Ok, about to make another “newbie” mistake, but I am just thoroughly confused about the whole HO/HOn3 thing. Isn’t there another “size” in the HO family as well?
Does HO stuff fit on HOn3? And vice versa? I see this stuff and wonder if what I buy will work. Or I see something I want for my layout, yet I pause because I don’t know exactly what it is.
Oh, and just so you guys that have answered my questions in the past, THANK YOU!!! With out you guys passing on years of knowledge, tips, disasters and ideas, I would have given this up long ago. Thank you for being patient with me.
HOn3 is HO scale but narrow gauge - not sure precisely what track gauge is used but there’s also HOe (9mm gauge) and HOm (12mm gauge). You’d be able to use buildings, figures etc on both but not rolling stock. Hope this is of help!
HO scale is defined as 3.5mm to a foot, or the ratio 1/87.1
HOn3 HO is the scale, n means narrow guage, 3 means 3 foot. So HOn3 is HO scale narrow guage with 3 feet between the rails. 3 feet in HO is 10.5mm.
Standard guage (4’8½") is 16.5mm
HOn3 railroad items (locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, etc) will not run on HO standard guage track. But the other items (buildings, people, etc) are exactly the same.
And to throw a curve into the whole thing, there is On30 which is O scale (¼" to a foot or ratio 1/48) 30" narrow guage, which runs on 16.5mm guage track. Bachmann offers an extensive line of On30.
There were basically two gauges (with some exceptions notably the Erie that was originally 5’ ) that the real railroads used. 4’8 1/2" is standard gauge and there is a myth that floats around the internet about the tracks being the width of Roman chariot wheels and therefore decided by two horses hind ends. Narrow gauge - usually 30" - 36" wide was used in areas where construction costs were prohibitive like the Rocky mountains. So you have standard and narrow gauges. HO refers to 1/87th scale standard gauge and replicates equipment for trains that ran on 4’ 8 1/2" wide tracks. Narrow gauge is a little trickier because there in HOn30 and HOn2.5 (I think) that represent the smaller equipemnt with a narrower wheelbase for use on narrow gauge tracks. Just to confuse you further there is also Sn30 and On30 which are narrow gauge equipment in S and O scales. Amazingly Bachman makes On30 equipment that runs on of all things standard gauge HO track since in O gauge it is the perfect spacing. So the answer to your question is no narrow gauge (HOn anything) will not be compatible with HO track or trains. HOWEVER the East Broad Top narrow gauge in Pennsylvania connected to the Pennsylvania railroad and had a crane when a standard gauge car would be delivered for an industry on the EBT that would lift one end of the car while the standrad gauge truck was removed and a narrow gauge turck insertes for its trip down the EBT. Upon return the original trucks would be replaced so there is precedence for standrad gauge equipment on narrow gauge lines. Also Denver and the surrounding area had dual gauge track with three rails so both types could operate into Denver before parting.
‘HO’’ is "half "of Lionel’s old toy 0’ guage, and supposed to be around 1/87th of the prototype
"GUAGE’’ is track related and represent’s the distance between (outer - inner) rails
‘‘n’’ means ‘narrow guage’ - simulating railroad’s using 3 ft and 2 ft spaced rails
Therefor HOn3 means 1/87 size - running on 3’ narrow guage rails.
( Narrow guage is a small specialilized nitche of the HO equipment out there.)
Both HOn2 and HOn3 are 1/87th size, but wont run on regular HO track.
‘N’ guage (capital N) is a smaller size (120th?) of everything
Not all full size railroads are/were built to the same track gauge. While most tracks are 4’8 1/2" apart, some were built with the tracks 2 or 3 feet apart and these were called narrow gauge. Some were built with the tracks 6 or 7 feet apart, these are usually called wide gauge. Numerous other gauges have been used.
In the model railroading world the scale designation is used to tell you what the ratio is to full size. The letters refer to the scales the most popular of which are Z, N, HO, S, O, and G. Everything that is HO is the same scale. Thus everything labeled HO is 1/87.1 the size of full scale, S is 1/64, etc.
Where the track gauge is a factor the letter n or w followed by a number is used to denote narrow or wide gauge, for standard gauge nothing is used. So when you see track that is labeled HO the rails are 1/87.1 of 4’8 1/2" wide. Track labeled HOn2 is 1/87.1 of 2’ wide, HOw6 would be 1/87.1 of 6’ wide. Sometimes the number is given in inches so you have HOn30 which is 1/87.1 of 30" wide. You will see similar designations for locomotives and rolling stock. In this case it refers to how far apart the wheels are and thus the gauge of track it will run on. i.e HO locomotives run on HO track, HOn3 locomotives run on HOn3 track, HOn30 ones run on HOn30 track. But the scale is the same.
For buildings, people, animals, etc. only the scale matters. An HO person can be used with any HO stuff.
Where it gets confusing is with crossover uses. On30 uses HO track. The scale is still O scale at 1/48, but in order to use commercially available HO track, turnouts, etc. HO wheels are used, although sometimes O scale wheels are used spaced for HO standard gauge so they will run on the HO track. HO track is not exactly 1/87.1 of 30", but it’s close. Also the tie size of HO track is too small for O scale, but when ballasted it is not too objectionable.
The most popular crossovers are HOn30 using N scale track and wheels, Sn2 using HOn3 tr