Handlaying On30 track

[brad]

Hi all,

Another couple of newbie O scale questions. I'm in the middle of building my O scale Keystone sawmill and want to handlay some On30 rail next to it.

Will On30 wheel flanges clear code 70 rail? (I'm assuming it will but would like to check)

I'm going to cut my own ties. What would be an appropriate length and  size be? ie 4X6, 4X8?

Thanks as always
brad

The floor is all built as are most of the walls and machinery

[Jim Goodridge]

Hi Brad,  I used 1/8 inch thick basswood cut a scale 9 inches (3/16 inches) wide and a scale 6 feet (1 -1/2 inches) long.  I used it with Peco On30 turnouts and it looks pretty good.  The Peco On30 track has ties a scale 5 feet long and I thought they looked too short.  The two foot gauge Sandy River and Rangely Lakes used ties 5 inches by 5 inches by 5 feet long but they looked too small to me.  I cut the basswood from sheetstock using a balsa stripper ( you need two passes to do it in basswood).  I am rebuilding my layout and am continuing to use the same tie size as I like the look. 

Before the rebuild I had some track laid with code 70 rail and it worked fine.  The current railway will have code 100 because it is cheaper and easier to get where I live.

Best Regards
Jim Goodridge
Saskatoon

[japasha]

Good idea. I use On3 ties and they look sufficiently long when  ued in On30. They  make  two lengths, six  feet annd  six  feet  six  inches.

I   modify Atlas  code  83  switches. Code  70  will  ork as  well,  and very well  with  Bachmann  rolling  stock  but pay   attention to  getting  the  spikes  down  correctly. 

Have  fun.  Hand  laid  track  in  On30  looks  very cool.

[brad]

Thanks guys, The track I'm laying is just on a 17" sqr. diarama for the NMRA show here in Sept.  but I want to build a skeleton car to put on it so would like some functional track.  1/8X3/16X1 1/2  sounds good to me.

Jim, That makes 3 of us from 'toon town here on the board.  Ever come by Confed Mall .and see the club layouts?

brad

[ebtnut]

To answer more directly the original question--On30 uses the same wheel and track standards as HO.  Yes, you can use code 70, even code 55 (though that is really too light for O scale track, at about 20 lb. rail equivalent). 

[Jim Goodridge]

Brad,  I moved to Saskatoon almost 3 years ago and went to Confed mall and saw the layouts - I meant to get involved but kind of ran out of time.  I will have to make time for it soon.

Regards
Jim

[ebtbob]

Good Morning All,

      Since the use of Peco On30 turnouts was mentioned,  I thought you may be interested in how I use Peco HO turnouts on my On30 railroad.  This is the first of two posts as I want to share the unfinished and finished views and do not understand how to get multiple pix in one post.  So here is a pic of the HO Peco turnout with most of the plastic ties cut away.



Bob

[ebtbob]

Sorry bout that guys.....
 
       When I clicked on properties for the pic of the unfinished turnout,  I did not notice that the url did not have the correct end to it,  no jpg.
So here is a pic of the finished turnout.   All I do is remove all the plastic ties save a few and remount on wood ties.   Anywhere that you see plastic ties in the pic,  the outside edge of each of those ties will be cut away and small pieces of wood tie,  glued into place.   With ballest they will look quite nice.



Bob

[japasha]

Bob, excellent! Exactyly what I've been doing for over six years. I have use both Peco and Atlas HO turnouts for my donots. I just purchase some of those Blue Point turnout controllers and they work very well. As the are cable control, I have dispensed with the Secondary power system that solenoid or slo-mo switch machines use. They work very well with the Peco or Atlas switch pieces.

I can send pictures of a sampl switch ballasted and complete

[wade]

That's what I intend to do also. Bob, what # turnout is that? What code?
Wade

[ebtbob]

Wade,

      I use nothing but Peco Electrofrog code one hundred turnouts.   The one in the picture is a Peco large righthand turnout.   Only a very few select places do I plan on using a Peco medium turnout or their broad radius curved turnout.
      Interestingly enough,  if you take a Peco medium turnout and put it down on top of a Peco large turnout,  the only really noticable difference is the overall length of the turnout.   There is basically no real difference in the degree of curve to the divergent track.   On my HO/HOn3 railroad I have one crossover from main to main done with one large and one medium turnout and had no problems keeping the mains parallel.

Bob