HO or H0 is a rail transport modelling scale using a 1:87 scale (3.5 mm to 1 foot). It is the most popular scale of model railway in the world. The rails are spaced apart for modelling standard gauge tracks and trains in HO.

NMRA The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) is a non-profit organization for those involved in the hobby or business of model railroading. It was founded in the United States in 1935, and is also active in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom ...

"Modeling Scales: Scale and Gauge
. ''NMRA.org''. December 2000. Retrieved 4 March 2010. The name H0 comes from 1:87 scale being ''half'' that of

0 scale O scale (or O gauge) is a scale commonly used for toy trains and rail transport modelling. Introduced by German toy manufacturer Märklin around 1900, by the 1930s three-rail alternating current O gauge was the most common model railroad scal ...

, which was originally the smallest of the series of older and larger 0, 1, 2 and 3 gauges introduced by

Märklin Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH or Märklin (MÄRKLIN or MAERKLIN in capital letters) is a German toy company. The company was founded in 1859 and is based at Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg. Although it originally specialised in doll house accesso ...

around 1900. Rather than referring to the scale as "half-zero" or "H-zero", English-speakers have consistently pronounced it and have generally written it with the letters HO. In other languages it also remains written with the letter H and number 0 (zero); in German it is thus pronounced as .

History

After the First World War there were several attempts to introduce a model railway about half the size of 0 scale that would be more suitable for smaller home layouts and cheaper to manufacture. H0 was created to meet these aims. For this new scale, a track width of 16.5 mm was designed to represent prototypical standard gauge track, and a model scale of 1:87 was chosen. By as early as 1922 the firm Bing in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, had been marketing a "tabletop railway" for several years. This came on a raised, quasi- ballasted track with a gauge of 16.5 mm, which was described at that time either as 00 or H0. The trains initially had a clockwork drive, but from 1924 were driven electrically. Accessory manufacturers, such as Kibri, marketed buildings in the corresponding scale. At the 1935 Leipzig Spring Fair, an electric tabletop railway, Trix Express, was displayed to a gauge described as "half nought gauge", which was then abbreviated as gauge 00 ("nought-nought").

, another German firm, followed suit with its 00 gauge railway for the 1935 Leipzig Autumn Fair. The Märklin 00 gauge track that appeared more than ten years after Bing's tabletop railway had a very similar appearance to the previous Bing track. On the Märklin version, however, the rails were fixed to the tin 'ballast' as in the prototype, whilst the Bing tracks were simply stamped into the ballast, so that track and ballast were made of a single sheet of metal. HO scale trains elsewhere were developed in response to the economic pressures of the Great Depression. The trains first appeared in the United Kingdom, originally as an alternative to 00 gauge, but could not make commercial headway against the established 00 gauge. However, it became very popular in the United States, where it took off in the late 1950s after interest in model railroads as toys began to decline and more emphasis began to be placed on realism in response to hobbyist demand. While HO scale is by nature more delicate than 0 scale, its smaller size allows modelers to fit more details and more scale track distance into a comparable area. In the 1950s HO began to challenge the market dominance of 0 gauge and, in the 1960s, as it began to overtake 0 scale in popularity, even the stalwarts of other sizes, including Marx and

Lionel Corporation Lionel Corporation was an American toy manufacturer and holding company of retailers that had been in business for over 120 years. It was founded as an electrical novelties company. Lionel specialized in various products throughout its existence. ...

began manufacturing HO trains. Today, HO locomotives,

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can ...

(cars or carriages), buildings, and scenery are available from a large number of manufacturers in a variety of price brackets.

Standards

Scale

HO is the most popular model railroad scale in both continental Europe and North America, whereas

OO scale OO gauge or OO scale (also, 00 gauge and 00 scale) is the most popular standard-gauge model railway standard in the United Kingdom, outside of which it is virtually unknown. OO gauge is one of several 4 mm-scale standards (4 mm to 1 foot, ...

(4 mm:foot or 1:76.2 with 16.5 mm track) is still dominant in the United Kingdom. There are some modellers in the United Kingdom who model in HO scale and the British 1:87 Scale Society was formed in 1994. In Continental Europe, H0 scale is defined in the ' (NEM) standard "NEM 010" published by

MOROP MOROP is a European association that federates national associations of railroad and model railroad enthusiasts. MOROP was founded in Genoa, Italy by Italo Briano in 1954, and now has its headquarters in Bern, Switzerland. In 2006, MOROP federate ...

as exactly 1:87. In North America, the

National Model Railroad Association The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) is a non-profit organization for those involved in the hobby or business of model railroading. It was founded in the United States in 1935, and is also active in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom ...

(NMRA) standard "S-1.2 General Standard Scales" defines HO scale as representing a ratio of , usually rounded to 1:87.1. The precise definition of HO scale thus varies slightly by country and manufacturer. Mercedes-O302-Joy Toy

In other hobbies, the term HO is often used more loosely than in railroad modeling. In slot car racing, HO does not denote a precise scale of car, but a general size of track on which the cars can range from 1:87 to approximately 1:64 scale. Small plastic model soldiers are often popularly referred to as HO size if they are close to high, though the actual scale is usually 1:76 or 1:72. Even in model railroading, the term HO can be stretched. Some British producers have marketed railway accessories such as detail items and figures, as "HO/OO" in an attempt to make them attractive to modelers in both scales. Sometimes the actual scale is OO, and sometimes the difference is split (about 1:82). These items may be marketed as HO, especially in the US. In addition, some manufacturers or importers tend to label any small-scale model, regardless of exact scale, as HO scale in order to increase sales to railroad modelers. The sizes of "HO" automobiles, for example, can vary greatly between different manufacturers.

Power and control

Model locomotives are fitted with small motors that are wired to pick up power from the rails. As with other scales, HO trains can be controlled in either analog or digital fashions. With analog control, two-rail track is powered by

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or eve ...

(varying the

voltage Voltage, also known as electric pressure, electric tension, or (electric) potential difference, is the difference in electric potential between two points. In a static electric field, it corresponds to the work needed per unit of charge to ...

applied to the rails to control

speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (ma ...

, and polarity to control direction). With digital control, such as

Digital Command Control Digital Command Control (DCC) is a standard for a system to operate model railways digitally. When equipped with Digital Command Control, locomotives on the same electrical section of track can be independently controlled. The DCC protocol is de ...

(DCC) or proprietary systems such as the one developed by

, digital commands are encoded at the controller and received by any decoders receiving power from the track. Digital control allows independent control of each locomotive's speed and direction as well as functions not easily achieved with analog control such as reactive sound and lighting effects, integration of auxiliary decoders and automation. The basic power and control system consists of a power pack of a

transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...

and rectifier (DC), a

rheostat A potentiometer is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding or rotating contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used, one end and the wiper, it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat. The measuring instrume ...

. On large model layouts, the power system may consist of several signal boosters, control interfaces, switch panels and more. Trackage may be divided into electrically isolated sections called blocks and toggle or rotary switches (sometimes relays) are used to select which tracks are energized. Blocking trackage also allows the detection of locomotives within the block through the measurement of current draw.

Track

The "

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, ...

" of a rail system is the distance between the inside edges of the railheads. It is distinct from the concept of "scale", though the terms are often used interchangeably in rail modelling. "Scale" describes the size of a modeled object relative to its prototype. Prototype rail systems use a variety of track gauges, so several different gauges can be modeled at the same scale. The gauges used in HO scale are a selection of

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

and narrow gauges. The standards for these gauges are defined by the

(in North America) and the

NEM Nem (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: món nem) refers to various dishes in Vietnamese cuisine, Vietnamese, depending on the locality. Nem may refer to: *Nem rán, known in foreign countries as spring rolls, fried rolls or Vietnamese Imperial r ...

(in Continental Europe). While the standards are in practice interchangeable, there are minor differences.

Construction

The earliest "pre-gauged" track available in the 1940s had steel rails clipped to a fiber tie base. This was called flexible track as it could be "flexed" around any curve in a continuous fashion. The sections were sold in lengths of , and the rail ends were connected with a sheet metal track connector that was soldered to the base of the rail. As brass became more readily available, the steel rail was phased out, along with its corrosion problems. Brass flex-track continued to be available long after sectional track was introduced, as the three-foot lengths of rail reduced the number of joints. The biggest disadvantage of flex-track was that it had to be fastened to a roadbed. In the late 1940s, Tru-Scale made milled wood roadbed sections, simulating ballast, tie plates and milled ties with a gauged, grooved slot with simulated tie plates. Bulk HO code 100 rail was spiked in place with HO spikes. This was available in straight lengths and curves, from radius. It was up to the user to stain the wood for the tie colors prior to laying the brass track, and then adding scale ballast between the ties. Tru-Scale made preformed wood roadbed sections, simulating ballast, that the flextrack would be fastened with tiny steel spikes. These spikes were shaped much like real railroad spikes, and were fitted through holes pre-drilled in the fiber flextrack ties base. An improvement was made when "sectional track" became available in a variety of standardized lengths, such as the ubiquitous straight and curved tracks of , , and radii. These are representative of curves as tight as , which in the real world would only be found on some industrial spurs and light rail systems. Sectional track was an improvement in setting up track on a living room floor because the rail was attached to a rigid plastic tie base, and could withstand rough handling from children and pets without suffering much damage. With flex track, which can be bent to any desired shape (within reason), it became possible to create railroads with broader curves, and with them more accurate models. Individual rails are available for those that wish to spike their own rails to ties. Individual ties can be glued to a sound base, or pre-formed tie and ballast sections milled from wood can be used for a more durable, if somewhat artificially uniform, look is preferred. There are a variety of preassembled track sections made by Märklin using their three-rail system (where the third rail are actually studs protruding from the center of the rail tie). This trackwork is a little bulkier looking than true to scale, but it is considered quite trouble-free, and is preferred by many that are interested in reducing much of the operational problems that come with HO scale railroading. As with other preformed track, it is also available in several radius configurations. Generally speaking, very-sharp-radius curves are only suitable for single-unit operation, such as trolley cars, or for short-coupled cars and locos such as found around industrial works. Longer wheelbase trucks (bogies) and longer car and loco overhangs require the use of broader radius curves. Today many six-axle diesels and full-length passenger cars will not run on curves less than in radius. HO scale track was originally manufactured with steel rails on fiber ties, then brass rail on fiber ties, then

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...

rail on

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

tie. Over time, track made of

nickel silver Nickel silver, Maillechort, German silver, Argentan, new silver, nickel brass, albata, alpacca, is a copper alloy with nickel and often zinc. The usual formulation is 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc. Nickel silver does not contain the eleme ...

(an alloy of nickel and brass) became more common due to its superior resistance to corrosion. Today, almost all HO scale track is of nickel silver, although Bachmann, Life-Like and Model Power continue to manufacture steel track. In America,

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...

gained an early lead in track manufacturing, and their sectional, flex, and turnout track dominates the US market. In the UK, Peco's line of flex track and "Electrofrog" (powered

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...

) and "Insulfrog" (insulated frog) turnouts are more common. Atlas, Bachmann, and

Life-Like Life-Like was a manufacturer of model trains and accessories. In 1960, the company purchased the assets of the defunct Varney Scale Models and began manufacturing model trains and accessories under the name Life-Like in 1970. In 2005 the parent co ...

all manufacture inexpensive, snap-together track with integral roadbed. Kato also manufactures a full line of "HO Unitrack"; however, it has not yet caught on as their

N scale N scale is a popular model railway scale. Depending upon the manufacturer (or country), the scale ranges from 1:148 to 1:160. In all cases, the ''gauge'' (the distance between the rails) is . The term N ''gauge'' refers to the track dimensions, ...

Unitrack has. Rail height is measured in thousandths of an inch; "code 83" track has a rail which is high. As HO's commonly available rail sizes, especially the popular "code 100", are somewhat large (representative of extremely heavily trafficked lines), many modelers opt for hand-laid finescale track with individually laid wooden sleepers and crossties and rails secured by very small railroad spikes. In Australia, many club-owned layouts employ code 100 track so that club members can also run OO-scale models and older rolling stock with coarse (deep) wheel flanges.

Couplers

A hook-and-loop coupler originally developed by Märklin became an

standard and is still widely used. More recently, manufacturers, including Fleischmann and Märklin, developed close couplers that on straight track have the buffers almost touching, more like the prototype. On curves a sliding mechanism allows the couplers to move away from the buffer frame providing the additional clearance necessary. Most couplers provide pre-uncoupling, whereby a train may reverse over a raised uncoupler and some time later change direction leaving the train (or selected cars) behind. Another NEM standard is the coupler pocket, which the individual coupler slots into. The majority of models provide this pocket, meaning that it is very simple to exchange one coupler type for another, or to replace damaged couplers. In North America, all train sets/kits used to come with the "X2F" or "Horn Hook" coupler until

Kadee Kadee Quality Products Co. is a model railroad manufacturer. They are best known for their couplers, but also produce rolling stock and accessories. The coupler line covers HO and larger scales, but not N scale. Kadee Quality Products was establ ...

came out with the No. 5 coupler. After Kadee's patent ran out, other manufacturers made duplicates of the KD No. 5 until KD brought out the scale-accurate No. 58 coupler, and everyone else followed suit.

Models

Because of the scale's popularity, a huge array of models, kits and supplies are manufactured. The annual HO scale catalog by

Wm. K. Walthers Wm. K. Walthers, Inc. is a manufacturer and distributor of model railroad supplies and tools. History Wm. K. Walthers, Inc., was founded in Milwaukee in 1932—though it started years earlier when seven-year-old William K. (Bill) Walthers got ...

, North America's largest model railroad supplier, lists more than 1,000 pages of products in that scale alone. Models are generally available in three varieties: * ''Ready-to-run'' models are fully ready for use right out of the box. Generally, this means couplers, trucks ( bogies), and other integral parts are installed at the factory, although some super detailing parts may still need to be attached. * ''Shake-the-box'' kits are simple, easy-to-assemble kits; a freight car might include a one-piece body, a chassis, trucks, couplers, and a weight, while a structure kit might include walls, windows, doors, and glazing. The name derives from the joke that no skill was required – shake the box, and the kit falls together. A common synonym is ''screwdriver kit'' as many can be assembled with a screwdriver and tweezers. * ''Craftsman kits'' require a much higher level of skill to assemble and can include several hundred parts. In addition to these kits, numerous manufacturers sell individual supplies for super detailing,

scratch building Scratch building is the process of building a scale model "from scratch", i.e. from raw materials, rather than building it from a commercial kit, kitbashing or buying it pre-assembled. Scratch building is easiest if original plans of the subj ...

, and kitbashing. Quality varies extremely. Toylike, ready-to-run trains using plastic molds which are well over 50 years old are still sold; at the other are highly detailed limited-edition locomotive models made of brass by companies based in Japan and South Korea. A popular locomotive such as the F7/ F9 may be available in thirty different versions with prices ranging from twenty to several thousand dollars or euros.

Comparison to other scales

HO scale's popularity lies somewhat in its middle-of-the-road status. It is large enough to accommodate a great deal of detail in finer models, more so than the smaller N and Z scales, and can also be easily handled by children. Models are usually less expensive than the smaller scales because of more exacting manufacturing process in N and Z, and also less expensive than S, O and G scales because of the smaller amount of material; the larger market and the resultant economy of scale also drives HO prices down. The size lends itself to elaborate track plans in a reasonable amount of room space, not as much as N but considerably more than S or 0. In short, HO scale provides the balance between the detail of larger scales and the lower space requirements of smaller scales.

Manufacturers

Currently active significant manufacturers and marketers of HO railroad equipment as of 2009, include, but are not limited to: *

ABR Model Works Abr or ABR may refer to: Technology * Available Bit Rate, a service used in ATM networks * Average bitrate, the average amount of data transferred per second * Area border router, in the Open Shortest Path First protocol * Adaptive bit rate, a me ...

* Accurail * Acme Model Engineering Co. * Albrae Models * Arlo *

Athabasca Scale Models Athabasca (also Athabaska) is an anglicized version of the Cree language, Cree name for Lake Athabasca in Canada, āthap-āsk-ā-w (pronounced ), meaning "grass or reeds here and there". Most places named Athabasca are found in Alberta, Canada. A ...

Athearn Athearn is a United States manufacturer of model railroad equipment, produced and distributed by American hobby manufacturer Horizon Hobby, Inc. of Champaign, Illinois. History In 1938 Irvin Athearn built a detailed O scale model railroad layout ...

* *Auhagen * Auscision * Austrains *AWM *

Bachmann Industries Bachmann Industries (Bachmann Brothers, Inc.) is a Bermuda-registered, Chinese-owned company, globally headquartered in Hong Kong; specialising in model railroading. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the home of its North American headqu ...

* BGR Group * *

Blackstone Models (HOn3) Blackstone may refer to: People * Charles Blackstone (born 1977), fiction writer * Elliott Blackstone (1924–2006), former police sergeant and LGBT advocate * Gay Blackstone (born 1952), widow of Harry Blackstone, Jr. * Harriet Blackstone (186 ...

* Blair Line * BLMA Models *

Bowser Manufacturing Bowser Manufacturing is a United States manufacturer of model railroad equipment, located in Montoursville, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1946 by Bill Bowser in Redlands, California, he used his skill as a machinist to design and produce one of the fir ...

* Brawa * Brekina *

Broadway Limited Imports Broadway Limited Imports, LLC (BLI) designs and manufactures limited-run HO scale and N scale model railroad locomotives and rolling stock. BLI products, produced in extremely limited quantities, are equipped with Digital Command Control decoders a ...

*Busch *

Campbell Scale Models Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television n ...

* Century Foundry * Electrotren (part of Hornby) *ESU (Electronic Solutions Ulm) *Eureka *Exactrail * Faller * Fleischmann (part of Modelleisenbahn GmbH) * Frateschi * Fulgurex *

HAG HAG is a Swiss maker of model trains. The company was founded by Hugo and Alwin Gahler on 1 April 1944 in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The Gahler brothers originally manufactured model trains in O scale but due to competition, particularly by Märk ...

* Heki *

Heljan Heljan A/S is a Danish model railway company based in Søndersø. Originally specialising in decorations and accessories for model railways, it has now also developed a substantial range of rolling stock. It has diversified into modelling the Br ...

* Herpa *

Hodgdon Scale Models Hodgdon is a rural town in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The town borders the province of New Brunswick, Canada to the east and Houlton to the north. Hodgdon's population was 1,290 at the 2020 census. History Hodgdon was incorporate ...

Hornby Railways Hornby Railways is a British model railways manufacturing company. Its roots date back to 1901 in Liverpool, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, ...

* Hunterline Craftsman Kits * Ibertren * InterMountain Railway * IHC *

Island Modelworks An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

Jouef Jouef is a French brand and former manufacturing company specialized in scale model railroads. The brand name is currently owned by Hornby. Apart from model railroads, the company also produced model cars and slot cars. History Manufacturer G ...

(part of Hornby) *

* Kanamodel Products *

Kato Precision Railroad Models is a Japanese manufacturer of model railroad equipment in N and HO scales. Founded in 1957, the Tokyo-based company manufactures models based on Japanese prototypes (such as the Shinkansen bullet train) for the Japanese market, North American p ...

Katsumi Trains is a common Japanese given name used by either sex. Possible writings Katsumi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: ;as a given name *克己, "overcome, self/oneself" *克巳, "overcome, sixth earthly branch" *克美, "ov ...

* Kibri *

Kleinbahn The term ''Kleinbahn'' (literally 'small railway', plural: ''Kleinbahnen'') was a light railway concept used especially in Prussia for a railway line that "on account of its low importance for general railway transport" had less strict requirements ...

Lemaco Lemaco is a brass model railway rolling stock manufacturer based in Switzerland. Lemaco produces models at almost any scale, like HO scale, O scale, N scale, 1 gauge and 2 gauge. History After 30 years spent at Fulgurex, Urs Egger (businessman), ...

* Liliput (part of Bachmann) *

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

— bankrupt in 2004, now part of Hornby *

Lionel, LLC Lionel, LLC is an American designer and importer of toy trains and model railroads that is headquartered in Concord, North Carolina. Its roots lie in the 1969 purchase of the Lionel product line from the Lionel Corporation by cereal conglomerat ...

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

* Mehano *

Micro Metakit Micro may refer to: Measurement * micro- (μ), a metric prefix denoting a factor of 10−6 Places * Micro, North Carolina, town in U.S. People * DJ Micro, (born Michael Marsicano) an American trance DJ and producer *Chii Tomiya (都宮ちい ...

* Model Power *

MTH Electric Trains MTH Electric Trains is an American toy train and model railroad designer, importer, and manufacturer. A privately held company based in Columbia, Maryland, MTH was formerly known as Mike's Train House. Early career MTH's founder, Mike Wolf, start ...

* MRmatiX * Noch * NMJ *

Norev Norev is a French manufacturer of die-cast scale model cars. traditionally based in Villeurbanne, a suburb of Lyon. It has normally produced modern and vintage European vehicles, especially those of French origin – though Italian, German, Briti ...

* Northwest Short Line (NWSL) * Peco *

PIKO Piko (stylized PIKO, pronounced "peek-oh") is a German model train brand in Europe that also exports to the United States and other parts of the world. History Founded in 1949, PIKO was once a state-owned enterprise in the German Democratic R ...

* Powerline Models * Precision Craft Models * Preiser *Rapido Trains * Rietze *

Rivarossi Rivarossi is an Italian manufacturers of model railways. In 2004 it was acquired by Hornby Railways. History Rivarossi was founded in 1945 by Alessandro Rossi and Antonio Riva. In the 1990s Rivarossi acquired Lima (1992), Jouef and Arnold (1997 ...

(part of Hornby) *

Roco Roco, based in Salzburg, Austria, is a manufacturer of model railway equipment. History The company was founded in 1960 by Ing. Heinz Rössler and started with a plastic Minitanks series of military vehicles. After export to the USA became succ ...

(part of Modelleisenbahn GmbH) *ScaleTrains * SoundTraxx * Spectrum (trains) (part of Bachmann) *Stewart Hobbies *Spark * Summit USA *Tenshodo *

Tillig Tillig (''TILLIG Modellbahnen GmbH & Co. KG'') is a German model railroad manufacturing company based in Sebnitz, Saxony. Tillig is the largest manufacturer of TT scale model railroad products in the world. Previously known as Zeuke (founded i ...

* Trix (part of the Märklin group) * TMI Digital * Tyco *VK * Viessmann * Vollmer (company) * Wiking *

Woodland Scenics Woodland Scenics, along with its PineCar and Scene-A-Rama divisions, manufactures model scenery, gravity-driven pinewood racecars and educational arts and crafts. The company was founded in 1975 by David Osment, the owner/operator of the architect ...

Significant historical manufacturers and marketers of HO equipment that are no longer active in HO, include *

Airfix Airfix is a British brand and former manufacturing company which produced injection-moulded plastic scale model kits. In the U.K., the name 'Airfix' is synonymous with plastic models of this type, often simply referred to as "an airfix kit" even ...

American Railroad Models (American Beauty) American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

* Aristo-Craft *

Associated Hobby Manufacturers (AHM) Associated may refer to: *Associated, former name of Avon, Contra Costa County, California * Associated Hebrew Schools of Toronto, a school in Canada *Associated Newspapers, former name of DMG Media, a British publishing company See also *Associati ...

Aurora Plastics Corporation The Aurora Plastics Corporation was an American toy and hobby manufacturing company. It is known primarily for its production of plastic scale models of cars, airplanes, and TV and movie figures in the 1960s. Its principal competition in modelin ...

*Balboa * L.M. Cox *Globe * Gützold (bankrupt in 2004) *Herkimer *Kembel * Ken Kidder * Lindberg Models * Lindsay Products *

Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

* Olympic Express *

Pacific Fast Mail (PFM) The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Penn Line Manufacturing Penn Line Manufacturing was a United States manufacturer of model railroad equipment, produced in Boyertown, Pennsylvania. History The company was founded in 1947 by Albert M. Mercer, K. Linwood Stauffer and Robert Faust, hobbyists who believed ...

* Powerline Models *

Revell Revell GmbH is an American-origin manufacturer of plastic scale models, currently based in Bünde. The original Revell company merged with Monogram in 1986, becoming "Revell-Monogram". The business operated until 2007, when American Revell was ...

* Sachsenmodelle (bankrupt in 2001, acquired by Tillig group) *

Selley Selley is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Harry Selley (1871–1960), English politician *Ian Selley (born 1974), English footballer and coach *Tal Selley (born 1980), Welsh rugby union player See also

*Seeley (surname) *S ...

* Train Miniature *

Trains Unlimited In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

* Trainorama * Tru-Scale *

True Line Trains True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality. True may also refer to: Places * True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States * ...

Trumpeter Models The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...

Tyco Toys Tyco Toys was an American toy manufacturer. It was acquired by Mattel in 1997. History Founding Mantua Metal Products was a Woodbury Heights, New Jersey, metalworks business founded in 1926 by John Tyler and family. In the 1930s Mantua began ...

*Ulrich *

Varney Scale Models Varney Scale Models was founded in 1936 by Gordon Varney, an early pioneer in manufacturing HO scale model trains. The development of a reliable 6-volt motor made it possible to produce model locomotives capable of pulling long trains. The company ...

References

External links

Layout Tours A-L
an

Tony Cook's HO-Scale Trains Resource
Includes separate Web sites for many classic and contemporary HO-scale model train product lines of the past; online catalog resources; plus links to current manufacturers. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ho Scale Model railroad scales Scale model scales