Has anyone built an O gauge, three-rail layout that also incorporated On30 trains in it? If you did, how did you work in the On30 trains? If your layout has a definite theme and era, what are they? Have you been pleased with your layout so far? If you have pictures posted somewhere, can you provide a link?
Thanks,
George
I've gone as far as designing a 5x8 layout using Atlas track for both.
As you suggested, if you are trying for a semblance of realism and consistency, era can be an issue. I was trying to set somewhere between 1890 and 1910. Finding reasonably-priced (low end for me) 3 rail rolling stock for the era isn't so easy. But I decided that if I'm going to have an extra rail in the center of my standard gauge track, inconsistent eras isn't the worst thing in the world.
3 rail track was an oval using 036. One side had a passing/staging track in front of a depot. Other side had a long spur inside the oval to serve as the interchange track loading point. Spurs in the 2 corners for an operating stockyard and reefer icing plant (I have to have my operating accessories). Perhaps a milk platform as well..
2 trains would be needed. A General and passenger car set. An MTH 2-6-0 (or similar) would be a great freight engine for a couple of truss rod box cars, cattle car, operating reefer, and milk car. A bobber caboose would be great.
On30 track is a point to point. Lower end had a spur to serve the narrow gauge side of the interchange platform. Platform is a couple of inches wide at boxcar door height to assist transferring freight. Perhaps a small jib crane, and cover on parts of the platform. A small 3 track Inglenook-style yard (which includes the interchange spur) and an engine house for the On30.
On30 main track would go inside the 3 rail oval on one end, climbing as it turns. On the far side, track would continue to climb to a switchback. The switchback tail would be on a bridge over the 3 rail lower track. Up from the switchback would be a town with a passing siding and a couple of spurs. On30 motive power would be Porters or a Climax - nothing big.
To stop the On30 bug from eating me alive, I spent a couple of hundred on some HOn3 rolling stock. So the proposal never got beyond the planning stage. But it still haunts me and tempts me. Rubber gauging is in my blood.
Fred W
Our family layout has both. The boys and I do the standard gauge 3-rail O, and my wife does the On30. We also will have (when the upper level gets closer to being finished) On18: O scale on N gauge (9mm) track. The 18" gauge is a mine tram, hauling ore out of the mines (on a small loop) to a tipple dock where the ore will be "dumped" into bins for gravity transfer to the On30 ore gondolas. The On30 locos will haul the ore down the mountain to the upoer end of the standard gauge line and repeat the process, loading standard gauge hoppers. At this point, we don't plan to animate the process but simply will "imagineer" the transfers. The On30 line also hauls general freight and passengers up and down the upper reachers of the mountain between the mine and the "big town" halfway up. both the 30" ga. and the SG lines are dogbones, the SG being folded and the ends stacked on top of one another.
We use Bachmann and BLI equipment for the On30.
We use Peco track for the On30; I haven't decided on the 9mm ga. track yet, probably Peco HOn30. No pics yet.
Don't sweat the era problem too much: NG equipment tended to hang around long after SG, more profitable lines had upgraded. You don't have to follow John allen or Malcalm Furlow and make everything NG delapidated, but the NG roster will be older and less well maintained (unless it's the DRG or the EBT in their heydays).
Besides, it's your layout. If you want to run teakettles and Acelas side by side, why not?
Excellent ideas so far. Palallin, I have heard of Bachmann but not BLI. Would you elaborate on them a little more i.e. what is offered etc.
BLI is Broadway Limited. They produced a dandy On30 2-8-0 C-class that comes with sound and DCC installed. They didn't sell quite as well as hoped, and the distributor blew them out cheap. I bought my wife's for about $120.
Search eBay's Model RR-Trains category with On30, 0n30, and you'll find lots of great On30 stuff including examples of the BLI 2-8-0. Also, let me suggest that you subscribe tot he yahoo On30 Conspiracy list, perhaps the most active On30 resource out there.
Certainly you can incorporate a narrow gauge On30 line in many O gauge pikes without any real conflict or problem. The real railroads, in the late 1800s and into the 1900s, often had interchange points where narrow gauge track was located adjacent to a standard gauge line, and where goods could be transferred from one line to the other.
On the next large layout I build (current one is too small), I plan to include a narrow gauge operation to serve a logging or mining operation, while the majority of the layout will be O (standard) gauge. I have a good amount of Bachmann On30 and other equipment, but will likely pretty much stick with the small diesels and Porters for this type of operation, even though I also have a number of Climaxes, Shays, Consolidations, and the like.
Since O scale is O scale, just about any O scale accessory, including figures, vehicles, and such, is appropriate for either operation.
On30 is a wonderfully affordable way to enjoy O scale trains, and the variety of offerings is growing at a pretty good clip. Very nice stuff! Be sure to check out "Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette" when you get a chance. In my opinion, it is the very finest model railroading magazine published in any scale. Ir's one of only two model railroading magazines that I actually subscribe to, although I buy and read virtually all of them.
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