0 gauge had its heyday when model railroads were considered toys, with more emphasis placed on cost, durability, and the ability to be easily handled and operated by pre-adult hands. Detail and realism were secondary concerns, at best.
In the United States, 0 gauge remains a popular choice for hobbyists who enjoy running trains more than they enjoy other aspects of modeling, and collecting vintage 0 gauge trains is also popular. A number of changes in recent years have addressed the concerns of scale model railroaders, making 0 scale more popular.
The differences in the various 0 gauge and 0 scale standards often confuse newcomers.
0 gauge and 0 scale
0 scale refers to models that are either built to 1:43 scale, 7 mm:1 foot (1:43.5), 1:45 scale, or 1:48 scale. They can run on realistic looking two-rail track using direct current, or on a center third power rail or a center stud supply system. If modeling such a system, an external third rail or overhead supply may be employed. The height and spacing of the rails is not true to scale. Two-rail O gauge is more popular in Europe, while alternating current powered three-rail is more popular in the USA.
0 gauge refers to tracks that are 11⁄4 in (32 mm) apart.
However, the two phrases are often also used interchangeably, albeit erroneously.
When used as a narrow gauge track, 0 gauge allows scales of 1:32 representing 1,000 mm (3 ft 3⅜ in) gauge track. 1:20 representing 600 mm (1 ft 11⅝ in) narrow gauge railways.
0-27 gauge
0-27 gauge is a variant whose origins are slightly unclear. Some historians attribute its creation to A. C. Gilbert Company's American Flyer, but Ives Manufacturing Company used 0-27 track in its entry-level sets at least a decade before Gilbert bought Flyer.
The modern standard for 0-27, however, was formalized after 1938 by Gilbert, who scaled the locomotives and rolling stock at 3/16 inches to the foot, or 1:64. After World War II, this practice was continued by Louis Marx and Company, who used it throughout its product line,and Lionel, who used it for its entry-level trains. 0-27 track is spaced at the same width as regular 0 gauge track, but is slightly shorter in height and has thinner rails than traditional 0 gauge track. A shim underneath the 0-27 track enables the use of 0 and O-27 track together.
The O-27 name comes from the size of the track's curves. A circle made of eight pieces of standard curved O gauge track will have a 31 inch (787 mm) diameter. A circle made of 8 pieces of curved O-27 track is smaller, with a 27 inch (686 mm) diameter. Full-sized O cars sometimes have difficulty negotiating the tighter curves of an O-27 layout. Although the smaller, tin lithographed cars by American Flyer, Marx, and others predate the formal O-27 standard, they are also often called O-27 because they also operate flawlessly on O-27 track.
The Lionel Corporation is arguably the most famous producer of O-27 track & trains. Its tubular rail is a symbol of the tinplate era. Even today, it offers more or less every price range, from a $2 section of O-27 tubular straight track to a multi-thousand dollar 1:48 scale train sets. Today, it is Lionel, LLC
Die-cast metal models compatible with 0 scale
Many manufacturers produce die-cast models of trucks, cars, buses, construction equipment and other vehicles in scales compatible with or similar to 0 scale model trains. These are available in 1:43 scale, 1:48 scale and 1:50 scale. Manufacturers include Conrad, NZG, Corgi and many others. These are popular with collectors and easy to find.
Corgi's Bassett Lowke 0 gauge scale trains are planned for a re-launch in 2007 and a new range of detailed locos, goods wagons and accessories will soon be announced via the Corgi website.
Exact scale standards
Dissatisfaction with these standards led to a more accurate standard for wheels and track, called Proto:48. This duplicates to exact scale the AAR track and wheel standards.
The track gauge normally used for 0 — 32 mm or the near-approximation 1¼ in — is correct for British 0 but not American. The difference between the two also explains why H0 is 1:87 - it is 3.5 mm to the foot, half of British 0, but is not extensively used to model British prototypes, which are mainly 4mm to the foot (double-O or OO).
Possibly because of the large size of American railroad systems, accurate scale modeling in standard gauge 0 gauge is rare in the United States, though narrow gauge modeling is much more common.
Four common narrow gauge standards exist, and the differences among 0n3, 0n2, 0n30, and 0n18 are frequent sources of confusion. 0n3 is exact-scale 1:48 modeling of 3 foot (914 mm) gauge prototypes, while 0n30 is 1:48 modeling of 30 inch (762 mm) gauge prototypes, 0n2 is 1:48 modeling of 2 foot (610 mm) gauge prototypes, and 0n18 is 1:48 modeling of 18 inch (457 mm) gauge prototypes. 0n30 is also sometimes called 0n2½.
Because 0n30's gauge closely matches that of H0 scale, 0n30 equipment typically runs on standard H0 scale track. 0n30 is considered by many to be the fastest growing segment of the model railroad hobby in general, and while many 0n30 modelers scratchbuild their equipment, commercial offerings in 0n30 are fairly common and sometimes very inexpensive, with Bachmann Industries being the most commonly found manufacturer. Bachmann's 0n30 trains are sometimes sold side by side with the company's H0 offerings.
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