Polar Express Train Set In O-gauge

The Hollywood award winning movie The Polar Express was and still is a huge success. To capitalize on this success Lionel Trains were quick to release two versions of the Polar Express train set.

Well needless to say this created quite a stir and confusion with customers wanting one. The Lionel train enthusiasts and collectors did not have a problem but the everyday buyers did. Why? Of the two versions there is quite a price difference between the two for even more confusion.

Well there is no real reason to be confused the simplest explanation is there are two gauges the O-gauge made of metal and the G-gauge made of plastic. So of course the metal will be the model that costs more money.

For those people that would like to know a little more there is indeed more to the story. The O-gauge trains do have somewhat of a history you may be interested in. Sometime back around 1915 the Lionel introduced the O-gauge track for its lower priced trains.

Back in 1915 the standard gauge for trains were larger and considered the premium in standard line trains. The size of the standard gauge was 2 1/8 inches wide which made for very large model trains. The need for a cheaper version produced the birth of the O-gauge. Sometime around the Great Depression starting about 1929 brought an end to the standard gauge trains for Lionel and the other model train makers. This new O-gauge lower priced Lionel train enabled them to survive because it was much lower priced.

So the question is what does the gauge mean anyway? Gauge is nothing more than the measurement of distance between the outside rails of the track. The O-gauge is 1 inches apart. So what O-gauge means trains that ride on track that is 1 inches apart.

Sometimes scale is interchanged with gauge which is close but not quite the same. Scale is defined as the proportion to which the trains are built. You will see O-scale on trains from time to time which means the train was built to 1:48 scale or 1/48th the size of the original. The formula is 1/48 inch = 1 inch in size of the real thing.

The G gauge set is slightly larger and often referred to as the garden gauge. It is made from plastic, including the locomotive, coaches and track and is powered by batteries. This accounts for the cheaper prices of the G-gauge Lionel trains.

Some say the O-gauge is more realistic at the locomotive draws power directly from the track instead of batteries. A lot of detail goes into the replica of the Polar Express train set including durability and long life.