A Brit in search of help and assistance with On30

[Anonymous]

Hi
A few weeks ago while scaning a UK dealers web site I found a On30 loco and was hooked I have since started looking on the web for this most interesting scale.
I should explain I have modeled in just about every scale from n gauge to 12" to the foot (I work as a volenteer an the National Railway Musium) and found them all wrong for me. To big to small etc now I am looking for some help in deciding what to model ? and where to get some infomation on rail lines etc.
Alan (Yorkshireman)

[wjstix]

Well, actual 30" gauge trains existed but were pretty rare. Narrow Gauge & ShortLine Gazette is doing a series of articles on prototype 30" gauge lines. Most seem to be out in Colorado and used in mining, but there were others.

On30 started years ago when some O scalers noticed that HO track scaled out to about 30" in O scale, which was pretty close to the 36" gauge trains (as found in Colorado). Rather than scratchbuilding everything, they could now use HO / OO track, wheelsets etc.

In recent years, Bachmann came out with On30 equipment ready to run. Their products have pretty much always gotten excellent reviews, and there has been a "mini-boom" in On30 in the US. The Bachmann equipment (and On30 in general) is based on 3' gauge equipment adapted to fit 30" gauge.

As a former O-scaler whose been in HO for years, it is a tempting size - big enough to give you the 'heft' of O-scale, but with the sharper curves of HO scale.

[:)]

[Anonymous]

Yep thats what attrakted me failing eyesight and not enough room for O gauge Yorkshirman

[Anonymous]

My real problem is trying to get hold of infomation of what one of these lines look like or looked like track plans etc picures. the only part of the US I have visited was a couple of cities on the east coast .
Yorkshireman

[rtstasiak]

I think that the Bachmann On30 series is meant for freelanced lines or the representation of 36" prototypes by 30" models. Their stuff is so flexible that I've even used their 4 wheel switcher to build a siderod diesel in HO. Real US narrow gaugers faced tough engineering problems on shoestring budgets. They succeeded because they used the cheapest, off-the-shelf solutions in 2 and 3 foot gauge. Model people face the same problem, but the "sweet spot" in O narrow guage happens to be Bachmann. Besides, you can re-tie HO track and switches to meet your needs, etc, etc.

Have fun! BTW, invite any nitpickers to regauge your railroad to 36" when they have some free time.

[btransue]

hminky is a forum member with a website for On30

http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/

His site has some really great how-to's that pertain to more than just On30 - give it a look.

I am using HO - but his site also covers scenery detailing that pertains to any scale.

--
Brad

[DSchmitt]

Here is a site with info about protoype 30" gauge railways and links to many other sites[8D]

http://www.pearcedale.com/c&b/thirty.html

[BR60103]

http://www.all-model-railroading.co.uk/forum/ is a forum hosted by an Englishman who models On30. He's had articles in Model Railroading.
Some of the On30 equipment resembles the Maine 2-foot gauge railroads. These ran through a bit more wooded scenery than the western lines. Check for Sandy River and Rangely Lakes and Bridgton and Harriston.

[tomikawaTT]

Granted not American prototype, but 762mm (30 inch) gauge was extremely common in Japan for everything from logging lines (Kiso Forest Railway being the best known, but hardly the only) to electrified commuter rail. Unfortunately, the vast preponderance of information on these lines is in Japanese language publications.

The Alishan Forestry Railway on Taiwan was also 30 inch gauge, as were several other extensive systems on Taiwan. Before dieselization, the Alishan was purely Shay powered, while the other systems used a variety of small tank locos.

There were also a profusion of 750mm (and other) gauge mineral lines in Spain, once operated with a variety of small steam locos ranging from conventional to really strange.

The Taiwanese and Spanish operations were described by Charles Small in his book, RAILS TO THE SETTING SUN, along with similar operations in Malaisia and Germany.
The book was printed (in English) by the Kigei Publishing Company (Tokyo) in 1971, and is now long out of print.

Chuck

[West Coast S]

The Bachman On30 line is so flexible, I reguage and redetail them for S guage, but if I were to leave well enough alone, the Lake Tahoe Railway and Navigation Company would make a splendid adaptation for On30.

Dave

[marknewton]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wjstix

Well, actual 30" gauge trains existed but were pretty rare.

That 's only true for the United States. Elsewhere in the world 30" gauge railways, and the near metric equivalents of 750mm/762mm gauge were very common. The Bachmann On30 models can be used as a basis for modelling the many fascinating railways throughout the world that used American built, or American -inspired equipment.

Cheers,

Mark.

[marknewton]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Yorkshireman

My real problem is trying to get hold of infomation of what one of these lines look like or looked like track plans etc picures. the only part of the US I have visited was a couple of cities on the east coast

Are you interested specifically in modelling US narrow gauge railroads? Or are other countries a possibility?

Cheers,

Mark.

[wjstix]

An oddity about the size is very few people who build 30" gauge model railroads are actually modelling a 30" RR!! [%-)]

As I said earlier, in On30, probably 90% or more of the layouts are based on 3' railroads like the Denver & Rio Grande Western or Rio Grande Southern in Colorado. Plus, there are quite a few people in HOn30" who are using the 30" gauge to represent tthe two-foot gauge railroads of Maine, using HO models on N track.

[marknewton]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wjstix

An oddity about the size is very few people who build 30" gauge model railroads are actually modelling a 30" RR!! [%-)]
As I said earlier, in On30, probably 90% or more of the layouts are based on 3' railroads like the Denver & Rio Grande Western or Rio Grande Southern in Colorado.

Again, that 's only true for the United States. As the original question was put by an Englishman, I'd say there's a chance his modelling horizons extend beyond some obscure narrow gauge lines in Colorado...[:D]

All the best,

Mark.

[wjstix]

On the contrary, I would assume an Englishman posting a question about narrow gauge railroading on a US hosted forum would be asking about US railroading. Kalmbach (forum host) as far as I know only publishes books and magazines on North American railroading, not overseas railroading. There are plenty of UK/European forums on the net to ask about British or Continental etc. narrow gauge. After all, as an American, I wouldn't go on a British website to ask a question about the Santa Fe. [;)]

[marknewton]

Geez, talk about parochial. The forum's contributors are from all over the world. Our interests are world-wide, too.

And while where at it, Kalmbach has published numerous articles about overseas railroads, in Trains and MR. They also, IIRC, published a book written by Kalmbach librarian George Drury about his rail journeys in Europe.

[hminky]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wjstix

An oddity about the size is very few people who build 30" gauge model railroads are actually modelling a 30" RR!! [%-)]

As I said earlier, in On30, probably 90% or more of the layouts are based on 3' railroads like the Denver & Rio Grande Western or Rio Grande Southern in Colorado. Plus, there are quite a few people in HOn30" who are using the 30" gauge to represent tthe two-foot gauge railroads of Maine, using HO models on N track.

The reason "On30" is used to model narrow gauge is the commercial availability. Bachmann's narrow gauge equipment allows 1/4" scale narrow gauge to be modeled by everyone.

The difference between the HO gauge of 16.5mm or 31.18 inches in O scale and the 36 inches can be ignored if you want to build an operating layout easily and cheaply. The idea of narrow gauge using HO track gauge seems to stick in a lot of peoples craws. There seems to be this aura of correctness concerning narrow gauge amongst the O scale community who run standard gauge on five foot gauge track. Beats me why.

If Frary and Hayden had modeled narrow gauge in "On30" they would have been stoned with brickbats and run out of the hobby.



Click image to enlarge

Visit the On30 Pacific Coast Air Line at:

http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/

Thank you if you visit
Harold

[wjstix]

Harold, I'm a Recovering O-scaler, I know what you mean !! I think because it has been a minority scale for so long, the people involved in it have had to be really fanatical about it. It's interesting that in the last twenty years, the biggest gains in O scale modellers has been in "highrailrers" (guys running scale-sized equipment on three rail track" and now the On30 folks. I have to admit every time I go to a train show I always love seeing the On30 trains, there used to be some narrow-gauge Milwaukee Road lines in SE Minnesota that I've long thought about modelling.

[Anonymous]

Hi Alan,
We are currently building an On30 club layout on Tyneside, with Bachman, Broadway and scratchbuilt equipment. DCC operated. If you are interested and would like a look, contact me off list and I'll give you directions.

Tony Lambert.
[e-mail]
Modelling the Santa Fe from a long way away.

[wjstix]

marknewton-

"My real problem is trying to get hold of infomation of what one of these lines look like or looked like track plans etc picures. the only part of the US I have visited was a couple of cities on the east coast .
Yorkshireman"

I would assume from that he's interesting in modelling the US. But I did grow up across the tracks from a parochial school so I guess it might have rubbed off. [:D]

[marknewton]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wjstix

marknewton-

"My real problem is trying to get hold of infomation of what one of these lines look like or looked like track plans etc picures. the only part of the US I have visited was a couple of cities on the east coast .
Yorkshireman"

I would assume from that he's interesting in modelling the US.

Yeah, If I'd seen that post the first time, then so would I.

QUOTE: But I did grow up across the tracks from a parochial school so I guess it might have rubbed off. [:D]

I reckon. The other comments I made still stand...

[wjstix]

Fair enough, there certainly are posters here from around the world - but I assume most of them are here because they're interested in US railroads?? I think "the Gauge" forum is based in the UK, and I'm sure there are other forums around on non-North American railroads.

I would say MR / Trains etc. "once in a while" publishes articles on non-North American rail subjects. I remember Linn Westcott did an MR article on German railroads, MR and Trains have maybe done one or two articles on the UK or other European railways. Same way that "Railway" magazine in Britain once in a while publishes articles on American railroads - maybe once every 3-4 years.