If you thought all OO was British and 16.5mm gauge, you were incorrect! Welcome to model railroading in American OO, 1/76 scale (4mm: 1 foot), 19mm (3/4 inch) gauge. While primarily produced between 1934 and 1954, these unique models sized about half way between HO (1/87) and S (1/64) scales by Lionel, Scale-Craft, Nason, Famoco, Schorr, Graceline, J-C, Kemtron, Picard, and many others still fascinate collectors and a few dedicated modelers (“retro-modelers”) today.

This scale is also sometimes referred to in print as American 00 with two zeros, but most sources back in the day and today call it American OO (pronounced “double oh”).

Please note that while the much more popular British OO (or 00) is also built to 1/76 scale (4mm: 1 foot), it is most commonly operated on HO gauge (16.5mm) track. In addition some British modelers use two other related gauges for 1/76 scale models, EM and S4/P4 (noting that American OO was and is always built to run on 19mm track).

American OO is not an early type of HO; it is a completely unique scale and gauge. Also, OO is not another name for O-27! O-27 is a toy train scale; models are O gauge but with bodies that are noticeably under scale (generally closer to S scale than O), built for operation on 27″ diameter toy train curves.

Even though highly collectible pre-war Lionel OO has achieved “honorary toy train” status, especially the three-rail version of this line, products in American OO are scale models and were always aimed at model railroaders. American OO gauge is one of the most affordable of collectible model train scales today and is easier to find for sale than you might think thanks to eBay.

“Never pick a gauge because the others are doing it. Use the gauge you like best.”

Louis Hertz

About this site

This site was launched in 2008, using a free blogger/blogspot platform. By 2021 there were over 800 posts on a variety of topics, many of which were source text for the book. After completion of the book in early 2021, the following summer American OO Today was updated extensively on a new platform, focusing the text in more on materials not found in the book. Explore the site for much more information, and be sure to check out the book on American OO as well.

American OO on social media

For even more on American OO there are several resources on social media.

The number 1 place you should go is the American OO Scale Railroading group on Facebook. The American OO group operates like a traditional forum where members can exchange questions and notes, share current projects, etc. You do have to answer a question to join the group, be sure to answer it! This replaced a Yahoo Email forum that no longer exists.

While you are on Facebook, also “like” the fan page for American OO Today. The screen shot above is from 2012. Back then if you liked a page you always received on your Facebook main page an automatic feed from every new post to American OO Today. Now it is a bit more spotty in generating posts you would see, but still worth the follow.

The newest place to mention is Instagram. What is great about Instagram is you can really focus in on an interest. There you can follow John Ericson @americanootrains for news of his projects and updates to this site.

If you are a Twitter user, also you can follow this site there @oo_american

Finally, consider joining the OO SIG of the NMRA, they produced a traditional newsletter. The webpage with information is here.

About John Ericson

John Ericson has been active in American OO for over 40 years, is a university music professor by profession, and firmly believes everyone needs a hobby.