknown in continental Europe, and that the Vignoles rail was standard there, but I wonder if it would have been used on British-built overseas railways, such as in South America?
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A
I HAVE read that the Fench Narrow gauge lines of Brittany, etc, originally ran bullhead.....or ''twin-mushrooms' rail, I think they called it?

this is all pre-1920's....so I presumed, other early railways may have used the stuff as well?

and maybe some of it was still in use in isolated corners?

WHICH WOULD EASE MY PAIN AS I HAVE A BOX FULL OF THE STUFF IN O GAUGE FROM PECO......I doubt that I can swap it, either.

Maybe I can collect loads of unwanted code 100 OO flex track,and use the rail with home-made sleepers?

I believe Lima O gauge track used code 100 rail...I remember having some [think it was Lima, anyway] and feeling it was rather 'light?'

I have some ETS points and track, but it's all trainset radius......fine for a small space, not easy to disguise though.
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