On3 Help

[CNWman]

Hi all

First off, I am NOT getting On3 trains, HO is expesive enough for me Actually, I only discovered today that one of my best friends at school is also a fellow model railroader with some On3 stuff! However, he says his trains have laid dormant for a while, so he has no clue if they run, and he doesn't have any track laid out to test them on, so I have invited him over to test his trains on my Riverside RR's tracks (On3 does run on typical HO track, right?). The main reason I am starting this thread is that my friend doesn't know alot about narrow gauge modeling (at least from what he's told me), so can you guys if you can give some general narrow gauge tips 'n tricks for my friend? I ask you guys because you all/ ya'll have narrow gauge experience, and I don't.

[sumpter250]

(On3 does run on typical HO track, right?).

No.

Typical HO track, when measured with an O scale rule, measures 31-1/2", and is commonly called On30. On3 rail would measure (in "American O scale") 3/4" (3')

The main reason I am starting this thread is that my friend doesn't know alot about narrow gauge modeling (at least from what he's told me), so can you guys if you can give some general narrow gauge tips 'n tricks for my friend? I ask you guys because you all/ ya'll have narrow gauge experience, and I don't.

Have your friend join us here on the gauge, and ask. we all could learn a bit in the process.
Pete

[60103]

O scale trains running on HO track are called On30 for the (approximately) 30" gauge.
On3 is 3/4" gauge which is approximately American OO gauge.

[CNWman]

Originally Posted by sumpter250

No. Typical HO track, when measured with an O scale rule, measures 31-1/2", and is commonly called On30. On3 rail would measure (in "American O scale") 3/4" (3')

Dangit!

[

Originally Posted by sumpter250

Have your friend join us here on the gauge, and ask. we all could learn a bit in the process.
Pete

Now this I'll suggest to him

[sumpter250]

Now this I'll suggest to him

"Come into my parlor", said the spider to the fly.

[nkp174]

Do you live anywhere near UC? You could borrow 4' of On3 track from me.

[CNWman]

Originally Posted by nkp174

Do you live anywhere near UC? You could borrow 4' of On3 track from me.

No need, his trains were actualy On30

[nkp174]

The confusion! Occasionally there is a person whom does have some On3 stuff packed away...but due to the price of and rarity of it, they usually know what it is. My dad discovered when I was around 3rd grade that one of my friend's dads had three brass On3 locomotives...I believe it was a T-12, a C-16, and a K-27. He wasn't interested in parting with them, although he had no On3 track or plans.

I think On30...despite the confusion...has been one of the best things to happen to On3 since Cliff Grandt switched over from HO. Suddenly a cheap source of equipment became available from Bachman (their coaches are shortened Jackson & Sharp 36" gauge cars, their mogul is very close to the C&S's #21 & #22)...and that led to plastic & die cast models hitting on both the On30 & On3 crowd (Precision Craft's Galloping Goose, Precision Scale's Mountain Model Imports).

[CNWman]

yeah, my friend Chris (the one with the stuff) said he didn't know if his old trains even worked anymore, and was promptly surprised when his monster 2-6-0 hauled every car I own with ease. He said he liked On30 because of the big trains and wide availability of track

[nkp174]

Originally Posted by CNWman

yeah, my friend Chris (the one with the stuff) said he didn't know if his old trains even worked anymore, and was promptly surprised when his monster 2-6-0 hauled every car I own with ease. He said he liked On30 because of the big trains and wide availability of track

Old? Old? I think most people on this forum would consider that to be rather new. That mogul came in 1999! Therefore, it can't be more than 8yrs old. I still regard my Genesis mikado of the same vintage to be new.
I still have a life-like GP 38 (or something) that came with my first HO trainset in 1987...and it works just fine. It was a Christmas gift right after my 5th birthday. My LGB set from when I was 2 still works as well...my dad took it out in the snow with my nephew this past winter...we need one of those GME working rotary snow plows.

On30 is really neat stuff. It is so incredibly useful for building shortlines. If I wasn't able to work with Colorado Narrow Gauges, the EBT, or the NKP, I'd be building a huge empire for On30 0-4-0s, shays, and 2" long freight cars.

[CNWman]

Originally Posted by sumpter250

"Come into my parlor", said the spider to the fly.

ARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!! Now you've brought back memories of my sister's unceasing repeated readings of that stinking book!!!!

[sumpter250]

ARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!! Now you've brought back memories of my sister's unceasing repeated readings of that stinking book!!!!

Ahhh, you are most cordially welcome......(MMWWaaa Ha HA Haaaaa)


With four daughters, I can truly appreciate "unceasing readings".

[PRRman]

Originally Posted by CNWman

yeah, my friend Chris (the one with the stuff) said he didn't know if his old trains even worked anymore, and was promptly surprised when his monster 2-6-0 hauled every car I own with ease. He said he liked On30 because of the big trains and wide availability of track

Hey! My Mogul is NOT a monster! Still, I was really surprised when she still worked (They weren't exactly being stored in a safe place-unless a dank, musty, damp basement counts as "safe" for model train storage). But hey, at least now I can put less money into rebuilding the layout I was working on up to a couple years ago-with vast improvements!

[nkp174]

Cushiest, most boring...you must live in Mason!

Those moguls are beasts if you pull the shell off and run it around. I have two of them...and since I bought them at Davis trains in Milford 5 years ago...at least one of them has been in pieces continually.

[Greg Elems]

Hey PRRman welcome to "The-Gauge." Lots of good people here to help and listen and great modelers too.

Greg