WHAT IS PROTO:87 ?
It's the SAME FAMILIAR 1:87 SCALE and 16.5 mm TRACK GAUGE and the SAME POPULAR MODELS, BUT. . . . . As you can see . .
There are TWO major differences between PROTO:87 and REGULAR HO:
PROTO:87 USES TRUE TO SCALE WHEELS
 
AND MUCH NARROWER, ALMOST TRUE TO SCALE WIDTH, TURNOUT FROG AND GUARD RAIL FLANGEWAYS . . .
. . . . BUT YOU MUST HAVE BOTH THE WHEELS AND FLANGEWAYS MATCHED TOGETHER, IN ORDER TO RUN PROTO:87 TRAINS!
OF COURSE YOU CAN STILL HAVE FINELY DETAILED AND MORE PROTOTYPICALLY REALISTIC TRACKWORK IN REGULAR HO. AND ALL OF THE MANY PARTS WE SUPPLY, WILL BUILD, OR WORK TO IMPROVE THE LOOKS AND OPERATION OF, REGULAR HO TRACK AND TURNOUTS.
OUR PRODUCT INDEX PAGE WILL GUIDE AND OFFER YOU LINKS TO EITHER THE HO VERSIONS OR THE PROTO:87 VERSIONS, WHERE THERE ARE DIFFERENCES THAT MATTER.
JUST FOLLOW THE REGULAR LINKS IF YOU ARE HAPPILY USING REGULAR HO TRACK AND WHEELS.
However, If you are interested in pursuing, or just finding out about, Proto:87, then keep reading down this page!
As you may have gathered from the pictures above, you can't just run scale wheels through regular HO turnouts that don't have near scale flangeways. Nor will regular HO RP25 wheels fit through Proto:87's narrow flangeways. So you can't mix both Standards on the same layout.
But . . .
THERE ARE SOME SURPRISINGLY SIMPLE SOLUTIONS IF YOU WANT TO UPGRADE EXISTING DIESELS, CARS, TRACKWORK, OR BUILD NEW TRACK, TO PROTO:87 STANDARDS.
 
OUR CUSTOM "DROP-IN" WHEELSETS ARE AVAILABLE TO EASILY CONVERT JUST ABOUT EVERY COMMON RTR DIESEL LOCO AND CAR MADE IN JUST MINUTES.
OUR UNIQUELY ULTRA-ACCURATE, "DROP-IN" FROGS PROVIDE A MEANS OF UPGRADING MOST GOOD QUALITY RTR OR HAND-LAID TURNOUTS, EVEN IF THEY ARE ALREADY INSTALLED OR LAID. BECAUSE THE FROG WORKING SURFACE IS PRE-FORMED IN ONE PIECE, NO SPECIAL JIGS, METALWORKING SKILLS OR TOOLS ARE NEEDED.
OUR RAPIDLY EXPANDING RANGE OF "STATE OF THE ART" PRECISION KITS AND
PARTS ARE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO MAKE MODERN DIESEL RAILROAD MODELING
IN PROTO:87 AS EASY AS MODELING TO A HIGH STANDARD IN REGULAR HO.
In fact many of our exciting
new working suspension units
and Ultimate prototypically realistic track parts are
already a big hit with Modelers in both Regular HO and Proto:87 and can
be used for either.
SO HOW WELL DOES PROTO:87 RUN?
Surely it can't possible work
reliably with those tiny flanges can it? It's
just common sense, right?
Actually, PROTO:87 IS FULLY
AND PROPERLY ENGINEERED TO WORK JUST AS WELL AS REGULAR
HO in almost all circumstances.
But you don't take our word for that bold statement. If you have a fast internet connection, you can view or download a short movie showing just how amazing Proto:87 superb Trackholding can be!
Click the "TRACKHOLDING MOVIE" Link to watch some Proto:87 boxcars
traveling completely reliably at ridiculously high speeds around much sharper than
toy train radius curves!
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