What's up with On30?

[Jetrock]

Fouled Anchor

Thanks Jetrock, ya gotta admit, it can be quite confusing. 30 years ago, it was simple.

30 years ago you had to scratchbuild or kitbash On30 and HOn30 from HO and N scale mechanisms except for a few things like Ken Kidder brass models of Hawaiian sugar cane plantation locomotives, or Roco's HOn30 sets, both of which I think date from the 1960s. I got interested in narrow gauge reading MR in the 1970s/80s, especially the Carrabasset & Dead River Railway, an HOn30 model of a Maine 2-footer, which was pretty much all scratchbuilt/kitbashed due to the lack of commercial kits. Ended up modeling standard gauge traction instead, but still have a soft spot for narrow rails. Today, you can order Bachmann On30 off the shelf.

Plastic gears work just fine, I have less headaches with Bachmann locos with plastic gears (that you can order replacement parts for online) than finicky brass mechanisms made by companies that went out of business years ago--good luck finding replacement parts without scrounging eBay for another brass loco of the same model, whose parts might not even be interchangeable! It's like a miniature version of restoring railroad museum locomotives, everything has to be fabricated or scrounged from the scrap line. But, unlike On30 narrow gauge, very few companies are making electric interurban freight motors and Niles passenger cars these days. So brass or bashing it is...much like life for the narrow gaugers.

[Fouled Anchor]

Thanks for the info Ulrich. Nice layout all centered around a humungous "Y". I'm going to do a "U" with 16' legs, and 12' base.

 

I have a question for you and Jetrock. I am planning on the Bacjmann two truck Shay and the Climax. I am planning to install the Tsunami TSU-1000 steam sound. My question is this: Everything I've read so far say the Tsunami's run hot. I also have read that the Shay and Climax are cast metal? If so, have either of you heard of heat sinking the decoder to the engine shell? Was thinking a copper shaped strap between the two. This would be a huge heat sink. Just wondering.

 

Later

Steve

[Mike in Kingsville]

Have been modeling in On30 now for 2 years and am getting ready to do a shelf layout. Have modeled HO for 30 years. 1/48 is easier as i have gotten older too. Regular HO track is just fine. Most of the time, narrow gauge track is buried in dirt of rock, so if you plan to ballast heavily, code 83 HO is just fine. The reason I like On30 is that the rivet counters aren't there and I have freedom to work outside of the box. You may want to look at carendt.com to realize that a 10x10 space is just fine too. Micro layouts are becoming very popular.

[Catt]

My On30 layout uses ATLAS code 100 flex track with every other tie removed.The layout is 8' x 13' snuggled into the end of a room.Being that it is a modern day tourist railroad for the most part it will be neatly ballasted.Most of the locos will be Bachmann or Bachmann powered.The cars are stock Bachmann or kit bashed HO cars.

[vsmith]

Atlas code 100 works great in On30, but specific track is readily available. It comes down to how anal a modeler you are. Personally coming from years of background in HOn30 I find the grousing over On30 track being a small fraction of an inch off from true scale 3' gauge rather laughable but thats just me. On30 has allowed more people to wet their feet in the narrow gauge creek than anything in the history of model railroading and thats a good thing. Personally I think alot of the gnashing of teeth comes from the fact that narrow gauge was always the secret realm of a very small faction of craftsman modellers. On30 allowed the unwashed masses to bath in their private stream and there is still a little soreness about that. Just my opinion ...

[stebbycentral]

Just did a quick run through the responses, so I apologize if I am repeating something said earlier.  But two things to look out for with On30.

1) If you do start looking at brass locomotives be careful.  As stated earlier there is a critical difference between On30 and American three-foot narrow gauge.  Six scale inches in fact.  Most of the high-end brass narrow gauge locomotives run on the "correct" 3 foot track, true to their Colorado prototypes.  So they will not work on your track.  Same thing for narrow-gauge car kits from manufacturers like the San Juan Car Co.  Although should you see something you really want, in that case it's usually only a matter of switching out the trucks.  

2)  Remember that even though the track is narrow and the trains are smaller, the rest of the railroad is "O" scale.  That's true for all structures, roads, and scenery.  Plan your right of way clearances accordingly or you could find your trains in some tight spots.  I found this out the hard way some years back.  I had to realign some track when an engine-house kit I ordered would up hanging off of the edge of the layout!

 

[narrow gauge nuclear]

The reason I went with HOn3 is that all my HO stuff (people, era related cars and structures would not be lost.  As just posted On30 and On3 are just O "scale"  You will have to purchase O scale figures, cars, buildings and accessories.  These goodies cost a good deal more.  There are no On30 figures or cars.  It's all just O scale and scale has nothing to do with gauge. 

For me there was just no real selection of On30 locos.  It was Bachmann or virtually nothing else unless, of course, you scratch build your way through the issues.  You seem to be lucky in that Bachmann has your desired loco in On30.

All the best.