Wasn't sure where to post this. I am building an HO layout. While shopping around for rolling stock I have come across a lot of HOn3 freight cars, ore cars, etc that I think would be great if they were just HO.
Can you change an HOn3 freight car to HO by merely changing the trucks/wheels?
Seems too simple to be correct.
wdcrvr
Narrow gauge cars are smaller than standard gauge. While you could swap the trucks (and possibly modify the under side for clearance) they will look too small next to standard gauge.
Enjoy
Paul
Are you thinking of the Blackstone cars?
As was mentioned standard gauge trucks would be too big for these cars. You would run into clearance and interference issues with the undersides. It's much easier to go from standard gauge to narrow but not the other way 'round. I'm not sayin' it can't be done but there will be some issues.
Narrow gauge equipment was much smaller in stature then standard gauge. Narrow gauge railroads were 'typically' run on a lower budget as well as serving geographical areas that would restrict the use of standard sized equipment due to clearances, limited access, etc.
One of the reasons I like narrow gauge is the diminutive size of the equipment. You can also run tighter radii on the curves and it still looks good (no car overhang to worry about like you do with standard gauge rolling stock that's 50 plus feet long).
One of the guys at the LHS who models D&RGW standard gauge looks lovingly at the BS stuff and wishes he could run it on his layout.........
-G-
Narrow gauge became very popular in the US starting in the 1870s. It was seen as a way to build a railroad with 7/8 the capacity at 3/4 of the costs of standard gauge. The economics never worked out as advertised.
So rolling stock size was initially established as 7/8 the size of larger 1870/1880s standard gauge - which is much smaller than today's standard gauge. The extra track width, and more substantial track and roadbed, gave standard gauge an ability to grow substantially in size from 1880 to 1920s, and then again beginning in the 1960s. As the rules for true interchange of freight traffic were established in the 1880s and 1890s, the narrow gauge railroads were excluded and found themselves unable to compete because of the need to transload freight instead of car interchange.
The economics generally prevented further development and growth of narrow gauge with a couple of major exceptions. The C&S actually built sets of freight cars with steel underframes (Micro-Trains makes models of these). And the D&RGW undertook a locomotive modernization program, resulting in the famous K-class 2-8-2s.
Because of this history, 1880s cars are typically usable back and forth between standard and narrow gauge with little modification. They are pretty close in size. After that, not so much.
Fred W
All of the 1880s freight cars I have are to wide to look right with narrow gauge trucks on them. Most are MDC kits. I have true narrow gauge cars from Rail line and a couple brass ones. They are much narrower than standard gauge cars. Keep in mind, that once you go past the small 2-8-0 and 2-6-0 locomotives, the curves required are just the same as standard gauge HO equipment, Blackstone's K27 needs 18" min radius. I stick with 2-8-0's as my lttle layout has 15" radius curves. The siren song of the narrow gauge is hard to ignore once you get started modeling with it.
LHS mechanic and geniune train and antique garden tractor nut case!
climaxpwr All of the 1880s freight cars I have are to wide to look right with narrow gauge trucks on them. Most are MDC kits. I have true narrow gauge cars from Rail line and a couple brass ones. They are much narrower than standard gauge cars....
All of the 1880s freight cars I have are to wide to look right with narrow gauge trucks on them. Most are MDC kits. I have true narrow gauge cars from Rail line and a couple brass ones. They are much narrower than standard gauge cars....
MDC kits are indeed too wide to be used for narrow gauge. But then, they are not accurate for 1880s standard gauge rolling stock, either. Despite the "Old Timer" name, the MDC line, although generic, is reasonably accurate for 1905-1910 prototypes.
3ft gauge rolling stock seldom exceeded 8ft in width, and 32ft in length. Just glancing at White's The American Railroad Freight Car, I find plans for an 1880 ATSF standard gauge stock car that is 8.5 ft wide and 30ft long. An 1881 Illinois Central box car is shown as 8.5 ft wide and 28ft long, again perhaps 6" wider but otherwise right in line with 20th Century narrow gauge practice.
And my point was that Blackstone 1920s narrow gauge rolling stock would be reasonably representative (at least size-wise) of 1880s standard gauge practice - but not more modern.
Interesting to also note is that from the advent of narrow gauge (1870s) on is that the narrow gauge cars are always smaller than the standard gauge cars of the same time period.
Hope this helps clarify what I meant to say.
Actually narrow gauge models on standard gauge trucks could work to represent freight cars built prior to approximately 1900 (maybe some a little latter). For instance I found a standard gauge ventilated fruit car built in 1893 with a body 34' L x 9' H x 8'-6" W. Except for the width this definitely is within the size range for some larger 3' gauge cars. For instance SP narrow gauge stock car # 184 was 38'-4" L x 9' H x 8' W. I believe that in the mid 1800's there box cars as short as 30' or less, although I did not to a search to confirm this.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
Narrow gauge cars might be appropriate for Civil War or pre Civil War era railroads. But past the 1870's standard gauge cars grew in size. In addition the trucks for narrow gauge cars have a 4 ft wheelbase and a 24-30" wheel diameter. Standard gauge trucks are 5-5.5 ft wheelbase and 33" wheels so the trucks will be hitting the underframes and sill steps, plus the wheels will be poking out from under the end of the end of the car.
The exceptions may be narrow gauge cars built in the 1920's (which will have the wrong grab iron arrangements).
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
climaxpwr Blackstone's K27 needs 18" min radius. I stick with 2-8-0's as my lttle layout has 15" radius curves.
Blackstone's K27 needs 18" min radius. I stick with 2-8-0's as my lttle layout has 15" radius curves.
Actually BS K-27's will navigate 15" radius curves quite well. I have a few on my layout and they do just fine.