Among the models I operate frequently are a group that are to varying degrees underscale for OO but overscale for HO. With my recent truck reworking project, it was a good time to reorganize and rework a few of these models.  

One decision I made was that with this group of models the freight cars all be on converted HO trucks, either the roller bearing trucks made by Bill Johann or my Tyco/Mantua converted Bettendorf trucks. They all now roll easily and operate well, with a more consistent look.  

In the photo are seen a sample of these models. I have 9 (!) Diesels that are somewhat underscale for OO but overscale for HO, such as these AHM S-1 models with reworked drives using Athearn parts. Others will be found if you search the category “HO Conversions” in the sidebar.

The following boxcars were cars that were part of a large project some prior modeler started but abandoned, I think because the way he modified Picard bodies (and did not use printed sides) they ended up visually too small. I built one of these up a few years ago, and a couple more recently, but none have ever been seen on this site as they looked disappointing compared to standard OO models, to the extent that I felt they were not usable with full size OO cars. But with defining more clearly a group of slightly underscale models that I run together, in this context they work great.

Finally, in the back is visible a Tyco HO 4 bay covered hopper converted into a 3 bay hopper to represent a somewhat smaller prototype. I have several similar conversions that were done by Bill Johann, more info here. They look OK with full sized OO models but better in the context of the underscale fleet.

As to upcoming projects, I have several more of the undersized Picard bodies from that same vintage builder, and will plan to finish them in the same style. Also, I’ve wanted to work out a RS-1 for many years, and I’ll work on visualizing that out in the same general style, slightly underscale, but as close as I can get to OO.   

And a note to readers — I’m working on it, but the new americanootoday.com site still is not very visible in Google. MANY pages are not indexed, and of those that are some are penalized for not being mobile friendly, clickable elements too close together. I’m working on fixes when I have time. In the meantime, the entire site is completely indexed and very visible in Bing! Consider using Bing for your searches! Seems like they have a better product.