Thoughts from a fossil

[Ratty]

A an On30er for about 20 years I thought I would chip in a thought or two

things that might jump start our section of the hobby..

1 see if the Tallylyn would let you model their railway... its the oldest and globally famous... I saw on TV  that a Thomas the Tank engine is sold every second in the world... would make sense to offer the inspirational trains too.. make undecorated models so we could  make our own global freelance versions.

2 create a Bachmann On30 club we could join and maybe pay too. members can vote on Liveries, Logos, names etc and we could all model that... similar to the Turtle Creek from a few years back..  We could all model our own version of the club layout...

3 make it easier to create multiple road numbers in our railroads... for instance if I model the midwest logging line its tricky to have multiple locos with same look but diff numbers...

4 Short passenger cars and  re introduce Davenport with sound and another Porter run .. 

[p51]

There are some decent ideas there!

[Hamish K]

Bachmann Branchlines (British Bachmann) have introduced an OO9 range (1/76 scale on N gauge track). So far at least the Tallylyn loco shave not beenn released, although small scale suppliers have. replacement smoke box  doors to convert the Thomas locos. Note that Bachmann does not have the rights for Thomas in the UK. Given the OO9 range I doubt that Bachmann in the UK would do another narrow gauge scale, such as On30, and without the British market, would do British prototypes.

In general I think Bachmann needs to keep a moderate range of locos and rolling stock, with regular changes in what is available to increase the choices available to us. Re-introducing the Davenport, another Porter and shorty passenger cars are good ideas. I have thought that a small tender for the 0-4-0 Porter would provide variety, and be I prototypical. Another option is a class A Climax - although not a re-issue several existing tooling so could be used, the Shay boiler, Climax trucks and an HO diesel mechanism (the class A climax did not have visible cylinders). Sort of a factory kit bash. New versions, liveries (and numbers) for previously issued items.  In this way Bachmann can keep giving us variety without a great deal of expensive new tooling. Unfortunately the glory days of On30, when we could expect lots of brand new items are well and truly over, but I think the scale can be kept alive by the approach outlines above.

Just my thoughts
Hamish

[ScottyB]

I'd be willing to bet the majority of On30ers were mesmerized by the geared engines. I think if the shay and climax were reintroduced, it would be a huge boost. As it is now, newcomers to the scale don't have any of the "gee whiz" locos to choose from.

(No offense intended to the current offerings as they are beautiful! But I think it's the geared engines that most modelers love.)

Throw in a puffing smoke system like the HO competitors and I'll just hand over my paycheck.

Scott

[2foot6]

DITTO...Scott.............. .many times

[p51]

Throw in a puffing smoke system like the HO competitors and I'll just hand over my paycheck.

Amen, brother Scott!
There are plenty of times I see videos on YouTube showing the nice O scale (mostly 3-rail) stuff with smoke and I usually think, "why can't my On30 ten-wheelers do that?"

[ksivils]

On30 for some reason has catered to the smaller end of the narrow gauge spectrum and that's fine. I ponied up for a Heisler even though it's really small.

I would love it if Bachmann produced some larger geared locomotives. The Shay was too small for my tastes. I won't be purchasing another Heisler.

My roster is large enough.

But a nice sized two truck Shay, say 24-37 tons, and I'd part with hard earned cash. Same with a bigger Heisler. I would love to have a model similar to the wagon topped boiler Heislers on the Westside Lumber Company. I'd speculate a fair number of On3er's would buy these and convert them to On3.

But I'm not going to hold my breath.

[2foot6]

I can't see any reason why a smoke generator couldn't be retro fitted to a Shay,Climax or any On30 loco except the Porters due to room constraints.Now there's a cottage industry for an enterprising person.

[p51]

On30 for some reason has catered to the smaller end of the narrow gauge spectrum and that's fine.

Yeah, I guess they think that's their market. Maybe it is the best use of their time, but I would love to see some bigger stuff as well.
People see my layout with ten-wheelers and I use AMS/Accucraft coaches (I do like the Bachmann ones but they're just not long enough for me to look right for the RR I model) and they are often surprised. I've heard many times form fist-time visitors that they didn't realize there were people in On30 who don't own 'shorty' equipment at all.

The Shay was too small for my tastes.

So much On30 stuff has a clear look of "Let's put O scale hardware on something made for HO" and the Shay was a classic example of that. I hadn't bought any On30 engines other than the Bachmann ten-wheelers and one of the Whitcomb 50-toner diesels (as I model the WW2 era and could justify it as an Army unit). Much of the other stuff just looked too small.
But then again, part of the appeal for people in On30 is using HO stuff with O scale hardware. That's the way they want it. But frankly, if someone had come out with the Baldwin 4-6-0s that the ET&WNC had in On3, I'd be modeling in that scale today, I'm sure.
I'd just love to see, say, some East Broad Top, White Pass & Yukon, or US Army WW2 3-foot locomotives (several are running in tourist operation around the world today) made in On30.

[Hamish K]

I like small narrow gauge locos! If the Shay looks like an H0 model with 0 gauge fittings, it is because prototype small Shays looked like that. The model is realistic.

The US army loco you mention ran in Queensland, Australia on the 42 inch gauge, which is their mainline gauge  In Queensland narrow gauge is generally 24 or 30 inch gauge. In Australia 42 inch gauge is
usually modelled in Sn42 or H0n42 (12mm gauge).

Each to his or her own,  but I have no use for such large locos in On30, preferring to model the smaller protypes typical  of narrow gauge , of less than 42 inch, in Australia.

Hamish

[ksivils]

The 2-8-2 used by the U.S. Army was built to a variety of gauges ranging from 3 ft., to one meter, to 3'6". It was a versatile design intended for mass production. The White Pass had eleven sent up to Skagway by the U.S. Army and kept several after the war (190-200). Two were later purchased (190 and 192) for tourist railroads (Tweetsie and Dollywood) and are still in service. One still remains in Skagway.

[p51]

The 2-8-2 used by the U.S. Army was built to a variety of gauges ranging from 3 ft., to one meter, to 3'6". It was a versatile design intended for mass production. The White Pass had eleven sent up to Skagway by the U.S. Army and kept several after the war (190-200). Two were later purchased (190 and 192) for tourist railroads (Tweetsie and Dollywood) and are still in service. One still remains in Skagway.

Exactly my point. They were all over the place and would make a great model in On30. I've been lucky enough to get cab rides on two of them, at Dollywood and Tweetsie, in the past. I've also seen Baldwin S118-class 2-8-2 number 195 at Skagway one in person more than once.

[jkemp]

I'd be willing to bet the majority of On30ers were mesmerized by the geared engines. I think if the shay and climax were reintroduced, it would be a huge boost. As it is now, newcomers to the scale don't have any of the "gee whiz" locos to choose from.

STUFF DELETED HERE

You sure have me figured out.  I came from years of (attempting) to do HOn3.

Had a few pieces of beautiful brass.  that ran about as well as you might expect 1970's vintage brass to run.

I currently own (2) Bachmann On30 Shays, (3) Climax's and just (1) Heisler (so far).   All but one runs great (needs repair) and I consider myself blessed by the availability of not only Bachmann geared On30 locomotives, but also the aftermarket that has popped up to customize those locomotives.

On one hand, I see people complaining as it appears to them that Bachmann has slowed down.  OTOH, Narrow gauge wise, Bachmann has already covered a large majority of the bases.

Certainly, if Bachmann announced a Class A Climax and a Williamette for next year, I would be standing in line to buy one.

Things could always be better, but overall, IMHO, we have things pretty good right now.