scale

[frans verhagen]

goedemorgen mr bachmann
can i use scale O from plasticville with scale 0 n 30 spectrum?
o scale seams a bit large to 0 n 30

[the Bach-man]

Dear Franz,
Absolutely! Narrow gauge trains were tiny, and larger buildings can be used to good effect to emphasize that fact. Also, many of the buildings are actually small, as they were originally marketed as "O and S" scale.
Have fun!
the Bach-man

[phillyreading]

The Plasticville buildings were made closer to S gauge or so it seems. I think they would look good with On-30, as that is an attempt at O gauge with H.O. track.

Lee F.

[John Tumolo]

Please keep in mind that our On30 trains are "O"scale-1/4"=1 foot.  If you are used to the old Lionel "O" gauge trains, remember that they were actually not true "O" SCALE.  The actual gauge for Lionel is 5 feet, not 4 feet 8 1/2 inches.  The Plasticville buildings are fine for our On30 trains with the following exceptions-the trestle bridge, which is truly designed to handle Lionel style track, the coaling tower, unless you cut off the first (lowest) level of the legs, stairs, and rear elevator, and finally the water tower, which works fine as long as you don't use the big fat base.  Go visit a couple of model train shows and check out the Plasticville buildings no longer offered, and you will also find a couple of nice buildings just right for On30.  The old style Suburban Station, old square switch tower, and the hard to find factory come to mind.  These buildings are not as "perfect" as the laser cut wood kits now available, but they are quick and easy to build and look fine in the backround.  John Tumolo  [email protected]

[phillyreading]

John,

That is interesting to know about Lionel, as I always thought their trains were O scale. Some of Lionel are closer to 1/43 scale than say 1/50 scale. One thing about some of the O gauge trains I have, they make the Plasticville buildings that are supposed to be used with O & S gauge trains look very tiny.
I would rather buy Plasticville than a Laser Art kit, Plasticvill is much easier to work with and don't come with super small pieces that need to be glued into place or take four hours to put a kit together.

Lee F.

[lirrman]

I've read several post where modelers were wondering if 'O' scale buildings were OK to use on an On3 layout.  I'm confused, just because the rails were only 3 feet apart and the trains smaller, what make folks think the buildings were also smaller?  Just asking.
LIRRMAN

[RAM]

O scale is O scale.  The gauge does make a difference.  It may be standard, On3 or On2.  True On3 locomotive and cars are smaller, but the people are the same size.