8 replies to this topic

[PCH Parts Express]

Is this item 1/48 scale? 

 

https://www.ebay.com...esAAOxy63FSx2Xp

[Pablo]

I don't know. What I do know is, HO means "half of "O". HO is 1/64 scale.

"O" gauge is different than "HO". The guy to ask is Cheater - he will know because of his train experience 

[Rotorranch]

O gauge is roughly 1/43.  HO is actually 1/87. HO slot cars are approximately 1/64.

 

Rotor

[MattD]

That's not HO track, but you can run HO on it.   It is the 1/48 track Aurora made that ran a little bigger car.   

 

 

[John Streisguth]

Yes, 1/48 scale.  I had a couple of sets in my younger days, including the Gilbert 007 set which used Aurora cars (  )

 The cars were basically stretched HO cars, using the same armature and magnets, just a longer chassis and bigger wheels. The spacing of the conductors on the track were the same as the HO and they used the same guide pins, so you could run the HO cars on the 1/48 track (I had a dragstrip set up with the bigger track).

They never really caught on.

[Phil Smith]

Yes, 1/48 scale.  I had a couple of sets in my younger days, including the Gilbert 007 set which used Aurora cars

 The cars were basically stretched HO cars, using the same armature and magnets, just a longer chassis and bigger wheels. The spacing of the conductors on the track were the same as the HO and they used the same guide pins, so you could run the HO cars on the 1/48 track (I had a dragstrip set up with the bigger track).

They never really caught on.

 

I was thinking that pack of straights would make a good drag strip if it wasn't so over priced.

[Robert BG]

 

I was thinking that pack of straights would make a good drag strip if it wasn't so over priced.

Yeah $500 seems a bit steep for what it is.

[mdiv]

A HO is what is used to grade a freshly rototilled garden.

[don.siegel]

Thanks for that clip John, I don't think I've ever actually seen one of these sets in working order! But I did find the cars recently at a decent price - replacing the missing parts cost me just as much! 

 

I was always a bit curious about these sets because in histories of A.C. Gilbert, they say that the cars were so defective that the returns nearly bankrupted the company. When I saw they used Aurora chassis I was a bit puzzled, since Aurora cars are known for their reliability. But it seems that Gilbert first released the set with their own motors and chassis, and those were the ones that had the problem. I did finally see one or two of these cars on ebay... 

 

When I first started collecting, almost 30 years ago, the Aurora Super Model Motoring cars gave me my first "sticker shock": somebody was asking $400 for a complete set and $200 each for the cars. Couldn't believe it... but over the years realized that these are highly sought after and those are still the prices, or higher in certain cases. PS: that said, this price for the track does seem rather high... like, crazy man, crazy. 

 

Don