As someone of you know I’m in the early stages of planing my next layout. It will be H0. Now I’ve grown fascinated by narrow gauge so I was considering adding a small branch line HOn3 line.
But I do have a few questions about this since I know very little to say nothing about this.
The layout will be mid 50’s. Local have not been determined. But I’m leaning towards a fictional place that will allow me to have both a bit of mountains and plains.
Do the HOn3 operate on the same DCC systems as regular HO?
Which manufacturers produce good track. Since this will be a small part of the layout cost is not so much an issue. Quality is very important, as well as looks.
Which manufacturers produce good quality and highly detailed HOn3 equipment. I’m looking to get a mikado and maybe a shay so once again, quality, DCC and looks are the most important aspects. Since I will have so few engines cost is not very important. Cars would also be nice knowing which are good, I plan to use maybe 10-15. A few logging cars, a few passenger cars and some freight cars. Perhaps something from a small mining operation.
How large are “broad curves” in HOn3. On my Ho the mainline will be no less then 36". Which is something I consider broad. But naturally I want to use the narrow gauge to have some tighter curves then usual, but not to the extent that operations suffer.
Before anyone answers your questions if they can, you should be aware that HOn3 is a really minority scale. The only way you are going to get a Shay and other fine working locos would be in brass. And they are expensive. Everything else is probably do-able, but if you’ve got to spend $1000.00 for a Shay, then this may affect your thinking.
An alternative is HOn30, which uses N scale track and N scale mechanisms from steamers and diesels. A whole lot cheaper.
Thanks for telling me. But when I checked Walthers they come up with a total 25 products in HOn30 in stock. And I can not really find much at all. HOn3 had a lot more, though not very much either.
Which looks the best? Since this is for a really really small part of the layout I do not mind if costs runs wild. It won’t get very high anyways, it is also a project I will not even start until I’m done with my studies. I just want to start building up a few cars and an engine or two. Basically build it small so that I can afford top end stuff rather then buying it all at once.
That said, I do not want to spend money I do not have to, a brass Shay for 1000$ is not something I want to have to do. So I’m glad you told me.
i’m not an HOn3 modeller so i’ll only partially answer your questions
yes , DCC is the same for all scales , although the larger scales require more power output.
micro engineering and shinohara . maybe more
i’ll leave this to the people who model narrow guage and can give the best info
you could go to 18" or below . HOn3 equipment is both small and short , 20 foot cars aren’t unusual , and tight curves are very prototypical
HOn3 is HO scale (1/87) with 3 feet between the rails , in inches it would be called HO36 . HOn30 is HO scale with 30 inches between the rails , in feet it would be called HOn2 1/2 (i think thats the term MR mag uses)
you should try to find a copy of Narrow Guage and Shortline Gazette , it might inspire you to sell all your HO and just go narrow guage !
Don’t worry, they will have plenty of space to run free. This will only be a very small part of the layout. The layout room will be roughly 14*30 feet so a very small narrow gauge line should fit.
The Big boys will always be a part of my plans, that and the passenger cars is why I will use 36" radius on my standard gauge mainline.
Ummmm Union Pacific Big Boys, Pennsy, Chicagoish modeling, area and now HOn3 and logging operations??!? At some point in time a modeler must decide that yes I am fascinated by xxxx but it has to remain a fascination. Otherwise their modeling efforts end up going in too many directions, the money is spread in too many areas, and none of the fascinations are satisifed. Freelancing when everything fits like the V&O is awesome, freelancing where every whim is mish-mashed together (the “its my layout and I’ll do as I please philosophy”) basically becomes a totally unbelievable toy train exhibit. If that is where you want to go that is fine but I would ask you to really think about it.
I speak from experience. At one time I had N, HO, O, and G. I was trying to pursue them all. In N-scale I had Santa Fe, CB&Q, D&RGW, & SP (which now I gag on). In HO it was CB&Q, GN, and NP plus the club I belong to was a freelance. G was narrow gauge. I finally got smart and dropped the N and O scale. But didn’t drop the road names. Then when I got smarter and decided to go down to a specific thing found it is much harder to drop a road name when one realizes that through the whim years they have accumulated 100s of locomotives in each??!
Decided to focust the modeling on one thing now - and stick to it. Your budget will be happier, your layout will be better, and it will be a better modeling experience. Yes one can still like other things. I still love GG1s and know all about them, but that doesn’t mean I have to have an model of one on my layout. I really love ore operations, but not as much as other things so they will not be on my layout either.
But seriously, magazines like Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette would be a good place to start, if for no other reason, the ads, which will give you a much bigger selection than Walthers.
Before the latest round of buyouts, mergers, consolidations, etc (yes this happened in the model manufacturing section, too) a good source of reasonably priced HOn3 equipment was Model Die Casting/Roundhouse. They are owned by Athearn now but I’m not sure if they offer the HOn3 part of the line yet, or will in the future. The website doesn’t show them, but you may be able to find the older ones on Ebay.
HOn3 is going through a growth spurt right now with some D&RGW engines being mass produced and some really nice plastic cars. I used to model SP narrow gauge in HOn3 which is a definite rare prototype and it can be done satisfactorily. The engines currently coming out are K series Mikados which are pretty big by NG standards and will undoubtedly run very well. With the smaller engines there are some electrical and mechanical issues to be dealt with but can be overcome. Track and turnouts from more that one manufacturer are available. Check out Blackstone and Precision Scale. Definitely check out HOn3 on Ebay to get an idea what is out there. A copy of the Shortline and Narrow Gauge Gazette is a must. There is a very strong HOn3 group on Yahoo. The big engines need >18 inch radius, the smaller ones tolerate 14-15 inch curves. Getting the equipment to run well takes some work and it is definitely small. I eventually jumped to Sn3 for that reason. Unlike On30 which has some definite advantages over On3 in the price and availability area, HOn30 has much less equipment available and no real advantages over HOn3 IMO. It tends to get used more for modeling 2 foot gauge Maine railroads in HO. - Nevin
Texas Zepher , I understand your point. I have been thinking about getting one railroad and run that and nothing but that. This narrow gauge fascination is right now on a very early stage, which might mean that there will be nothing done with it. I still like to examine things and I might also get the engines just because I like the looks of the, I bought a galloping goose just the other day in On30, I will never run it. But I want to have it to look at. The same theory applies to a lot of things I collect. I will never ever run all my 25 Big boys and so on, I like to collect items and put them on display. If I never use them that’s fine with me. I like to look at them. So some of my interest in narrow gauge should be viewed in that perspective. I might just make a diorama or just put them in my cabinet.
Now, if I ad a small line in narrow gauge it would be very small as I said, nothing more then a few meters in length. Maybe more, but not a lot at all. Just as a way for me to run a few trains on occasion.
I am not about to start several scales, I have no interest what so ever in the other scales. About focusing on one railroad, I’ve been thinking about that, either the B&O or the UP. I own about equal amount of engines for both, but B&O is my main interest. Now, I have some other engines from other lines, I have some DM&IR, a full California Zephyr set and two sets of NYC F3 AB’s. I also got three N&W class J’s and some other engines. But the majority of these “foreign” railroads engines won’t be used on the layout. Their place is in the cabinets and will occasionally be used for fun. So please understand that just because I have the engines it doesn’t mean that I plan to use them on a regular basis.
I’m there for in a situation that as you describe should make up my mind. But for me I can not see the reason why I can not ad a small narrow gauge line and say that it’s next
Here is a photo of my first 4 X 8 layout done in HOn30.
As you an see, you can pack a lot of RR into a small space. It even has a standard (HO) gauge loop on the lower level. The layout was built in 1982 during a period when HOn30 ( 2-1/2) was popularized by articles in the MR press by Dave Frary and Bob Hayden and brass locomotives were available form Joe Works/ Flying Zoo in Japan. Frary and Hayden used N gauge track ( 9mm) to simulate the 2 ft gauge prototype railroads that existed in the state of Maine from the late 1800’s until the 1930’s. Small 30 gauge logging railroads were found in the Pacific Northwest in the early 1900’s but not many other places. The Narrow Gauge Gazette is currently doing a series of articles on the history of 30 inch gauge in the US. The rod engine in the picture is from Joe Works. The caboose trailing is an HOn3 kit with N gauge trucks. The station and the water tank are from Woodland Scenics. Everything else is scratch built. Excellent q
I thought I better clarify how, if I would use a small piece of narrow gauge that would incorporated. Basically, the trains would only run a few meters to a small station where they meet the normal track. From there it would just run to a small staging yard that would be hidden and run through tunnels to emerge back again. So it would NOT be anything big at all, just a small thing that would allow me to use some stuff that I think is great looking.
I was thinking of a a tourist line. It was after watching a DVD with that I started to be inspired. Especially the Mikados.
Most of what I seen is from the Rocky’s, but how was it with narrow gauge in the eastern mountains?
I though about my struggle with B&O vs UP. I kind of realized that I always tend to plan for the B&O. The U´P is only second. I only have two kinds of engines for the B&O, Big Boys and a challenger. While for the B&O I have a some diversity. I also like them more. So I will start to focus even more on them.
I Checked out the narrow gauge gazette, seems quite cheap, I’ll might try a year subscription just to try it.
HOn3 has a large following and since when is an mdc shay brass or cost $1000.00. My last brass shay was around $200.00 a year ago and they sell all the time for less than $300.00 on ebay.
