The difference between OO and HO is nearly identical to the difference between 1:29 and 1:32. There was as legitimate a motivation for OO scale at the time it came about as there was for 1:29 when it came about. Both caught on, and both have become very mainstream pursuits in their own right, even though that original motivation may now be completely moot. So what if they’re not 100% accurate. If you want 100% accuracy, go with HO or 1:32, be happy, and shut up about what others are doing. It has no effect on how you enjoy your own hobby.
Quote:We have the exact same thing in large scale. You can get tie spacing for "proper" 1:32 standard gauge track and "proper" 1:20.3 narrow gauge track (and everything in between), but all our trains--regardless of scale--will roll over it just as easily as the On30, Sn42, OO or HO stuff does on 16.5mm gauge track regardless of the aesthetics of the ties. Sure, an Accucraft K-37 looks absolutely ghastly rolling over track with 1:32 standard gauge ties. They look like toothpicks compared to the locos. Likewise a 1:32 Mallard will look like a toy on Accucraft's 1:20.3 track, but that's merely an aesthetic consideration. In terms of the wheel and track standards, there's no difference. The tie size and spacing doesn't even enter the equation.
... the difference is quite obvious even though the track gauge is the same.
The thing we forget in large scale is that while it’s cool that our trains can operate on others’ railroads built to the same gauge, it’s not imperative that they must. If you want to build a 1:32 railroad, there’s ZERO expectation that you must build it so that I can bring my 1:20.3 K-27 over and run, just as there’d be ZERO expectation that I’d be able to bring my On30 locos over to run on your HO scale railroad. On the other hand, that universality of gauge is what allows our local clubs to be as inclusive as they are. We can set up 500’ of track at a train show and run all scales together, giving the viewer a sense of everything that’s available. Our club just did a show this weekend. I had my 1:20.3 train running alongside a 1:29 train. Yes, the scales were represented together on the same railroad, but no, they weren’t mixed in the same train.
It’s quite simple–in large scale, the gauge came first. That’s the foundation of our particular branch of the hobby. In the smaller scales, the individual scales were there first, and the fact that the track gauges crossed over from one to the next is a matter of convenience. That’s really the only difference, though. We just don’t have cutesy letters associated with each of our scales, nor a bevy of other track gauges associated with each individual scale. That’s the part that continues to baffle the NMRA types. They look at large scale, see 5 different scales, and want to invent 5 complete sets of standards, each with the variations in gauges (-n3, -n2.5, etc.) that exist in the smaller scales. There’s absolutely no reason to do so.
Later,
K
:lol: