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HOe / OO9 / HOn30 Question

I've been thinking about adding some narrow gauge track to my HO scale railroad. Three foot narrow gauge is the most common stuff here in the USA, but it's also pretty much a very specialized item for locomotives.

However, European HOe locomotives from Roco and Lilliput are available here, and there is a lot more variety in track components because it is after all 9mm gauge track, and if all else fails one could use N scale standard gauge components if something isn't available.

This seems like a much easier way to go than using our HOn3 because of the sheer amount of material available.

I've also looked at some of the web sites of British OO9 model makers.

It seems like some of these models could be used to add quite a bit of variety to an HOe / HOn30 layout. Certainly such items as the Backwoods Miniatures OO9 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratt locomotive is never going to be available in HOn3 in North America!

However, how well do these models actually mix? I know that narrow gauge equipment varied radically in size depending on the operation, and it is fairly obvious that Roco / Lilliput industrial locomotive models are at the very small end of the scale, and so this is a bit difficult quesiton to answer.

It seems to me that some of those OO9 models might look OK on a USA layout, but one would probably have to put a step ladder in the cab for an HO scale driver to see out due to the difference in cab size.

Any thoughts?

Reply to
gl4316
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Cabs on narrow gauge locos tended to match the loading gauge of the railway, which could be small (typically mining lines) or large(ish) on predominantly passenger lines. Consistency is probably important, although a railway with a large loading gauge might grab a bargain from a line being closed. A typical cab might be 6 feet tall - trim 3mm off the height of an OOn9 cab :-)

You really get into the problem of freelancing in that you need to create a convincing story as to why your railway looks the way it is.

Regards, Greg.P.

Reply to
Greg Procter

Well the Maine two footers are about as American as they come and most of them are represented as HOn30 I would Look East for prototype

David

Reply to
chorleydnc

Maine doesn't even begin to describe what I am thinking of.

The look I would like to capture (only with a very freelanced relocation to North America) is represented by the 30 inch gauge lines that once operated well over 100 miles of track centered on Sao Joao del Rei, Minas Gerias state, Brazil. (They are now down to only about 13 km unfortunately.) They have some European equipment, some British, and their larger locomotives are Baldwin. One of the cranes still on the property looks very much like the Backwoods Miniatures OO9 crane set. One of the yard switchers looks something like a Great Western Railway 0-6-0 pannier tank switcher, scaled down to about 1/2 size. The operation itself never had Beyer Garretts, but railroads nearby certainly did. Even in 1984, when they because a tourist passenger operation rather than freight, their operation never saw a diesel locomotive.

I was never that interested in narrow gauge until I visited this particular operation, and the rather interesting and eccentric nature of this little railroad I found quite appealing.

I'm not sure how to even get started modeling such things as the spinning pinwheels that they decorated their locomotives with up into the 1970s (I've seen photos of that).

In any event, that is the reason why I enquired about mixing OO9 and HOe / HOn30 - some of the stuff would be far more appropriate to get from a British company than a North American one.

Reply to
gl4316

Why not go up a scale, and use H0 gauge track and mech's? Scratch building the bodys is easier.

Terry Flynn

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HO wagon weight and locomotive tractive effort estimates

DC control circuit diagrams

HO scale track and wheel standards

Any scale track standard and wheel spread sheet

Reply to
NSWGR

That is an attractive option, but the thing is that I already have a lot of HO stuff. If I were to sell off the surplus from a change in scales, I would probably seek something I could really dig my teeth into in terms of scratch building, such as G scale.

Reply to
gl4316

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