The "eyes" have it.

[rustyrails]

Hey, everyone,
I will never see middle age again, and consequently, my eyesight isn't what it used to be.  A longtime HO-er, the idea of bigger, easier to see O-scale trains that will pretty much fit into an HO-size space is very appealing to me.  Before I jump in headfirst, however, I have to say that the idea of running O scale trains on HO track just doesn't ring true.  I'm afraid that the visual wrongness of the tie spacing would be a deal breaker.  Does Bachmann have any plans to produce On30 track, or does any other manufacturer that we're aware of produce it?  The gauge would be the same as HO, of course, but the ties would be bigger and about twice as far apart.  Code 100 or 120 rail would probably look real good.  I have some old code 100 turnouts--maybe I'll try to modify one just to see how it turns out (pun intended  .  Thanks for listening.  Any comments and ideas would be greatly appreciated.  I have about an 8X10 ft area available in the basement.
Rusty

[Tim]

Rusty

Peco makes 0n30 code 100 flex track and switches (Turnouts), LID makes switches (turnouts)

in several codes.  Micro Engineering Co. makes flex track and turnouts.

Tim Anders
Souderton,PA

[#94]

The range of prototype tie size, spacing and lenghts makes the choice tuff. Peco On30, Micro Enginering or the variations in brands of HO track can all be wrong or one of them may be good enough. Peco ties seem short. Micro Enginering ties are long and narrow. Some HO track looks just right when extra ballasted and Strangely hand laid with "On30" ties is the farthest thing from right for my use. I found if you just look at the track and not call it Ho it can look very proper. Look at prototype pictures and see what you like then see what track gives the same feel with  Bachman On30 Locos.

[C.S.R.R. Manager]

My personal preference, visually, is for the Microscale On30 track.  Long ties, longer than HO spacing, and very small spike heads.  But I've also seen photos from many narrow gauge lines, and most had minimal maintenance.  As a result, the ties are seldom even visible.  As a test, I tried some Atlas HO code 83 on a test layout, mostly because I had some extra, and it's cheap, and buried the ties in dirt and rock.  It looks pretty darn accurate.

Along the same lines, I've always wanted a "drop-in" coupler that had a knuckle the size of the Kadee On3 coupler, but with the mounting arm of an HO #5.  This would eliminate one more link to HO.  But again, the real narrow gauge lines used a range of coupler sizes, so as long as you are freelancing, almost any size will be right.

Manager

[simTrain5]

I have Peco track on my on30 module and the turnouts are horrible. If you don't want to do extra work to get them working, then don't use them. I am planning an on30 layout and planning on purchasing MicroEngineering turnouts and flex track, hopefully I will have more luck. 

[El Loco]

I have hand laid 95% of my layout and scratch built my turnouts before the jig & fixture system came out on the market. AS far as commercial 0n30 track I have some Micro engineering  code 83 0n30 flex track on my other 5% of my layout. I really like the way the flex track firmly held its shape after forming it to the bends I required.
I give Micro engineering 0n30 flex 5 smileys of approval!

[rustyrails]

Thanks for all the input!  You've given me plenty to think about and I appreciate it.  Rusty

[ossygobbin]

well ive always used peco track and never had any problems as long as you use the electrofog type, ok the 0/16.5-on30 doesnt look right for american layouts but it works great.

[peterherron]

Before you go to the expense and trouble of special track, try this.  Get a piece of code 70 (or 83-100 is too big in my opinion) flex and nip out every other tie.  This gets the spacing about right.  The ties will be shorter than those exaggerated long ties we see in modeling the D & RGW.  In the East, they used shorter ties that made it hard to tell if it was narrow or standard gauge unless you saw them together.  Go to the library and look at old RR books. Go to the Cumbres and Toltec and the Durango and Silverton web sites and look closely at the track.  It does not look like what we think of as "proper" narrow gauge track.   I believe everybody does the long tie look as a "forced perspective" to make it clear it is narrow gauge.  I took every other tie out of all my Shinohara code 70 switches as well.  Now, I had a good reason.  When I switched from HO to G I sold everything but my track.  When G was too big for my space I switched to On30 and I found all this track and about 30 switches under the layout.  By using this method I saved myself a ton of money on track.  Honestly if I had to start from scratch, I'd use Atlas code 83 track and switches and take out every other tie.  This would give us the most track for the least amount of money.  I will try to post some pictures to give you an idea of how it looks.  In the meantime the track on this layout appears to be made in this fashion.  http://www.cnyrrjim.com/on30_narrow_gauge

[peterherron]

I give up! I searched everywhere and can't find any instructions on how to post a picture.  I seem to remember you need to put them "somewhere" and put a link to that somewhere in your message.  Help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks

Peter

[rippergull]

peco track  on30 style is for british narrow gauge 2ft to 3ft size it is great track but tight points for USA or Australian narrow gauge layouts we have a much bigger loading gauge  and lots more room in real life than the Brits,remember half the fun in on30 is it is freelance us what trackfits you pocket or layout, best wishes from the land of Ozz, go Bachmann.