Anybody have any suggestions as to which the best &/or cheapest HOn3 or HOn30 locomotives are?
Old MDC kits.
Best HOn3 locos? Blackstone without a doubt. Cheapest? MDC or possibly some older brass, especially K-27s.
HOn30? Not much commercially available at all. Minitrains has a US importer for HOn30 stuff, but there line is pretty slim and all European flavored.
There are no cheap HOn3 locos available. It´s either Blackstone, older MDC kits or used brass. If you go for modeling 3ft. gauge in HO scale, be prepared to lay out lots of $$$!
HOn30 is a different story. First of all there is Minitrains, who, contrary to an earlier post, have some interesting US-style locos, passenger and freight cars.
... just to show a few things!
There are also numerous cottage businesses with interesting stuff for scratch- or kit-building.
Minitrains are not dead cheap, but still reasonably priced and smooth runners!
How about a loco that does BOTH HOn30 and HOn3 (plus HOm, if you want that) for under $200.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/215880/2372403.aspx#2372403
Custom paint is my own doing, DCC or DCC/sound optional.
It's a Liliput (part #142101) that's very easy to convert and runs like a dream if you choose the Lenz Silver decoder I used (21-pin, plugs right in.) Available at around $150 for the loco and maybe $25 more for the conversion kit I noted using to convert it to HOn3 in my linked article. Save the original HOn30 drivers and it's just a matter of a qucik swap to change the gauge.
For steam, hands down Blackstone locos are the best value going, even if not cheap. If you want a hands on build, consider picking up a brass K-27 and installing the DCC/sound yourself. Once Blackstone hit the market with the K-27, prices fell sharply for brass K-27s, so very easy to find them reasonably priced, as in under $200 if you're patient and bid smartly.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Well, the whole point of HOn30 was to be able to use N scale mechanisms and scratchbuild your own super structure. It also used N scale track and trucks. This was initially used to model Maine 2 foot gauge railroads. So that's a cheap route for HOn30.
If narrow gauge is your main interest, you might want to consider On30 for which Bachmann has some relatively inexpensive locomotives. I'm not sure what prototypes some of these follow, but they run on HO track (On30 track available also). So again you can roll your own on top of any HO mechanism. Bachmann also has some cars as well, but you can pretty easily scratch build your own using HO trucks and couplers.
Good luck
Paul
IRONROOSTER Well, the whole point of HOn30 was to be able to use N scale mechanisms and scratchbuild your own super structure. It also used N scale track and trucks. This was initially used to model Maine 2 foot gauge railroads. So that's a cheap route for HOn30. Paul
About which, I just provided myself with the key parts of my Kashimoto Forest Railway motive power roster (four diesel 'critters' and an 0-6-0T) for less than the price of a typical HOn3 loco. The Walthers flier offered up an N scale USRA 0-6-0 that will become a 1:87 scale model of Ikasa Railway 0-6-0T #21. The drivers and frame geometry are spot-on, and building a superstructure is no big thing. Likewise, the only changes the Plymouth 'critters' will need involves providing cabs big enough for 1:87 scale crew. My one grossly oversize 0-4-2T will be de-motored and placed on a covered display track well away from the 9mm rails (it's 1:80 scale 10.5mm gauge.)
Scratchbuilding or kitbashing the cosmetic parts is easy when the precision assemblies can be used as-is.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - 762mm gauge forest railway included)
Blackstone
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
Geared SteamBlackstone
for HOn3, not HOn30
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Oh, I just realized that this might be an option for those not particularly finicky about nationality and/or do not want to wholly scratchbuild their superstructures... or just want a good X-4-X underframe; http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=66_68_93_694, and in wholly assembled form, http://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=879_756_772_975&products_id=6437.
Sir Madog There are no cheap HOn3 locos available. It´s either Blackstone, older MDC kits or used brass. If you go for modeling 3ft. gauge in HO scale, be prepared to lay out lots of $$$! HOn30 is a different story. First of all there is Minitrains, who, contrary to an earlier post, have some interesting US-style locos, passenger and freight cars. ... just to show a few things! There are also numerous cottage businesses with interesting stuff for scratch- or kit-building. Minitrains are not dead cheap, but still reasonably priced and smooth runners!
I have purchased a few of their locomotives for Boothbay Railway Villlage, including the Forney (2nd from top),the trench train (3rd from top), and the 0-4-0 with tender (4th from top). They are well built and smooth runners. They all have European style hook and loop couplers, but these can be changed. They are all DC. A small decoder can be installed, but it is a challenging project. Unless you must have DCC, I would stick with plain DC. One current problem is Caboose Hobbies, the US importer, has just announced they are going out of business in September
In addition, Shapeways has a lot of 3D printed locos and rolling stock. The challange here is to find an N scale mechanism that will fit the shell. This is a short boxcab with a custom Bull Ant mechanism
Another route is to buy and N scale locomotive, and kitbash an HO scale loco shell to fit it. This is an N scale GE 70 tonner mechanism mounted in a kitbashed HO scale Athearn Hustler shell
Plus those HOn3 models look huge!
I made a couple of HOn3 diesels from Bachmann N scale switchers. Discard the shell, pull the wheels out about .035 on each side (use a gauge & pull each side out the same ammount). I used a Grandt Line boxcab shell for one. & a F&C static flat car load HOn3 switcher shell for the other. The new Bachmann couplers work fine.