what dose On3 mean
i think it is when you use ho cars on n scale track i dont know
On3 means it is O scale (in USA 1/48), but representing 3´ narrow gauge track. On3 track is a little wider than HO track.
HOn30 would be HO scale(1/87) on 2´6" narrow gauge track - same width as N scale.
oh so i was kinda right
The first letters mean the scale of the model in the traditional sense - F, G, O, S, HO, TT, N, Z, T, etc (I probably still missed some). It assumes modeling of standard gauge track - 4ft 8.5in.
The “n” means it is a model of narrow gauge track.
The “3” means it is a model of 3ft gauge track.
So On3 means O scale models of 3ft narrow gauge prototypes. On2 means O scale models of 2ft narrow gauge prototypes. HOm means HO scale models of meter gauge prototypes.
The odd man out is the “n30”. Bachmann, instead of using the same convention (which would be On2.5) for their O scale models running on scale 30" gauge track, chose On30 to represent the scale/gauge combination. The “n30” has become the normal nomenclature instead of “n2.5”.
The peculiar thing about On30 and HOn30 is that the track for standard gauge of 2 scales smaller measures out to very close to 30" in the larger scale. On30 models run on HO standard gauge track, and HOn30 models run on N gauge track. On3 and HOn3 run on exactly scaled track gauges, and will not run on other common gauges of model track.
In North America, the amount of narrow gauge track in the real world was predominantly 3ft gauge, with 2ft gauge being a distant 2nd. 30" gauge was used, and had the 3rd highest total, but it was small in comparison.
hope this helps
Fred W
No. As Ulrich pointed out - H0 scale narrow gauge models on N scale track is called H0n30, not On3.
On3 is O scale models, not H0 scale models, n3 is narrow gauge 3 foot track - which in 1:48 scale means that the rails are 36" / 48 = .75" (19 mm apart), which is further apart than the rails are in H0 gauge normal track (where the tracks are 16.5 mm apart).
On2 is O scale models, n2 is narrow gauge 2 foot track - which in 1:48 scale means that the rails are 24" / 48 = 0.5" apart (12.7 mm).
On30 is O scale models that is supposed to run on 30" (2 1/2 foot) wide narrow gauge track. 30" wide in 1:48 scale works out to be close enough to normal H0 gauge track (rails 16.5 mm apart) that the makers of On30 rolling stock and engines just make their trains work on H0 scale normal gauge track - which makes the selection of ready made track components for On30 a lot bigger than for either On3 or On2.
Smile,
Stein
ok taking in what you all said
first thing that comes to mind is the trucks wouldnt that place them to far inside the box car and wouldnt it make the box car hang to far over them
2nd wouldnt you also have a problem with the center of gravity. leadding to a car just falling over if it tilts to one side or the other
There are a number of coincident gauges in the hobby, usually picked deliberately to enable commercial track/mechanisms from one scale to be used in another. The ones I know of are:
Gn15 - HO
On3 - American OO (British OO uses HO)
On30 - HO
Sn42 - HO (popular in Australia and New Zealand which had 42" railways)
Sn2 - HOn3 (N in some places)
HOn30 - N
Nn3 - Z
The family of G (or Large) Scales running on #1 track.
Not that anyone uses it (at least that I know of), but #1n2 - On3 is a possibility
Enjoy
Paul
Not really. Real world narrow gauge rolling stock and locomotives are smaller. When Gen Palmer of D&RG fame was pushing his vision of 3ft gauge (in the 1870s), the saying was 7/8 the capacity at 3/4 the cost. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out economically. Standard gauge grew substantially in size of cars, locomotives, and length of trains. Narrow gauge was hampered by poor and lightweight trackwork installed at low cost but which created relatively high maintenance costs for the track later on. Also, the physics you mentioned prevented as much growth in the size of rolling stock. The final economic blow to narrow gauge was the introduction of universal interchange of cars and loads between standard gauge railroads. If goods were shipped off or on to the narrow gauge network, loads (with a few exceptions) had to be transferred between standard and narrow gauge cars.
Courtney,
No question is stupid. I just learned a lot from all the posts that responded to you.
Thanks guys for sharing!
doc steve
Right. The only stupid question is the one you don’t ask. There are basic questions, but not stupid ones.
Check out the October issue of Trains magazine for some more info on real world narrow gauge railroads.
Interesting width but what about ties. Weren’t standard width ties still used in prototypical narrow gauge? The few narrow gauge layouts I’ve seen (mostly HO, but one O) looked like the track still used normal width ties. I was looking into narrow HO but I don’t remember if it was n3 or n30. The prices for stuff was waaaaaay to high so the interest was lost fairly quickly. $400-500 for a standard DC, not-even-DCC-ready was too much. Of course once I realized it was a brass engine it sounded like a good price, but still I don’t want to pay that much. And the rolling stock was around 45 bucks, not worth it since I planned on doing my free-lance which meant everything would have to be stripped and repainted. I will note though that I couldn’t find any kits, just ready-to-roll cars.
No, not usually on the real thing.
LaBelle has some car kits for HOn30 at $20 less t/c.
Ye Olde Huff n Puff has a couple at the same price.
Trout Creek has some mostly in the mid $20’s
With trucks and couplers you are up to about $30 - $35.
MicroTrains RTR is mid $30’s.
Scratch building may get this down somewhat depending on how many parts you buy vs make. But the reality is that the $10 or less kits of Athearn and others in HO are disappearing.
Paul
Prototype narrow gauge generally used 6ft or 6.5ft long ties. Standard gauge ties ranged from 8ft to 9ft depending on era. Narrow gauge ties are actually longer in proportion to the track gauge. Tie spacing would be more spread out in narrow gauge, and the narrow gauge ties were smaller in width and depth.
Railcraft still makes nice HOn3 plastic box car and stock car kits (D&RGW prototype) for $15.95 less t/c.
Railway Engineering makes an HOn3 Carter Bros box car kit (California prototype) in plastic.
Fred W
Instead of making life difficult, just try www.bnfhoby.com they stock almost every HOn30 item under the sun. Not enough? Next try www.trainandtrooper.com they really do have every thing under the sun, but a little more pricey.
But sometimes the answer can be.
Mark