Howdy
Is there a difference in rail size between HOn3 and N scale?
Thanks
Yes, they are different, true HOn3 is slightly wider than N, however HOn30 is compatible with N (the difference being HOn3 is Scale 36 inch [3 foot], as HOn30, is 30 inch). So beware of the nomenclature.. Also the tie sizes & spacing, along with other factors do not 'scale' easily when making a true 'scale' model.
Please feel free to ask further questions, as we hope to help...
HOn3 track gauge is 10.5mm; N-Scale track gauge is 9mm.
Not sure whether this is just a curiosity question or if you might have something in mind. If that something might be running HO-Scale equipment on N-Gauge track that is what HOn30 or HOn2½ is: HO-Scale equipment running on N-Gauge track.
I find the opposite -- N-Scale equipment operating on HOn3-Gauge track -- even more intriguing; this would render a track gauge of 66 inches, a gauge not too far off of some of todays broad gauge trackage around the world and equally not too far off of some of the gauges used on 19th Century American railroads before those railroads standardized on 56.5 inch gauge.
Surprisingly HOn3-Gauge track is only 1/16" narrower than TT-Scale standard gauge.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
HO, HOn3, HOn30 are 1/87 th of full scale.
N and NG variants are 1/160 th of full scale.
There are some variations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HO_scale
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N_scale
Store links in Favorites or Bookmarks for future reference.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
SBlanck-UP Howdy Is there a difference in rail size between HOn3 and N scale? Thanks
HOn3 is HO scale (1:87.1, 3.5mm = 1 foot) on 10.5mm gauge (scale 3 foot) track.
N scale is 1:160 on 9mm gauge (scale 4 foot 9 inch) track.
Imagine a model of your house in N scale. The same house modeled in HO would be slightly less than twice as long and twice as wide as an N scale model. OTOH, the exact same HO house model could be used on either an HO standard gauge layout or an HOn3 layout.
Now, rail size. The rail sizes used in N scale (code 80 and code 55) could be used to hand-lay HOn3 track. Code 70 and code 40 could also be used for either - except that code 40 would be touchy about flange depth.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - 1:80 scale, HOj and HOjn762 gauges)
I thought I read somewhere that some were running thier HOn3 on N scale track. Just wanted to find out if this is true or not?
Sean
Who are They Say and I heard?
HOn30 usually runs on N scale track.
http://tinyurl.com/3dqm2lu
Oh who and they its been too many years since I read this. I want to model HOn3 layout something similar to the San Juan Central. My son wants to run things like the Daylight, Northern and Challenger. I was thinking if I could use n scale track I could appease both sides. I don't want to do HO scale track with the n3 rail on it. Or I really want to avoid using HO with the n3 rail. Is this a crazy idea?
It's entirely possible to have both standard and narrow gauge (or, in my case, narrow gauge and narrower gauge) on the same layout without having a millimeter of dual-gauge track. In fact, I'm modeling two Japanese prototypes which interchanged people (Kurobe Gorge Railway) and logs (Kiso Forest Railway) at facilities where the two gauges paralleled each other but didn't connect.
What you would have, basically, is two separate rail systems on a single visible land surface. You can avoid dual gauge track by separating the gauges vertically and making any crossing of the two on bridges or in tunnels. This is what I have on my double garage filler.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
HOn3 locos and rolling stock will not fit on N scale track, Maybe some have narrowed their stuff for N scale.
N scale loco frames are the basis for HOn30 on N scale track.
HOn30 and HOn3 stuff with be different in sizes.
I guess I will just do dual rail with HO and HOn3 so he can run things he wants to run.
Who are the major players building models of narrow gauge equipment?
I saw some beautiful models in the glass case at the train shop today.
some manufacturer with a "b" name I cannot remember off the top of my head.
Doable idea, but not easy or simple.
In the early 1980s, there were cheap N scale mechanisms available, but HOn3 was pretty much just brass. HOn30 was seen as a way to get the flavor of narrow gauge without the investment in time and money required by HOn3.
Later, HOn3 was significantly strengthened by first Roundhouse inexpensive stuff, and then MicroTrains and Blackstone RTR cars and locomotives. At the same time, decent-running, inexpensive N locomotives for donor mechanisms became much harder to find, taking away the natural advantages of HOn30.
The current state of affairs is that HOn30 is mostly used to model 2ft prototypes in HO, and HOn3 caters to the 3ft gauge crowd. There are HOn30 locomotive conversion kits, locomotives, car kits, trucks, and the necessary pieces to get HOn30 going - but it is harder to find than HOn3. And very little of it is RTR. Train and Trooper is one of the bigger dealers specializing in HOn30. David Hoffman (no web or e-mail) also produces HOn30 backwoods equipment, mostly centered around logging. http://www.hon30.org/ is another great resource.
The track will need to have greater horizontal and vertical clearances than in normal N scale. And the question of what scale to make the scenery will come up. The scenery is really going to decide whether you have an HOn30 layout with N equipment running on it, or vice versa.
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
HOn30 (or HOe or HOn762) describes 1:87 scale models of (approximately) 2 foot six inch gauge prototypes on 9mm gauge rails. There were numerous railroads of that gauge in Europe and Japan, but it was not much used in the United States.
The use of (model) 30 inch gauge to model 24 inch gauge and 36 inch gauge prototypes is much more common in O scale, where it gets manufacturer support., than in HO, where it was always a kitbasher's scale.
Analog DC N scale power chassis suitable for bashing into Japanese HOn762 models are available. The Walthers catalog on my desk was open to a couple(!) I will admit that the GE 44 tonner is a mite pricey, but that's because it's equipped with DCC. That's for new products. I haven't looked at E-gadbay or visited the junk dealers.
SBlanck-UP I guess I will just do dual rail with HO and HOn3 so he can run things he wants to run. Who are the major players building models of narrow gauge equipment? I saw some beautiful models in the glass case at the train shop today. some manufacturer with a "b" name I cannot remember off the top of my head.
I gave you an idea on how to find this info. Do a Google search for HOn3. You will find many links which you can download to your PC. Much better than a few opinions. You can also do a Google search for sellers and find out more info. I do that a lot and find loads of good info.
If you want to build essentially a test track to run HOn30 and N standard gauge trains on the same track, you should be able to do that. It wouldn't work to try to build a layout that would switch between the two because everything - buildings, people, tunnel portals, bridges - would have to be either HO scale or N scale.
Both HOn3 and N scale layouts can be built in a small area - maybe two separate layouts would be better?? Keep in mind standard gauge HO passenger cars need a pretty big radius, running HOn3 and HO standard gauge on dual gauge trackage for an entire layout would kinda destroy the narrow gauge advantage of having smallish equipment that can take sharp curves.
Are you asking about gauge or rail size?
Rail size there may not be any difference between the how high the rails are. The same rails can be used for many scales.
If you are asking about gauge, the distance between the inside faces of the rails, then yes there is a significant difference.
In HO, N scale track is nominally 30" apart. HOn3 is by definition, 3 foot or 36 inch gauge. So there is a 6" difference in the gauge between HOn3 and N scale track used for HO scale. There are a number of modelers that use N scale track or N gauge mecahnisms to operate HO scale trains, it is called HOn30. They tend to model railroads similar to the 2 foot gauge lines in New England.
In the same vien, HO track is used for On30 , but On30 is not the same as On3, with the same nominal 6" difference in gauge.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Hi there. You are replying to an old thread but things have not changed much since then in that department, unless I missed something. You cannot use N scale locos on HOn3 track because the width of the track is not the same. Neither is the scale by the way. In some cases, you can adapt the loco by widening the gap between the wheels or by changing the wheel set. But this is not obvious on an N scale loco. You can use an N scale loco on an HON30 track, but again the scale is not the same. Some modelers kitbash N scale locos to make a believable HO scale model that runs on HOn30 track (narrow gauge), by changing the cab and other components.
Simon
Where can I find special track ho scale with n scale crossing it
SBlanck-UPI thought I read somewhere that some were running thier HOn3 on N scale track. Just wanted to find out if this is true or not?
They were probably geting HOn3 mixed up with HOn30, which is used to model 2 foot gauge in HO scale. The track spacing on HOn30 is the same as N scale standard gauge. We have both on the Boothbay Railway Village layout.
Here is a standard gauge HO train and an HOn30 train passing by on nearby tracks
track comparison - HO standard gauge on top, Peco HOn30 track in middle, and N scale track on bottom
Locomotve comparison - Standard gauge and 2 foot gauge
Rolling stock comparison - MEC HO standard gauge boxcar, undecorated HOn30 boxcar, and Tracks Ahead N scale boxcar
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Billy444 Where can I find special track ho scale with n scale crossing it
Look for a HO/HOe crossing.
In Europe, HOn30 is typically referred to as HOe. I'm pretty sure one of the European modell track mfg makes such a crossing. Will take a look and see what I can find.
BTW, some N scale loco mechanisms can be hacked/modded so that the gauge can be widened from 9mm (N) to 10.5 mm (HOn3). It's not much but that 1.5 mm difference can be adjusted enough to make this work easily.
Also, a few locos can be modded to run on 9 mm, 10.5 mm or 12 mm (HOm representing meter gauge. My Liliput diesel is like this. I comes set for HOe, but you can buy a conversion kit that changes it to HOm. Since HOn3 is right in the middle, I was able to respace the HOm conversion axles to HOn3. Now it will run on any of three narrowgauges with just an axle swap. Sure it's not something with a prototypein the US, but if narrowgauge had hung on a little longer, it might look like this...
OK, Tillig makes a few crossings in HO/HOe and Reynauld's (where I got my Liliput diesel) has a few to choose from.
https://www.reynaulds.com/catalog/dept_403.aspx
Roco/Minitrains/AHM, Liliput and BEMO are other possibilities for this.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
https://www.modellbahnshop-lippe.com/produkt/Tillig/4-9-0-48204-007002-0-0-0-0-2-0-grp-gb-p-0/ein_produkt.html
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"