HOn30 Trucks to fit roundhouse old timers

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi all

I have some Roundhouse DG & H RR old timer kits these are very collectable Now.

I would like to build them as narrow gauge assuming they are around 27mm wide or slightly less.

Does anyone know of a suitable easily obtainable HOn30 truck that will fit the kit but can still be exchanged for the originals if need be.

I don’t really want to do more than a truck change if I can get away with it.

Failing that anyone know of any TT USA outline alternatives to narrow gauge

I would like a lttle bit more than just WD and Pershing like WWI rolling stock for trains.

regards John

2

Minitrains/Germany sells a HOn30 caboose with Pershing trucks, which may be obtainable as parts from them.

If you are not able to source them, how about re-gauging a HOn3 truck?

3

Shapeways (3D prints) has some. It’s a great source for HOn30 stuff. Just google ‘shapeways HOn30’ to see the selection.

Simon

4

John, just to be clear are you modeing 3 foot (HOn3) or 2 foot (HOn30) narrow gauge? The old Roundhouse DG&H RR were 3 foot narrow gauge, if I remember correctly.

5

I have a DG&H boxcar kit. The body is the same size as the other Old Timer series standard gauge boxcars and the included trucks are standard gauge.

While Roundhouse had a line of HOn3 locomotive kits, I have never seen any HOn3 freight or passenger cars from them.

Paul

6

Agree. MDC / Roundhouse never offered any narrow gauge rolling stock. These cars will be much too wide for anything in HO narrow gauge. They are almost a perfect fit for Sn2.

7

There have been articles about slicing a chunk out of the center to make them less wide.

8

Hi all

The railway will be 2’ 6" gauge HOn30 9mm in model terms. So as long as the car is 27mm or less wide that’s fine.

If not I am not cutting them up to make them fit.

They will go back in the box for when, I do a std gauge layout again at some time in the future.

John Allan’s DG & H or G & D inspired Roundhouse rolling stock is not for cutting up.

regards John

9

Give the gauge difference is only 1mm could be an option.

Got the caboose horrible pink colour instead of a nice bright red

Thanks for link

regards John

10

Yes but no use to me as 3’ gauge cars and given the way narrow gauge cars swapped railroads as they went bust

I figure being old timers if the cars are narrow enough new bogies (Trucks) and onto the line and into service.

Would give the typical wierd look of some narrow gauge trains with odd sized cars

regards John

11

I agree.

The bodies of the tenders for Bachmann’s Ten Wheelers were actually wider than the locomotive’s cab…

…so I used an ordinary handsaw to segment them, as the width of the kerf matched what needed to be removed.
Unfortunately, my skewed sense of perpendicular was at play, which required some patching-up to make things right…

Both underframes needed some similar adjustments, too…

I think that they turned out well-enough, though…

I had better luck with these AHM/Rivarossi stockcars, though, after I learned that they were quite a bit wider than they should have been. I used my worm-drive Skilsaw to cut some scrap 2"x4"s into tight-fitting blocks for the cars’ interiors, then used the same saw to cleanly remove 1/8" from the centre of each car…

No sanding, other than to remove melted residue along the cuts, or filler was needed.

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12

Nice work Wayne, as always!

I have two HOn30 industrial and mining strips on my layout. It’s pretty tiny stuff - trying to adapt HO cars will be a significant challenge. For gondolas, I found some used Graham Farish stuff in the used bin of our local hobby shop. Got lucky on that one! If I was to add box cars or a caboose on the layout, I would go for a Funaro and Carmelengo kit:

http://fandckits.com/ho_narrow.html

Simon

13

Thanks, Simon, and thanks for that link, too. While I’m not into narrow gauge modelling, it’s always nice to know in case someone, who is into it, asks.

Wayne