Hawthorne village Mustang engine

[Trains4mark]

I have an engine from Hawthorne Village that say Bachmann on the bottom. The engine does not indicate a scale. The engine says Mustang on it. The inner width of the wheels of the engine is 9/16. Please help me identify the scale of this train...

[Jerrys HO]

Mark,

Hawthorne Village are usually HO scale. See the link that I GOOGLED and it should match the one you have.

http://www.bradfordexchange.com/products/917306_mustang-train.html

These sets are way over priced IMHO.

Jerry

[Doneldon]

Mark-

I think some of the Hawthorne trains are On30 and some (the earlier ones) are HO. Unfortunately, they both run on the same track which is, as you measured, roughly 9/16" between the backs of the wheels. However, you can still make the scale determination.

"O" scale is 1:48 while "HO" (nominally "half-O") is 1:87. So even though they both run on the same track, the trains themselves are very different in size. "HO" trains are about 1.75" high, not counting the track or roadbed, approximately scale 12-13 feet high. Some equipment is a little bigger but almost no "HO" models are more than two inches high (about 14.5 scale feet). "O" trains are more like 3.0" to 3.25" high, or about 12 to 13 scale feet. You won't find taller On30 trains because their narrow gauge prototypes (the real, full-size trains) on which the On30 models were comparatively small.

I hope this helps.
                                -- D

[Terry Toenges]

But Jerry - They are "heirloom quality".

[Doneldon]

But Jerry - They are "heirloom quality".

Yeah, right.

       -- D

[mabloodhound]

Jerry, that link you provided says the cars are On30 that run on HO track.   Most Hawthorne village trains are On30 but of course that could be a typo on their website as it does look HO to me.

Yes, overpriced but it is what got me back into the hobby when my wife bought me a set a number of years ago.

[jward]

there are certain words which automatically make me hold onto my wallet: collectable, heirloom quality, vintage, gourmet, upscale, premium, etc.

whenever I see those words it tells me they are trying to misrepresent the actual value of the items for sale.