HO Beginner Questions

Most importantly, you will need a DC power pack.  Conventional HO runs on DC.

Rusty

@Rusty Traque posted:

Most importantly, you will need a DC power pack.  Conventional HO runs on DC.

Rusty

Yes! 👍

Mark in Oregon

Here is some operational advice.

If you put in automatic switches, then be careful when you use them.  The little tiny motors will burn out very easily.  They are not as robust as the O Gauge.

When I was twelve, I saved up for a long time to buy two automatic switches for my HO layout. After I installed them and hooked them up, I was having a little trouble with one of the switches, so I switched it back and forth real fast about 10 times.  The switch burned out and the little half cylinder of plastic on the switch that houses the solenoid melted!

Also, the switch controllers are flat little panels, with a plastic thumb-tab in it.  The tab slides back and forth.

I thought that you were suppose to push down on the plastic tab, and then slide it over to one side or the other to operate the switch while you were holding down.   Wrong.  You can burn out the switch.

You are suppose to just gently slide the tab over, and then lightly tap it so that it makes a momentary contact.  When you tap it, the switch will operated.  If you push down first, and slide it over while you are pushing down on it, the current to the  motor stays in contact the whole time and overheats the switch motor.

Also, the long 36 or 48 inch pieces of flexible track are **** to use if you think that you are going to bend it into one long curve.  It is not that easy to bend, and when you do bend it, then of course the inside rail gets "longer" (meaning that the rail ends jut out from the end of the plastic ties), and the outside rails get "shorter" (meaning that the ends of the rail pulls inward away from the ends of the plastic ties).  As a result, you are trying to hold this thing in place, with screws or whatever, while it is under tension, and use a small hacksaw to cut off the ends of the rails so that they match up and are even.  And of course, since you have bent each rail into a different curve radius, they don't want to stay even.

Is is so much easier to just buy single curved sections and hook them together.

The long flexible pieces are fine for straight runs, or to make a small amount of curve in a long run just to make a corrective adjustment.

And, be careful if you buy those small, cute, yard goats.  Some of them are so low to the ground that when they go through a motorized switch, the sides of the engine catch on the high plastic areas of the switch motor covers, and they derail every time.  (You are then suppose to go out and buy an "extension" fitting, that extends the switch motor further away from the switch, so that the engine won't catch on it. 

Also, with HO, unlike O Gauge, sometimes even the smallest amount of irregularity in the track ends,  when you hook up the track sections, will cause constant derailment.   It is very unforgiving.  Often, you won't be able to even see the irregularity with your eyes, but you can watch the car derail as it slowly goes over the track joint.  It is not like O Gauge, where the big metal wheels will easily travel over gaps and small rises, falls or bends in track ends.

And, be careful if you run locos for a long time.    I had  an FA-2 Diesel..   I really liked it.   But one time,  I kept it running on my track at high speed for about 10 minutes, and the top of the shell, above the interior motor,  totally melted! 

These are just some of my unpleasant memories of my 5 year foray in HO gauge.

In short, HO is more fragile and unforgiving than O Gauge.  You will spend a lot more time tinkering with track issues and derailments than O Gauge.  And, you need to have a real good pair of close-up glasses.

Hope this helps.

Mannyrock

@Mannyrock posted:

Here is some operational advice.

If you put in automatic switches, then be careful when you use them.  The little tiny motors will burn out very easily.  They are not as robust as the O Gauge.

When I was twelve, I saved up for a long time to buy two automatic switches for my HO layout. After I installed them and hooked them up, I was having a little trouble with one of the switches, so I switched it back and forth real fast about 10 times.  The switch burned out and the little half cylinder of plastic on the switch that houses the solenoid melted!

Also, the switch controllers are flat little panels, with a plastic thumb-tab in it.  The tab slides back and forth.

I thought that you were suppose to push down on the plastic tab, and then slide it over to one side or the other to operate the switch while you were holding down.   Wrong.  You can burn out the switch.

You are suppose to just gently slide the tab over, and then lightly tap it so that it makes a momentary contact.  When you tap it, the switch will operated.  If you push down first, and slide it over while you are pushing down on it, the current to the  motor stays in contact the whole time and overheats the switch motor.

Also, the long 36 or 48 inch pieces of flexible track are **** to use if you think that you are going to bend it into one long curve.  It is not that easy to bend, and when you do bend it, then of course the inside rail gets "longer" (meaning that the rail ends jut out from the end of the plastic ties), and the outside rails get "shorter" (meaning that the ends of the rail pulls inward away from the ends of the plastic ties).  As a result, you are trying to hold this thing in place, with screws or whatever, while it is under tension, and use a small hacksaw to cut off the ends of the rails so that they match up and are even.  And of course, since you have bent each rail into a different curve radius, they don't want to stay even.

Is is so much easier to just buy single curved sections and hook them together.

The long flexible pieces are fine for straight runs, or to make a small amount of curve in a long run just to make a corrective adjustment.

And, be careful if you buy those small, cute, yard goats.  Some of them are so low to the ground that when they go through a motorized switch, the sides of the engine catch on the high plastic areas of the switch motor covers, and they derail every time.  (You are then suppose to go out and buy an "extension" fitting, that extends the switch motor further away from the switch, so that the engine won't catch on it.

Also, with HO, unlike O Gauge, sometimes even the smallest amount of irregularity in the track ends,  when you hook up the track sections, will cause constant derailment.   It is very unforgiving.  Often, you won't be able to even see the irregularity with your eyes, but you can watch the car derail as it slowly goes over the track joint.  It is not like O Gauge, where the big metal wheels will easily travel over gaps and small rises, falls or bends in track ends.

And, be careful if you run locos for a long time.    I had  an FA-2 Diesel..   I really liked it.   But one time,  I kept it running on my track at high speed for about 10 minutes, and the top of the shell, above the interior motor,  totally melted!

These are just some of my unpleasant memories of my 5 year foray in HO gauge.

In short, HO is more fragile and unforgiving than O Gauge.  You will spend a lot more time tinkering with track issues and derailments than O Gauge.  And, you need to have a real good pair of close-up glasses.

Hope this helps.

Mannyrock

Thanks so much for the detailed reply. The flex track issues sound tough, especially because I have a ceiling layout so the track needs to run close to the O. I was able to accomplish this in the track planner by taking the long straight and applying a slight curve to it. Very easy in the cyber world...sounds rough in the real world.

Madlove,

When I was doing it, I was bending it by hand, by putting a screw in, bending, putting a screw in, bending.  It was a disaster.

But it may work out better if you use some sort of curved wooden jig, to bend it against.   If you do this, and screw it down as you go (onto a work board), and leave it a few days, then it may stay in that curve when you remove it from the jig.

Remember, though, that as you bend, the ends of the rails slide, shrink and grow, so that after you complete your bend, the ends are nowhere near where they started.

So, I would suggest that you budget an extra three or four inches of track (spare) at each end of the track, which won't be part of the final curved section, so that after you bend the track in the jig, you can cut this extra track off, 90 degrees across, and have the rail endings totally even on both ends of the curve.

Also remember, that your cut has to be very careful, straight across, so that the two rails ends are even.  Because even small gaps between the rail ends when you hook them together will cause derailment of HO cars.

Also remember, that if in the bending process, the ends of the long track section get bent upward or downward, even slightly, then you will have derailments.  So, make sure that your track is totally flat on the work board as you bend.

I guess you can see why I gave up on track bending when I was 12 years old.

I think that if you go to a different website, that specializes in HO only, you will probably find true experts who can tell you exactly how to bend it, with fewer problems.

I like your idea of running your HO track along side your O track.   I am about to finish my layout, and I was thinking about doing the same thing.       I want to run a continuous little service track near the main track, with one of the motorized handcars running on it with the two men pumping away.     MTH has a great looking O gauge handcar, but like all O gauge "toy accessories" the two men are way way over the O gauge scale, and would look like 10 foot tall giants next to the O gauge train.     On the other hand, I found that Bachman makes a pretty nice hand car in HO gauge.  The two men are way over scale for HO, but this makes them pretty close to O gauge scale.   So, I think that that is what I will be going for.

But, I am going to stick to HO curved and straight sections, even if they drift the track away from the O Gauge track in a few places.

Thanks,

Mannyrock

Hi Madlove, also consider code 83 flex track from Micro Engineering. It’s easier to bend, and cut, and consider a a rail cutting pliers, as opposed to a hacksaw. It’s easy to bend that flex, then precisely Mark where you want to cut the long end and then “snip”. You can find both at Micromark.com.  They also sell a rail nipper that handles code 140.
In addition to my O gauge layouts, I have two HO layouts, a 1x8’ switching layout, with Atlas code 100 track and switches, and a 4x8’ layout with Micro Engineering flex and #6 switches.

Good luck, Artie

I agree with using Micro Engineering track; their turnout are nice too...

Mark in Oregon

Thanks everyone for the great replies. In O, there’s a horn and bell button. I’ve been looking at HO power supplies and I’m not finding these options. Am I missing something? I’ve read Broadway Limited HO trains have sounds. If so, how are the sounds controlled?

From the sounds of it, HO is impossible. Maybe O gauge guys aren't your best resource.

@CN6167 posted:

From the sounds of it, HO is impossible. Maybe O gauge guys aren't your best resource.

Lol

You can get HO trains with sound, like Bachman, and run them on a dcc operating system. I believe both Lionel and MTH locomotives are dcc compatible, and have sound. As I gave up modeling in HO just as I started going back to Lionel with sound, my HO trains operate in silence!

Hmm... seems to me there has to be a reason that HO is the most popular scale. I was into that scale from 1970 until about 1985: I thought it was great. It's not really THAT small and operates really well. Like all things, you just have to be a little precise. That applies to the larger scales as well, doesn't it?

Mark in Oregon

HO is a great scale/gauge combination. DCC will give you sound, multiple loco operation and control switches, too - and best of all, it’s a proprietary system used by pretty much all manufacturers.

I’ve got On30 stock from Bachman, AMS, MMI and San Juan Car Co. If you want to run 16.5mm gauge alongside O, go for On30 so you have the same scale.

Bending flexible track is a learned skill, but it isn’t hard once you get the hang of it.

DCC will need its own power supply.

@Madlove posted:

Thanks everyone for the great replies. In O, there’s a horn and bell button. I’ve been looking at HO power supplies and I’m not finding these options. Am I missing something? I’ve read Broadway Limited HO trains have sounds. If so, how are the sounds controlled?

Woah there...  Now you're leaving the conventional DC arena.

HO isn't like O with proprietary electronics.  Besides conventional analog DC control, HO sound and command control use DCC, which is open to all HO manufactures.  For that you need a DCC system, made by several manufacturers: MRC, Digitrax, ESU, NCE and a few others.

Alternatively, Broadway Limited and MRC (MRC's currently out of stock) both make control boxes to access some DCC functions while retaining conventional analog DC control.

Most HO manufacturers offer locomotives as analog DC or with DCC/sound installed.

Rusty