clcotrains.embarqspace.com/stuffpage
In the first three pictures in the fourth row, I have HO shells sitting on an N scale Dash 8 mechanism. I am going to narrow and shorten them. I like the C-liner best, but it would be sort of hard to narrow because of the curves. I might be able to do it with a lot of bondo, putty, and sandpaper. Which one do you think I should do?
None of the above. They all look very silly. The prototype would use narrowed standard trucks.
Can I ask why?
David B
IMHO your body is too tall for the wheels. Narrow gauge railroad locomotives seem to have smaller bodies, but full size cabs, headlights, bells, etc. I think you would get a better results using an N scale body, putting a new HO cab, HO headlight, HO bell, etc. on it.
Enjoy
Paul
The reason why is because I want to practice kitbashing and I have the parts laying around.
I was planning to narrow the shells and shorten their lengths and heights. I just need to know which one to do first.
Narrow gauge railroads were weight limited. Those diesels pictured would be wayyyyy too heavy for prototypical HOn30 trackage.
-G-
Because of the overwhelming support of my ideas, ([#dots]) I decided to do it, but with a Bachmann 70 tonner shell. I’ll post pictures sometime, but for now, it will look something like this: http://narrowmind.railfan.net/NG_Diesels/USP-GE70T-CC-(3).jpg
That is a good project, but using N scale trucks will look really silly. All the detail on the trucks will be out of scale including the wheels. Why not use HO trucks and REGAUGE them to HOn30 specs?
David B
I don’t think it’s a lack of support but more of a question of “why” you want to do it.
Are you doing it because you know you can and have some parts laying around and enjoy the technical challenge?
Are you doing it because you want a specific loco in HOn30?
Are you doing it because you want a deisel loco in HOn30 that is ‘sorta’ prototypical?
Most MRR’s try to acheive something that is at least plausible and ‘looks’ appropriate. It’s possible to use N scale running gear but keep in mind you’re still modeling HO scale. The “n30” only indicates the track gauge. Everything else still needs to be HO. I have no idea what the wheel diameter of the 70 tonner you’ve pictured is but you’re better off using HO wheel sets in the proper scale diameter that are re-gauged to HOn30 then N scale wheel sets from whatever N-scale loco chassis you’ll be using. othersise it will look strange.
At least a 70 tonner would be more in line with what a 30" track gauge might be able to handle (although it would be the very high end)
-G-
It’s not HOn30, but there is an article in the July 2008 RMC on the conversion of a Bachmann 70-tonner to HOn3. It may give you some ideas about a conversion. The critical thing will be – Is there enough room in the trucks’ gear trains once you get narrowed wheelsets for HOn30 to work? Based on the article, HOn3 will work, but you’ll have to go narrower than that to make HOn30 work.
The N scale sideframes are the same length and height as the original 70 tonner sideframes.
I’m using that article as well for guidance.
Based somewhat on the suggestions here, I am going to use the 70 tonner sideframes but with a third pair of journal boxes added in the middle. The wheels will still be small, but they will be hard to see other than being able to see that the journal boxes are close.
clcotrains.embarqspace.com/stuffpage
(I really need to sign up for photobucket or something)
The 2 pics of the yellow diesel near the end is it. Some parts are just sitting there as a sort of mock-up. I’m thinking about attaching the end platforms to the trucks so it is similar to the prototype.
If the Bethlehem Steel shell was to be used as-is, with a shortened frame, it would be prototypical to use code 80 N-scale track with the ties buried in the cinder surface of the steel mill yard. Those little tramway flats with two ingots on them are HEAVY!
Likewise, those N-scale drivers and sideframes would be a lot closer to 762mm gauge prototype size than any narrowed HO standard gauge items. My desktop is a 762mm gauge loco with HUGE drivers - which I can model with 36" HO wheels, except that the journal boxes are N-scale size equivalent. The 762mm gauge Kiso Forest Railway ran locos with N-scale equivalent drivers - and Z-scale equivalent wheels under non-powered rolling stock (prototype was 305mm, aka 1 foot diameter!)
I will say that it would be wiser to Google up some info about 30 inch/762mm gauge prototype equipment, rather than simply shoot from the hip. (I was lucky enough to see, and ride, my 762mm prototypes.)
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with two 762mm gauge feeder railways)
