Re power supply

[Anonymous]

I have received a lot of answers to my enquiry about changing from HO to On30 gauge and I have gained a lot of experience, so thank you to every body, and I have one more question, what about DC power supplies for On30, would my existing ones work?(HO).

To summerize,

If I am correct I can use my HO track for On30?
I will have to enlarge tunnels,yard tracks, clearances.
I can use O" scale buildings?.
I will have to purchase ON30 Locos, cars and couplers?
I cannot buy "O" scale cars and convert them to On30?

Bill Webb

[rrinker]

Unless it's one of those super cheap train set power packs, yes, it will work fine to power On30 trains. Frankly, I wouldn't use the cheap train set power pack to run the HO trains it came with.

On your other items:

1) Yes - although proper On30 track will look better. Standard HO track has the wrong tie spacing when you figure for O scale 30" gauge track.

2) Yes

3) Yes, ALL details and structures will be O scale. People, buildings, trees, etc.

4) Yes, although HO couplers are about the right size, I don't know if there even is a specific "On30" coupler.

5) You can, in certain cases. But most cars would be too big. Narrow Gauge cars are typically smaller than their standard gauge equivalents. But there are cases (the East Broad Top being one) where standard gauge cars were lifted off their trucks and set down on narrow gauge trucks for running over the narrow gauge line. When interchanging back, they were again lifted and put back on their standard gauge trucks.

--Randy

[Jetrock]

QUOTE: Originally posted by willytrains
If I am correct I can use my HO track for On30?
I will have to enlarge tunnels,yard tracks, clearances.
I can use O" scale buildings?.
I will have to purchase ON30 Locos, cars and couplers?
I cannot buy "O" scale cars and convert them to On30?

rrinker has already summed things up pretty well, but I will reinforce.

An HO power supply will work. In fact, YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST NOT use an O-gauge AC power supply! If you have a cheap toy-train powerpack, you would be better off to replace it, but one intended for HO will work fine.

The use of HO track on On30 is debatable. Before On30 was popular, there was HOn30, which is HO scale narrow-gauge equipment running on N scale track, which scales out to about 30" wide in HO. The best-known (in MR) example of this pioneering little scale was the "Carrabasset & Dead River RR", based vaguely on the Maine 2-foot logging railroads. At the time there wasn't much in the way of track intended for HOn30, so he used N scale track, despite the fact that the ties were too closely spaced and too short. He justified this by stating that this created the illusion of greater distances--and I can't really disagree, the C&DR was a great-looking railroad that I was a great fan of as a kid reading MR!

So, while you can use HO track, you don't have to--and there are reasons not to.

You won't have to "enlarge" tunnels, clearances or yard tracks--you'll be building them larger in the first place. If you're converting an existing HO layout to On30, you're probably going to have to toss EVERYTHING but the track (and maybe that--see above) and start from scratch, so you won't really be "converting" as much as "starting over."

You HAVE to use O scale buildings. Well, you don't HAVE to, but since you would be modeling O scale, using O scale buildings would be appropriate. (Just like if you want to model N scale, you'd buy N scale buildings, not HO.)

If you want to model On30, it is generally assumed that you will have to purchase or build On30 locomotives and cars. (Just like if you want to model N scale, you'd buy N scale locomotives and cars.)

Converting O scale cars to O30: That all depends on how much kitbashing you like to do, and if you're going to get into an oddball scale like On30, you'd better like to kitbash! I have seen quite a few articles on HO narrow gauge that were based on the idea of taking a standard-gauge HO passenger car, slicing out some of the middle in length and width, and gluing the remainder back together to create a car that was of appropriate dimensions for a narrow-gauge car. Similarly, I know some folks have taken HO scale locomotives and converted them to On30 by getting rid of the body shell and building a new boiler, cab, etc., to go on top. An O-scale standard-gauge locomotive shell, even the very smallest, would be too big!

I would **HIGHLY** recommend doing some reading on this. Go to your LHS and pick up a copy of "Light Iron Digest" or "Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette", which specialize in narrow gauge model railroading, and can show you in a lot better way (through pictures) what narrow gauge is all about. Narrow gauge is really fun and the equipment has a lot of charm and character, but it's not for everyone.

[Don Gibson]

DC POWER SUPPLIES work with any DC motors within their power rating.

DC 12 volts = 12 volts; VOLTS are the speed the motor turns at.

Some larger motors like more Amps to do heavier work, but still run at 12 volts.

Translation: On3 may want additional Amps.

[cacole]

The Bachmann On30 locomotives I have seen run just fine on an HO power pack. The motor in On30 locomotives is not much bigger than the motor in an HO scale locomotive and does not draw any significant difference in current. I have even operated a G-scale locomotive on an outdoor layout with an MRC Tech II 2.5 Amp power pack with no overload or heat buildup of the power pack.

At an open house in November, we were running HO and On30 models on adjacent tracks from one Troller 2.5 Amp power pack on our outdoor modular layout setup with no problems.

As others have mentioned, though, don't try to use anything less than a good MRC or equivalent power pack for any HO, N, or On30 locomotives. The transformers that come with the cheap Christmas train sets will just barely handle the load of the locomotive that comes in a set, and some of them are so poorly made that they are a fire hazard. I have seen some of these things that don't even have a UL or other approval stickers of any type on them.