I’m making a transition from N scale ATSF to HOn3 D&RGW, and being a relative newbie in this area, I have a couple of questions for those who’ve taken the plunge before me:- Couplers - I’ve noticed that Blackstone stuff generally comes with Kadee couplers, whereas Micro-Trains comes with M-T couplers. Are both of these couplers HO scale, or a slightly smaller HOn3 size, or are the M-T ones N scale and the Kadees HO? If so, would they be compatible?
Is the NMRA standards/clearance gauge for HO scale applicable for HOn3 clearance, or would it be slightly smaller - and does such a gauge exist?
Shinohara and Micro-Engineering both make turnouts for HOn3 - are these live frogs? And which brand is more reliable?
Does any manufacturer make sections where the narrow and standard gauge tracks merge and become dual gauge?
BK Enterprises (and other custom turnout builders) will build you any of the many variations of dual-gauge turnouts and crossings. Here is BK http://www.troutcreekeng.com/bkho.html. The turnouts are easy to lay on wooden ties. Just need a couple of three-point track gauges and needle-nose pliars to install spikes.
my experience with HOn3 goes back some 35 years, when I gave it up due to sourcing problems in Germany.
Kadee´s HOn3 couplers are slightly smaller than their HO counterparts, but still bigger than the N scale couplers. They should be compatible with MT couplers, but that I can only assume.
HOn3 clearance is slightly smaller than standard gauge clearance. There is a NMRA gauge available, see this link.
In my time of modeling HOn3 gauge, Shinohara was the only source of track and their turnouts had live frogs. The turnout sometimes required a little tweaking at the point rails to be in gauge. IIRC, they also make dual gauge track. As Micro-Engineering was not around in those days, I have no experience with their track. They do enjoy, however, a good reputation.
Modeling narrow gauge in general is quite a costly affair - unless you are in On30. It is a niche, with only a limited supply. When Blackstone announced their K-27´s, I was tempted to a re-start, but did not pursue this idea, as the sourcing issue has not been solved.
The Kadee coupler for HOn3 is the #713 (“rust”) and #714 (black). These are the same as the standard gauge #711 and #712 once sold as the “Old Timer”, but with a shorter trip pin for HOn3. The #714 is the most commonly used coupler used in HOn3. They have smaller heads than the standard Kadee HO couplers, and are pretty close to scale for standard gauge. If there is a coupler box provision on an HOn3 car, it is generally set up for #714s. Blackstone furnishes 714s on its rolling stock. The downside is the “slinky” effect you sometimes get when the combination centering and draft gear springs start oscillating. But…
Kadee introduced their scale size HO couplers which have a similar size head in the vertical plane, but appear larger than the 711/714 overall. And you would have to fit HOn3 trip pins to the HO coupler. And most of the scale size (58, 158) take the larger standard size coupler box. Only the #78 combines scale head with the smaller coupler box.
Some use Sergent couplers, which are again full size scale HO standard gauge couplers. These are much more accurately scaled than Kadee’s scale heads. They don’t necessarily couple easily with Kadees. Sergent couplers don’t require a trip pin - they have to be uncoupled with a magnet on a pick over top of the coupler. Switching requires reaching in. To be fair, many Kadee users uncouple manually with a pick, too. With Sergents, the couplers must be manually aligned and one knuckle opened before they can be coupled (just like prototype).
Micro-Trains cars are furnished with MT N couplers. They also
We’re building H0n3 modules. Sorry, text in German, but the pics and pdf will tell you.
We use Kadee #713 and #714.
Turnouts are from Railway Engineering, Shinohara, ME, Cream City and (for me) scratch built. We use code 70 or code 55 rail for dual gauge and code 55 or code 40 rail for narrow gauge.
Sorcing is no problem. I’ve ordered direct from LaBelle as well as friends have ordered from Litchfield, Trackside Emporium, and other.
There is an HOn3 gauge that works just like the HO version.
Be careful using the NMRA clearances. I heard a rumor that John Allen was a major force behind the NMRA HOn3 standards, and he favored small locomotives. As a result, the horizontal and vertical clearance on the gauge may not be sufficient for larger locomotives. Examples are D&RG outside-frame K series and the MDC/Roundhouse Shay. The latter shares a frame with the standard gauge version, and thus the frame is a little bit wide if your layout is built to NMRA HOn3 standards.
Good points. Another thing: the clearances are for straight track. Unless track curves are extremely broad, additional horizontal clearance will be needed depending on the sharpness of the curves and the nature of the rolling stock and locomotives. The various parallel track separation distances provided in NMRA Recommended Practices can clue you in on how much additional clearance may be needed.
Thank you all for your helpful replies. I may have a few more questions, in the near future. Just one more for the moment, though - I was thinking of using code 70 rail for the mainline/dual gauge, and code 55 for sidings/spurs - would this be realistic for a 3’ gauge railroad in around the mid-1940s?
That’s doable and will emphasize variations of different tracks. Unless, however, you’re modeling a contemporary narrow-gauge railroad, code 70 is oversized. Its main advantages is availability and being much sturdier than the smaller codes. I’d also consider using code 40 on lesser-used tracks. The pictures I posted earlier show codes 70 and 55 rails. On my 1960s layout I used codes 55 and 40 without regret.