Hon3

Would some one please head me in the right direction. I have difficulty understanding the difference between ho and hon3.

Thank you

Reply to
leviathan1924
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HO is 1:87 scale running on standard (4'8 1/2") track. HOn3 scale (the "n" stands for narrow) is 1:87 scale running on narrow GAUGE (36") track Normally you would have a HO scale model running on 9mm (N-gauge) track Notice I said N-gauge, not N-scale. While you could run the equipment on n-scale track, the tie spacing and general appearance would be wrong. There are companies that sell HOn3 track.

So basically, it is the same SCALE running on different GAUGE track...

HTH Franz T

Reply to
Franz

HO is standard gauge prototype, modelled to 1:87 scale and running on

16.5mm gauge model track.

HOn3 is 3ft gauge prototype (for example the Colorado narrow gauge) modelled to the same 1:87 scale but running on the corresponding narrower model track, ie 10.5mm gauge.

Reply to
Christopher A.Lee

Reply to
Charles Kimbrough

Um, I think you're confusing HOn30 with HOn3. HOn30 (or HOn2 1/2) can run on N (9 mm) track gauge, and is supposed to represent the 2' gauge (7 mm in HO scale) that was prevalent in New England (Maine, especially) and various other places (sugar cane plantations, cranberry bogs, etc.). HOn3 runs on unique rail made to be 1/87.1 scale of 36" (10.5 mm). Micro Engineering makes this with switches, flex track, etc., along with Shinohara (Walthers). HOn3 is what the Colorado narrow gauges run on, plus Eastern prototypes like the East Broad Top. I think the reasoning behind the HOn30 idea was that these modelers started with N gauge mechanisms and put HO scale bodies on them. Now that manufacturers have started with it, they're stuck with the HOn30, instead of going to the prototypical HOn2.

Paul A. Cutler III

************* Weather Or No Go New Haven *************
Reply to
Pac Man

Sorry, Franz is wrong.

HOn3 is a separate gauge, it is _not_ the same as N gauge. It's 10.5mm. But it is HO scale.

9mm gauge (N gauge) is used for HOn30, that is, 30 gauge in HO scale.

HTH

Reply to
Wolf Kirchmeir

And also the more prototypical HOn3 (prototypically more widespread than 2 foot gauge) is still an expensive niche market in comparison. Too bad.

Reply to
Steve Caple

. N GAUGE os the same GAUGE as HOn30 which is HO

Wasn't that what I said???

Reply to
Franz

Never mind, HOn3, HOn30, I see the difference.

What can I say, its MONDAY

Franz T

Reply to
Franz

What he missed was 4' 81/2" from inside one rail to the other for standard and 3' 0" for Hon3.

HO >| |< 4' 81/2" HOn3 >| |< 3' 0"

Reply to
Big Rich Soprano

Reply to
leviathan1924

Reply to
leviathan1924

One question... I'm not a narrow gauger so I may have this mixed up but isn't HOn3 a 36" gauge track? And, isn't N gauge different than 36" in HO? I was always under the impression that HOn30 was HO scale using "standard" N gauge track.

dlm

Reply to
Dan Merkel

Hon3 _IS_ HO scale 3 foot gauge railroading.

HOn30 uses N scale standard track which is very close to 30" in HO scale; On30 uses HO standard gauge track which is very close to 30" in O scale. Of course the tie scale and spacing is off, so actual N or HO track will not look right. The real nexus is, as noted earlier, the ability to use N scale or HO scale standard gauge locomotive mechanisms (both steam and diesel) as the underpinning for narrow gauge locos in the next larger scale.

Actual 30" ( n30 or n2 1/2) railroads are/were rare to nonexistent. Myself, I wish it (n30ism) hadn't happened - I'd love to see the availability of HOn3 locomotives at the price levels of HOn30, which could be done since there seem to be a lot of newly created ..n30 locomotive mechanisms which could just as easily have been models of the to my mind better looking and more rooted in actual prototype (e.g, East Broad Top, D&RGW, etc.) three foot gauge. Not that Dave Frary's Maine two footer-ish models don't look great, but two footers were really a minor sideshow in railroading and beside, most importantly, to me they just look funny. I think they may look funny to practitioners of n30 modeling, since a lot of them seem to go for a Malcolm Furlow influenced cartoonish look.

Reply to
Steve Caple

Good impression and you're right...

Reply to
Big Rich Soprano

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