Anybody run on30?

The gauge of On30 is HO, but if you have a high rail layout you might want to get the specially made On30 track.  It has ties that are more correct in scale than the HO. 

I will move this thread to the narrow gauge forum because you'll likely get more suggestions there.

 

But to provide an answer to your question...

 

You can use any HO track--Atlas, for example--or the track made especially for On30 that is offered by Peco and Micro-Engineering.  I prefer the Micro-Engineering track myself, but either will give you a proper narrow gauge look.

Could someone please explain the differences between On3 and On30?  I gather one of them will NOT run on HO track?

On3 is a scale 36 inches between rails. On30 is a scale 30 inches between rails. On30 has the same space between rails as HO track. As has been said you can use HO track, as some do, or you can use special On30 track. Happy model railroading, Mark Boyce Butler, Pennsylvania

Thanks Mark. We acquired an On3 K27 and I'd like to create a diorama for it with some track. What will I need please?

You're welcome. I'll let the On3 guys answer that one. I model On30 and O 3-rail. Mark

Sam,

 

Precision Scale sells On3 flex track.  It is nice.  Has code 100 rail.   

Hi I used to get the curves right Bachmann HO EZtrack then removed & finally used Peco ON30

flexy track,it was very easy to do as this was my first attempt at any track laying.

James

 

Let's not confuse the On30 and On3 thing.  Although the models in both cases are O scale, the track gauges are different.  On30 (which is what the original post asked about) has a track gauge of 0.650" (HO track uses that same gauge).  On3 has a track gauge of 0.75".

MicroMark carries the Micro Engineering track that Allan mentioned.

If you do not need much track for a diorama, you could hand-lay track using the rail from code 100 HO track. A rail height of .100 inches is approximately 75 pound rail in O-scale, a typical weight laid on much of the D&RGW for their heavier locomotives. Six and 1/2 to 7 foot long ties with about 22 inch spacing (center-to-center) would be a good starting point. You can use Pliobond contact adhesive or ac the rail to the ties. This will give the appearance of light, narrow gauge rail when used with your K-27. 

Thanks for the tips, I can always count on you guys to have a answer to my questions.

 

Try this link- http://www.i-sng.com/On3/track...ks_and_switches.html

They show "On3" track and switches on the website as separate from On30...you could find other places on the web that offer it too thru a search. If your going to just do a display dio in a case, or however you wish, buying one piece of flex track should make the job easier, unless your a by hand layer type of guy.
Hope this helps-

I'm into modeling the dual scale too, both O and On30. My son likes the action pieces that are out there in AC O and the sound we have with our DCC On30 pieces...ok, I do too!

 

...now I need to get my butt back to the work table and start my On30 diesel bash!

I have about 30 feet of HO flex track left from my HO days, and was planning to use it instead of On30 track just to use it up and not spend money on more track.  However, when I place it close to my O track, the ties definitely look out of scale.  I would be happy with it if I was only modeling On30.  I may use it in areas you can't see very well, or pretty much bury the ties in ballast/dirt in areas depicting little maintained narrow gauge areas.  We will see.

Happy Model Railroading,

Mark Boyce

Butler, Pennsylvania

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Mark, the peco track has wider spacing, but what you could do is remove every other tie or every 3rd one to get a more scale look...I'm going to do that with my code 83 atlas flex track so it looks better....problem is that atlas is having issues with lost molds so they're track availability is dwindeling fast.

Burl ;-),

Thanks for the reply.  I had planned on removing some ties.  I think the problem is that the Gar-Graves 3-rail track I have has ties that measure over a quarter inch in width.  That's about 14 scale inches wide.  Too wide for scale, but looks good by itself.  The Micro-Engineering HO track I have measures just over an eighth of an inch, or about 7 scale inches wide.  So, I think the difference between my 3-rail track being too wide, and my HO track being too narrow, makes the problem.  All is not lost.  I am only in a development stage right now, waiting for my two daughters to finish college and move on their own before I have enough room to build a layout.  I haven't had a layout for almost 20 years, and I only have room for development shelves to get used to the new scale.  I may end up doing the 3-rail and On30 on separate modules anyway.  Time will tell.

Mark Boyce

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