OO gauge is the most popular model railway scale used by hobbyists in the UK. It offers a variety of benefits in that the models are generally easy to handle and it's also possible for the average modeller to achieve an excellent level of realism. In this blog post, we will explore the basics of OO gauge, including its size, scale, and terminology.
What is OO gauge?
In the modelmaking world, it's often referred to as 4mm scale, which means that one foot (12 inches) in the real world is equal to 4mm (or 0.16 inches) in the model world. OO gauge is also commonly referred to as “double O" and “OO scale” because of its equivalent scale ratio which is 1:76. Put simply, to convert a real-life measurement to its miniature equivalent, divide the real-life measurement by 76.
How big is It?
To work out how tall a 6ft person would be in OO gauge, we can do a quick calculation. Since 1 foot in real life equals 4mm in OO gauge, a 6ft person would be 24mm tall in the model world (6x4mm). This means that if you were to stand a 24mm model figure next to a locomotive in this scale, it would look like a 6ft person standing next to a real train.
Real locomotives are generally 13ft tall, making a locomotive 52mm tall from the top of the rails to the highest point on the top of the loco. image below illustrates the height of a 1:76 scale figure next to a locomotive.
Why is it so popular?
A significant reason why OO gauge is popular among model railway enthusiasts is the wide range of products available in this scale. Many manufacturers including ourselves produce rolling stock, locomotives, buildings, and accessories that are specifically designed for 4mm scale layouts. This means that enthusiasts have a vast range of options to choose from when building their model railway layouts.