I’m loking to put together a Baltimore & Ohio passneger set. Can any one tell me if there’s a “size” difference between the USa Trains Extruded Aluminum passenger cars and those of LGB equivalent? I have a set of LGB F7 ABA and want to know if the USA Trains passenger cars will match behind them? Any thoughts? I’m concerned about both the size (LGS being much bigger) and the color combination not exactly matching.
I appreciate any input or thoughts.
Bill
Bill, I don’t have any LGB coaches, but I can assure you they are shorter than the USA Trains coaches. The latter are pretty close to exact scale in 1/29th. The LGB coaches are shrtened, I believe, and to a ‘rubber’ scale so they fit with the 1/22.5 LGB narrow gauge stuff. I think they might be 1/26th scale? Anyway, they are certainly different lengths and probably different in other dimensions.
Bill Buescher said:
Can any one tell me if there’s a “size” difference between the USa Trains Extruded Aluminum passenger cars and those of LGB equivalent?
HUGE DIFFERENCE
Forgot
Welcome Bill!
As mentioned, huge difference.
The LGB dwarves the USAT.
LGB - left
USAT - right
There are ways around this as discussed here in the past. Honestly though for a smooth streamlined consist sticking with B&O you need to stick with the same manufacturer. “HOWEVER” this is just my opinion and I only post here for count and thanks.
All,
Thank you for the advice. I should have jumped on the USA Trains when they first came out. I see some once in awhile, but seems the LGB show up more often. I’ll start collecting the USA Trains as I think they look more realistic (longer cars). Any one know where I can get a set of USA Trains F3’s in B&O livery?
Ya’ll have a good night.
Bill
Bill, your timing (may be) is impeccable. USA Trains is re-running the coaches and will have 10 sets of 6 road names starting sometime this year. Or so they say. Not sure if the B&O is in the set - maybe someone can find the ad ?
Right now “trainz auctions” has a couple of the LGB B&O passenger cars up for auction.
-Kevin.
Bill,
I personally own the B&O LGB ABA set and I also own the complete LGB passenger set (3 passenger, 1 observation, and 1 vista dome). I also own a B&O USAT RPO car so I can speak from first-hand experience (I had this exact dilemma). The B&O ABA set comes up semi-regularly on the secondary market but it took me considerable time to locate the corresponding LGB coaches. I found the complete 3 car set at the 2015 East Coast Train Show in York, PA. The ABA + 3 car consist looked “chunky” to me, too much motive power in relationship to the consist of 3 coaches. When the opportunity to purchase 2 additional coaches arose, I jumped on the opportunity. When put together, the ABA + 5 coaches make for a gorgeous consist, but it’s MASSIVE so a large layout with a wide radius is suggested. The train will operate on LGB 1100 series track but it looks awful; I recommend LGB series 1600 track. I have a couple pictures posted of the LGB B&O set.
Anyway, I digress. To answer your question, I purchased a B&O USA Trains Railroad Post Office car, thinking I could add it to the LGB set. It looked God-awful. Don’t get me wrong, the USA Trains RPO car is beautifully made and has more detail than the LGB set, but I would NOT suggest mixing and matching in this circumstance. You can get away with mixing/matching USAT and LGB when it comes to freight consists without much of a “scale” issue. I’ll admit, the LGB B&O passenger coaches are difficult to locate and pretty darn expensive. I cannot prove it, but considering how infrequently the B&O passenger cars appear on the secondary market, I would wager LGB produced far less of them than other in other road names like PRR and NYC.
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