A few weeks ago my friend Thom shared with me some trains made by Sarissa Precision for 28mm wargaming. 28mm is generally considered 1/56 scale.
These models have a most alluring charm to them. They look “narrowgaugy”, and even a bit of steampunk.
If my math is right, using On30 track (same gauge as HO), works out to pretty close to 24" gauge in 1/56 scale.
Edit: My math was wrong… it will be 3 foot gauge… Thank you Dan. The thread title was corrected. -Kevin
So, I could motorize a locomotive with an HO scale mechanism and use On30 trucks and trackage to make a reasonable 2 foot gauge railroad. There is nearly anything you can image for building materials in 28mm scale.
I am obsessed with this idea. I love the look of these trains. They deserve to become mechanized and put into service.
There is too much possibility here for a railroad with personality.
That would be cool to see. I am a big fan of railroads that branch out of reality in setting. I checked out their website. It looks like they have a lot of really cool looking stuff. Thank you for posting this.
36 (as in inches) devided by 56 equals 0.643 HO track is 0.649, that being 56.5 inches devided by 87. Thats about 0.006 wide for scale 3 foot guage. Only a negligible 0.336, about a third of a scale inch wider than 3 scale feet in 1/56. Real 3 foot gauge was probably sloppier than that in places.
So your looking at so close to 3 footer guage that it’s as good as dead on. That’s the math.
Now for some rhetoric. It’s funny you brought this up because I recently looked at this same gauge/scale idea from a completely different angle.
Rivarossi (Pocher earlier) model of the JW Bowker is a neat looking loco, the earlier one with the motor in the tender. But it’s obviously SO out of scale for HO, it’s ridiculous. I wondered what could be done with it. Mmmm. Using it as the start of a narrow gauge engine on 3 foot track put’s it at…guess what scale!!![:D][:P] Actually 1/55+ something. Close to dead on.
So those models you posted, how would they look on 3 foot track? probably great. And the choices to power the locomotives, or your own 'bashed ones with HO mechanisms is almost endless. I was already contemplating the idea too, not knowing there’s already some potential rolling stock!
Something to think about, huh?
There are 1/55 scale highway trucks available, but they’re modern. Dan
I looked for those items online, couldn’t find them. The question I’d have is how wide it the track they’re sitting on? Obviously not operational, but if it’s close to HO guage, the cars will look too proportionally small for 3 footers in the 1/56 scale. I’d want to have one in hand to actually check it out.[2c] Dan
Well then Kevin, you have no choice but to go for it. When obsession reaches this level, you have to put aside all procrastinations and give it a try. Otherwise, you will never stop obsesssing. It does sound cool. Keep us posted and post photos.
Kevin, those Sarissa models are gorgeous, I agree-- practically begging to be motorized. Keep us updated if you choose to tackle this, I bet it would be spectactularly fun!
As Dan mentioned I think it would be very close to 3-foot scale on HO/On30 track-- Harold Minkwitz (hminky, RIP) preached 55n3 scale, his database of existing out-of-scale HO and On30 rolling stock and structures, and ways to modify/convert them to be the right scale in 55n3, might be a helpful resource adding to the models you shared, and I am unsure how much longer it will stay online with his passing last year.
As if the designers for the Delaware & Hudson all got jobs at the Union Pacific circa 1940 and could finally build something larger than 2-8-0s. Neat
If you want to see an early version of steam punk try to track down the article in MR about the layout of Francis Lee Jacques. May 1962 MR had an article with photos. It was surreal, used its own scale which did not match between trains and track but that did not matter. The locomotives were imagineered and made of balsa and looked like something you’d have a vivid dream about if you ate chocolate cake and raw onions just before bedtime.
But the real magic was his backdrop. he was a professional artist and a very successful one.
Dave Nelson
One version is that style and technology never progressed beyond the victorian era, so everything is steam powered, and dress is very fancy.
Another version is that the internal combustion engine was never invented, but style and design became more modern.
My favorite version is that something tragic happened during the industrial revolution, so technology stagnated with steam power. This is the more dystopian version of steampunk that appeals to me.
My main exposure to steampunk has been through CosPlay, graphic novels, and custom built models. I have not read any steampunk sci-fi novels.
“HO track is 16.5mm. If we divide 16.5 by 3 we get 5.5mm. That scales to 1/55 for an inch, strange scale right, 1/55? Military modeling has 1/56 or 28mm figures, there are figures, wagons, vehicles in the 28mm world. Why not make the models to 5.5mm/ft?”
That is awesome… I knew my idea could not be original. I am glad somebody took advantage of the endless wargaming models available to build a 1/56 (or 1/55) scale narrow gauge railroad.
My friend Thom sent me a picture of the track with a ruler. The track gauge is 1.375", which if my math is right, is just about 6 1/2 feet in 1/56 scale!
That’s good news. That track looks way too wide for the rolling stock. HO track should look far more proportional. Still, you’d need freightcar trucks to fit the 1/56 proportions. That sounds doable enough. Kadees woud be perfect.
I could definately see me making a small layout in this scale. Post civil war perhaps. Knowing there are figures and some wagons and stuff available helps. Such a project would have to wait until I meet the demands of the “loco ban” I placed myself under. Dan
I am too. I see a few fantasy railroads as train shows. If I do build this, it will be able to go to train shows for display.
I do not think I have a choice. I can’t stop thinking of this project!
They get more attractive everytime I look at them. I have a cart loaded on the Sarissa site, but I have not pulled the trigger yet. I want to make a trip to Saint Petersburg and check out my friend Thom’s models in person first.
I am thinking that On30 Bachmann trucks are the way to go. I wonder if Kadee makes On30 trucks?
I like the images of the Steampunk Trains you want to model Kevin. That stuff has Character!
I have found as I’m acquiring steam and diesel locomotives and rolling stock geared toward the Great Northern, Northern Pacific era. I’m really starting to like the old western looking stuff, even some of the out of the ordinary.
I took myself by surprise really liking these out of the ordinary short western passenger cars that are almost cartoon-like. Maybe these are considered Steampunk, I don’t know?
I found out later there’s a fourth one that completes this set as someone was selling the complete set of four for a high-dollar amount I might add. Now finding that the fourth one is going to be a Tough Act to Follow but I’m looking.
I may be having to make a compromise with my structures to look a little more old school on my layout to accommodate this stuff. I’m thinking some sort of happy medium so the GN, NP running equipment can blend with the surroundings as well but ran at separate times as the old west stuff.
I’m planning to start collecting some 4-4-0’s and some other old west looking steamers and rolling stock.
Just when I was getting myself under control. Look out eBay, here I come again[:-^]
You certainly could rotate time frames, the layout I’m building is designed to cover 4 periods of time spread out over about 50 years. You have to accept some compromises, but it can be done.
Perhaps another option would be to have a free-lanced narrow gauge railroad separate from your NP/GN trackage? Narrow gauge trains ran with smaller, older-style equipment into the transition era. D&RGW ran steam powered trains well into the mid/late 1960’s for example. I could see a 3’ gauge line running from a small town “up in the mountains” to a connection with the NP/GN mainline, maybe set in Montana, Idaho or Washington state.
