New modeling challenges

[Woody Elmore]

Doing some research on North Korea I found that they have some 762 mm gauge track - that's 30 inches. Also, there is a 760 mm gauge railroad in Bosnia - that works out to about 29 inch gauge. Modeling these in On30 would sure be a challenge!

I road trains in Croatia many years ago (when it was still Yuigoslavia) but don't remember the gauge. I would imagine that it was meter gauge.

[CNE Runner]

Woody - Doesn't Cuba also have a number of narrow gauge railways? A friend goes to Cuba every year and she brought back pictures of [narrow gauge?] trains in the sugar fields. She said that these old, American steam locomotives are powered by burning discarded cane slash!

Ray

[mabloodhound]

Yes, Cuba does use narrow gauge, although it may be 36". 
Dave Frary has done considerable research and is currently building a layout in On30 of a Cuban sugar cane RR.
Dave posts in a number of forums but primarily in http://kitforums.com/index.php?sid=f53ca82cf8c8152d87b26ac8f5c2a229

[Woody Elmore]

I mentioned modeling North Korean trains to a friend. He glibly remarked that most of the freight cars would run empty!

The Kims (Il song, Jon il and what's his name - the new guy) all travel in very long, lush passenger trains. One theory is that they don't like to be in one place to long. can't imagine why.

[Skarloey Railway]

If you really want a challenge in On30, I suggest a model of a 750mm gauge Klose System loco. http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/klose/klosetothe.htm

Serbia had some nice 750mm gauge 2-6-6-2 mallets that are prettier, imho, than bachmann's offering. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2-6-6-2.jpg

[Hamish K]

World wide there were a lot, and I mean a lot, of 30 inch gauge railroads and the near metric equivalent gauges of 760mm and 750mm. The former Soviet Union had a huge network, there were quite a few in China, the former Yugoslavia, Austria, some in Germany, Poland and other European countries. India, Japan, and Taiwan were some of the other  Asian countries with them. In the Americas, as well as a small number in the USA,  Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, amongst others, had 30 inch gauge lines. And of course our beloved Victorian Railways 30 inch gauge lines here  in Australia. Some years ago an attempt was made to identify all 30 inch gauge lines worldwide, see http://www.pearcedale-conservation-park.com.au/c&b/thirty.html. This site has not been maintained, so many of the links are obsolete, but it still provides a starting point.

Researching overseas lines can be an interesting challenge in itself, finding a suitable line and then modelling it can be a very satisfying exercise. Good luck to any-one who attempts it.

Hamish

[railexpert]

Hello,

Narrow Gauges are all over the world at private, industrial, mining, logging, military and also state-owned railways. One of the important gauges was the "Cape gauge" in the former British Empire.

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_track_gauges and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrow_gauge_railway, where all gauges and countries are listed. So you can find in the Internet oodles of homepages of NG railways and NG locos in Europe, South America, Africa, Asia and Australia in different narrow gauges.

For scale 1:48 On30 gauge .649'' would be the exact original gauge = .649'' x 48 = 31.152'' = 2' 7'' (792 mm). It not exists. But all original locos for gauges between 2' and 3'6'' (600 mm and 1067 mm) are good prototypes for On30 locos, if they have the right ¼" scale 1:48.

I prefer for my collection the models of 3' gauge locos from the Colorado Railways as RGS, DRG&W and C&S plus all US logging and mining railroads.

Railexpert  

[Burlington Route]

GE exported qite a few narrow gauge diesel engines, but I think most were of the 42" rail width...I'm trying out a class 91 NG engine for my GP40 HO chassis.
The UM10B, U6B...and the like could be suited towards an On30 modern engine...at least I'm going to try one.