What scale is this train layout in?

[chnhrr]

This picture was posted on a website that I am a member of - Shorpy. The photo dates from around 1942. There are some member comments about whether the scale of the boy’s train set is S-scale or HO. I thinks it’s S. Any thoughts?

Link
http://www.shorpy.com/node/15167

[Roger Hensley]

I would have said S. However, looking at the track, it looks like Marx HO track. I now think that it is HO. I also think that the date on the photo may be wrong by a few years.

[Aa3rt]

I think the date of the photo may be correct. These appear to be Lionel OO scale trains that were produced briefly prior to World War II. OO scale is popular in Great Britain but never seemed to catch on here in North America. Here's a link to some Lionel OO scale equipment (With a lot of other stuff intermingled), see if this looks like the Shorpy photo:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=lio ... FORM=IGRE#

According to this writeup at Wikipedia, Lionel only produced OO gauge trains from 1938-1942:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OO_gauge

A brief article from Collector's Weekly that may be of interest:

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/model-trains/ooscale

[CNJ999]

Perhaps surprising to some, what are shown in the photo are indeed HO models and the photo certainly could date from 1942 . The locomotive is clearly identifiable as a pre-war two-rail Gilbert (American Flyer) HO Hudson. A dead give away are the distinctly over-sized rivets on the tender, the makers of the OO Lionel Hudson having exhibited decidedly more attention to scale representation on their model. Gilbert produced essentially the only ready-to-run large HO road locomotive of wide availability prior to the coming of WWII, the locomotive being extremely popular among hobbyists of the period, together with the Mantua and Varney 0-4-0 yard goats. The pre-war version of the engine operated on 6-volts, while the post-war example, hugely popular during the model railroading craze of the 1950's, was a 12-volt item like today's. Likewise, the caboose shown is recognizable as a Gilbert NE-type model. Most of the others are also likely Gilbert products of the immediate pre-war era.

CNJ999