 |
Business | Industries | Finance | Tax |
| Index: > A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
|
|||||
| First Prev [ 1 2 3 ] Next Last |
In Britain, O gauge equipment is produced at a scale of 1:43, which is 7 mm to the foot (using the common British practice of modelling in metric prototypes originally produced using Imperial measurements). It's often called 7 mm scale for this reason.
Although toy trains were historically produced to this scale, O gauge's popularity in Europe and Britain died out after World War II, and the standard is rarer than in the United States. Modeling in O gauge in fact almost died out in Britain but enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s as modelers developed a new appreciation for the level of accurate detailing possible in this scale. Few ready to run models are produced in this scale; most are available only as kits for assembly by the modeller or a professional model-builder. O gauge is considered an expensive scale to model in, although the necessarily smaller scope of a larger-scaled layout mitigates this to some extent. The two dominant British manufacturers, Bassett-Lowke and Hornby, ceased production of O gauge trains in 1965 and 1969, respectively. However, Ace Trains and a revived Bassett-Lowke are once again producing tinplate O gauge sets, many of them reproductions of classic Hornby and Bassett-Lowke designs.
A similar situation exists in Europe, although the market revolves less around kits and more around expensive handbuilt metal models for the deep-pocketed collector. Additionally, Czech Republic-based Electric Train Systems started manufacturing and selling lithographed tin 1:45 scale trains in 1991, citing O scale's advantages over smaller sizes for non-permanent floor layouts and outdoor layouts. The Spanish company Paya produces a smaller line of tinplate trains, based on designs dating back to 1906.
A finescale version of British 7 mm O gauge exists, called ScaleSeven (S7).
The british 1:43 rail scale gave birth to series of Die Cast cars and Model commercial vehicles of the same scale which gradually grew in popularity and spread to France, the rest of Europe and North America at the same time that the rail models were becoming less popular.
Between 1951 and 1969, a limited number of O gauge train sets were manufactured in the Soviet Union. Utilizing the same track and voltage as their U.S. counterparts, the colorful locomotives and cars resembled pre- World War II designs from U.S. manufacturers Lionel and American Flyer and the couplers were nearly identical to those of pre-war American Flyer. Some differences in U.S. and Soviet railroading were evident from comparing the Soviet sets with U.S. sets, particularly in the design of the boxcar, which looked like an American Flyer boxcar with windows added, reflecting the Soviets' use of box cars to haul livestock, as well as merchandise.
Much like their American counterparts, Soviet O gauge trains were toys, rather than precision-scaled models.
Model railroad scales| Politics | Business | Finance |
 |
 |
 |