027Ted posted:Cool, thanks guys! A friend has a boatload of K-Line he wanted to mail me and I wanted to be sure it will worked as I am O-27 only.
Ted
One point that's worth bringing up that I've learned, somewhat the hard way. In the 1960-80s, my uncle and grandfather had Lionel trains. My grandpa called his O27 Gauge, and my uncle called his O Gauge. In concert with the descriptions above, grandpa had the lower profile O27 track with 27" curves, and my uncle had the higher profile track with 31" curves. Also, as others pointed out above, my uncle was able to run some larger engines like the Virginian Trainmaster and the Santa Fe F3s while my grandpa ran smaller engines like a 2-6-2 steam, NW-2 switcher, a 0-4-0 switcher, and the 4-4-0 General. Both, however, had the Union Pacific FA diesels showing that the "gauge" of the track was common between the two and that O27 engines could run on O Gauge track but not always vice-versa (due to the slightly tighter curves).
Since then, however, the market seems to have adopted the terms Scale and Traditional (some say semi-scale, but others eschew that term). I've made this translation in my mind from old to new terminology:
1. All old O27 stuff and anything marked O27 today fits into Traditional.
2. Most old O Gauge stuff falls into Traditional but may, as before, not run on 27" dia. curves. These will typically need at least 31" curves.
Therefore, O Gauge and O27 are a subset of Traditional.
3. Some old O Gauge items come close or are "scale" per say but purists frequently comment that they're not prototypical in detail and therefore not "scale" by a more exacting definition.
4. Modern "scale" items go for 1:48 scale and precise detail. As a result, many/most are pretty large and require at least 42" or 54" curves, some 72". However, "scale" doesn't necessarily mean BIG, so a small engine in real-life will be small in O Scale and might even run on 27" curves. That's the kicker. There are some scale switchers that do fine on 27" curves. Generally, O Scale products have command control, intricate details, and higher price tags.
That's how I see the market today vis-a-vis 40 years ago when I played toy trains with my uncle and grandpa.
