Ho Train
The HO train is the most popular type of model train in the world. That's because it's considered and excellent middle ground between size and level of detail.
An HO train has several advantages over smaller trains. The first and most important one is that it's safer for children. A lot of adults who build truly engineering railroad layout masterpieces in their basements tend to forget that a model train is still a toy train, and that a lot of children play with it. Smaller scale trains tend to have little pieces that can be swallowed by little children. On the other hand, an HO train is big enough for this to be much less likely to happen. Because they are bigger, and usually colorful, they tend to be more interesting to children as well.
Another advantage of the HO train over smaller trains is the level of detail that it allows. Because it's relative larger size, it's easier for both manufacturers and owners to decorate the trains and give them more details to make them look even more like their real counterparts. In addition, less specialized tools are required to fix them, assemble them and paint them. Audiences can also see those details better than in smaller scales, which makes them more attractive to the public.
Finally, because manufacturers can produce them more easily than smaller scales, an HO train is cheaper than its smaller scales counterparts, which is yet another advantage.
On the other hand, an HO train is preferred over bigger trains because it needs much less space in order to run a more or less elaborate track layout. While an HO train layout can be set in a part of a room, larger scales require a big room or a garden to have a decent track run.
An HO train is also cheaper than a bigger model train, because it requires less material and because the manufacturing process isn't really much easier than the manufacturer process of a bigger train.
Another advantage of the HO train is that because of its high demand and production, it has the benefits of economies of scale, which makes it even cheaper than other trains.
Of course, price also depends a lot of the manufacturer, the quality and the model of the train too, so it's a good idea to compare.
To end with, if you wondered where the term “HO” comes from, it comes from “Half O,” since HO scale is almost half the size of the O scale.