Perhaps dipping a toe into On30 - a few quick questions

I've picked up a few of the Bachmann items at York, but haven't done much with them.  The engines are a bit fussy by my O-gauge standards - small parts, lots of small wheels to put on the track, etc.  They can run on any 12 volt DC power pack.  There is one dealer at York who tends to have a lot of the stuff at reasonable prices (used to be in purple, lately in orange hall), and Trainworld often has deals on the locos.

Roving Sign posted:

And finally - I get the concept of On30 - but they still look small...I found one picture of a Narrow Gauge train next to Broad Gauage - and the the trains do look smaller. Is that basically the idea - narrow gauge were just smaller machines? Passenger cars had one row of seats per side, etc...

Yep, narrow gauge equipment is generally smaller than standard gauge equipment.

The Bachmann On30 2-8-0 (a large engine for the gauge) vs. an MTH PRR 2-8-0 ( a relatively small O scale engine.)

And even what one would think should be a large locomotive can be a much smaller small locomotive:

And yes, there were prototypes for both locomotives built for the export market...

Kato, Atlas and Bachmann all make HO track with molded roadbed similar to FasTrack

Rusty

The roadbed track still has rail joiners though. The click in place action of roadbed track takes away some of the danger of accidently pulling them apart though. The joiners take solder well, on the old track at least. In that way, I like the ho type connections. The cleaning is more of a pita though. 2 rail needs to be cleaner imo. I.e., very clean compared to 3r. I never dove in deep, but have toyed with the idea enough to plan and research. Just waiting on the right loco I guess. If I were to form a good sized On30 run, I'd look at nickle/silver rails. From what I gather it's a toss up; you lose some connectivity in material length, gain in cleanliness & wheel contact; but lose again slightly in material traction....I hate cleaning track! Especially lots of small, delicate, ho track. Paying attention to the numerical ratio of the models scale vs "On30" can come into play with other parts of the world modeling On30 too. O can be 1:43 or 1:45 overseas. Beware of On3 and typos, and folks that don't realize it's different...even shops.

Life-Like has rail joinerless HO track under the Power-Loc name.  The ballast is black and I believe the rails are steel.  Availability may be an issue.

Rusty

One problem with using any HO track is that the tie size and spacing are way wrong for On30.  But it sure is convenient.

Kato Unitrack is a bit easier to work with than some.  The connectors don't really take any effort to line up.  It's a bit more expensive though and obviously not the proper tie-spacing/scale for ON-30, but would probably work just fine if you're not worried about that.

It all depends on how accurate you want to be:

• Accurate? Go with Kato or Micro Engineering On30 track
• Don't care? Go with the easiest-to-use HO track you like.

Just follow normal handling for HO in regard to powering and running the trains, as electrically, it's the exact same thing.

As for locos and such, Bachmann isn't the only vendor for On30, but they're the biggest. AMS and San Juan make some great rolling stock, but be wary of the San Juan stuff as the couplers are way higher than On30 standard for coupler height. On3 stuff has couplers that are higher than On30 does (as On30 uses the HO coupler height). Real narrow-gauge railroads had different coupler heights, too. If you buy anything by AMS/Accucraft or San Juan, they use On3 couplers, which are way larger than the HO style commonly used in On30. I have a few AMS cars and they will couple with my Bachmann rolling stock.

On30 has connectivity issues you might not have with 3-rail. I suggest buying locos with long enough wheelbase and all-wheel pickup so going over turnouts and minor glitches in your track won't affect them running so much.

Also, you'll read a lot about On30 people wanting that gauge so they can run the shortest stuff they can, on the tightest curves. I've read someone asking if they could run on 9" radius! Really, anything tighter than 18", you're going to have problems with anything but the Bachmann rolling stock. I suggest 20 to 24" minimum curves so it's not an issue.

Roving Sign posted:

Is Spectrum OK for Locos too? They look very affordable.

Also - trackage - I picked up a handful of HO track from the 50 cent box at the flea market - ok - but whats a good track? Is there something like Fastrack for HO? My eyes will go crazy if I have to fiddle with those little track connectors.

And finally - I get the concept of On30 - but they still look small...I found one picture of a Narrow Gauge train next to Broad Gauage - and the the trains do look smaller. Is that basically the idea - narrow gauge were just smaller machines? Passenger cars had one row of seats per side, etc...

And finally - what do you power these things with...?

Thanks for any replies - Im really only familiar with On30 from watching Eric's Trains videos - appreciate the help!

1. Bachmann's Spectrum locomotives are fine. I have a good number of them (I prefer the short critter-type), as well as some AMS/Accucraft brass models and one or two Broadway Limited C-16s. Will be incorporating On30 with my O gauge layout as an industrial line.

2. I have a lot of Peco On30 flextrack, but have used Atlas HO in the past with no problem (and easy to find). I don't worry much about tie spacing since I pretty much bury the ties in ballast or even just dirt. The prototype almost never cared about "neat" trackwork. Much or most, in fact, was laid on a temporary basis.

3. The photos you might find of prototype narrow gauge locomotives and rolling stock sitting alongside a standard gauge counterpart (such as at an interchange point) are spot-on. In O scale, the same difference in proportions applies. Both, nevertheless, can be true O scale (1:48 scale).

4. You can find a good number of DC power sources (power packs) to use with On30. Try to find one with a decent amperage level (something above most starter set packs). I have several from MRC and others.

Thanks for all the replies!

Here's a picture of my rolling stock - just curious what might be an appropriate loco?

I'm not a total prototype kind of guy - but I'd like something makes sense.

  I think that was a DRG loco scheme and was narrow gauge. Im not positive anymore though. I also wanna call it a Bumble Bee Annie but forget why, lol.

   I have my doubts on narrow Great Northern. I thought they were all standard. 

Which means you can get buck wild and run whatever.....or paint

Maybe your line just bought old GN stock and swapped in narrow trucks?

I like the taller locos with passenger and mixed freight.

Logs and ore? I like the low slung Baldwins. (I would like to see a low slung loco with 6 divers, maybe 8, but not a mallet.

Adriatic posted:

  I think that was a DRG loco scheme and was narrow gauge. Im not positive anymore though. I also wanna call it a Bumble Bee Annie but forget why, lol.

   I have my doubts on narrow Great Northern. I thought they were all standard. 

Which means you can get buck wild and run whatever.....or paint

Maybe your line just bought old GN stock and swapped in narrow trucks?

I like the taller locos with passenger and mixed freight.

Logs and ore? I like the low slung Baldwins. (I would like to see a low slung loco with 6 divers, maybe 8, but not a mallet.

D&RGW had two narrow gauge locomotives painted in "Bumblebee" in the 1950's: a 2-8-0 and a 2-8-2.

The Bachmann 2-6-0 is based off of a Colorado & Southern 2-6-0.

Great Northern never had narrow gauge lines and neither did the B&O, which Bachmann lettered some On30 for.

Rusty

I have 6 Bachmann On30 locos. All run great but will agree details are fragile....but fantastic looking!!! Just can't handle them like a Lionel PW loco!

Hi folks.  I'm new at O gauge, and even newer at On30.  I have some HO track and pretty old (40 years) DC supply to test some things out.  Been looking at a $60 steam loco from Trainworld that Bachman lists for $399 (Bachman #28324).  It's a 4-4-0 "modern" (late steam era) that is unpainted so I can paint it myself.  Question I have though is that it says DCC-equipped for speed, direction and lighting but with a dual-mode NMRA-compliant decoder with 8-pin plug for DCC or DC operation.  So read the manual, set the unit somehow to work on DC mode and off I go.  Right?

Also, does anyone know if this model can take a sound board since other On30 steam locos come with sound or at least are sound ready.  If I wanted to add sound to my 4-4-0 I suppose I could get one of those other sound cards and figure out a way to trigger it every so often.  Maybe put it in a boxcar?  Anyone ever do that? Don't know if there is any room in the tender.

Also, if I want to do a back and forth circuit I only have to sense when the loco is at the end of the track and switch the polarity of the track with a DPDT switch right?  Can automate by using sensors easily enough.

Thanks, Kirk

All Bachmann On30 locos, DC, DCC ready or DCC on board will run fine off a DC HO type power pack.

You should be able to retro fit sound....but it may cost 2 to 3 times the cost of the loco....might be cheaper to find one w/sound. 

There are circuits to auto reverse automatically on the market. A dpdt would be a manual set up. 

If the railroad could have built a standard gauge railroad into an area they would have.  In most cases narrow gauge was a requirement to 'fit' the terrain!  Here is a stock car comparison.  Russ

 

Decoder should not be active when using dc power pack, it needs dcc signal to function.

Be sure to use a decent power pack as the locos will much slower and smoother

DCC sound is the way to go but you have costs of dcc system

Sounds are much quieter than mth or loinel as speakers must be tiny, sound car will give you room for decent speakers.

Kirk R posted:

Hi folks.  I'm new at O gauge, and even newer at On30.  I have some HO track and pretty old (40 years) DC supply to test some things out.  Been looking at a $60 steam loco from Trainworld that Bachman lists for $399 (Bachman #28324).  It's a 4-4-0 "modern" (late steam era) that is unpainted so I can paint it myself.  Question I have though is that it says DCC-equipped for speed, direction and lighting but with a dual-mode NMRA-compliant decoder with 8-pin plug for DCC or DC operation.  So read the manual, set the unit somehow to work on DC mode and off I go.  Right?

Also, does anyone know if this model can take a sound board since other On30 steam locos come with sound or at least are sound ready.  If I wanted to add sound to my 4-4-0 I suppose I could get one of those other sound cards and figure out a way to trigger it every so often.  Maybe put it in a boxcar?  Anyone ever do that? Don't know if there is any room in the tender.

Also, if I want to do a back and forth circuit I only have to sense when the loco is at the end of the track and switch the polarity of the track with a DPDT switch right?  Can automate by using sensors easily enough.

Thanks, Kirk

Here is a video where the guy added sound to his. He said it was easy.

p51 posted:

It all depends on how accurate you want to be

Also, you'll read a lot about On30 people wanting that gauge so they can run the shortest stuff they can, on the tightest curves. I've read someone asking if they could run on 9" radius! Really, anything tighter than 18", you're going to have problems with anything but the Bachmann rolling stock. I suggest 20 to 24" minimum curves so it's not an issue.

I run my Bachmann On30 Mogul and passenger cars all the time with 15" radius  on my Christmas layouts. I used a few 18" on the bridge approaches and tried to use 18's to transition into the 15" curves.

Nice layout Sarge.  What do you use as your back and forth circuit for your trolley?

Kirk R posted:

Nice layout Sarge.  What do you use as your back and forth circuit for your trolley?

I bought the whole Bachmann reversing trolley set so It's using the Bachmann controller. I did buy some extra track pieces because that track has the additional wiring undereneath.

Beware the Bachmann On30 Shays, Climaxes, Railtrucks, Railbuses, and Gas Mechanical switchers, they are famous for having Bachmann Split Gear Syndrome. The On30 Stearns Heisler seems less likely to have split gears than the Shay & Climax, and he latest 2-6-0 is claimed to be available with metal gears to eliminate this problem. Even with the bad gears, they can still be beautiful static display items as long as you don't pay full list price! The rolling stock is very nicely done...

Bill in FtL

Here's a link to the Youtube page with videos of my Christmas layouts for the past two years. On the one from 2016, I used 15" radius on the part of the dog bone closest to the corner where it goes behind the tree. I changed the link. See if this one works.

https://www.youtube.com/user/bloakar/videos

Bill Nielsen posted:

Beware the Bachmann On30 Shays, Climaxes, Railtrucks, Railbuses, and Gas Mechanical switchers, they are famous for having Bachmann Split Gear Syndrome. The On30 Stearns Heisler seems less likely to have split gears than the Shay & Climax, and he latest 2-6-0 is claimed to be available with metal gears to eliminate this problem. Even with the bad gears, they can still be beautiful static display items as long as you don't pay full list price! The rolling stock is very nicely done...

Bill in FtL

I own all of the listed locos....none have had gear problems.....yet. But to Bachmann's credit they sent new gear sets for all of them. I kinda hope I never use them...but if I do......

Sarge T posted:

Here's a link to the Youtube page with videos of my Christmas layouts for the past two years. On the one from 2016, I used 15" radius on the part of the dog bone closest to the corner where it goes behind the tree.

https://www.youtube.com/my_videos?o=U

dead link......

Can these Bachmann On30 engines climb 3% grades well with minimal consists (4 cars maybe)?  I have the 4-4-0 and had plans to have it climb 10" vertical on wall mounted track with two switchbacks.  Total track length of 37' in 3 sections.  Wait a bit at the top and then reverse automatically to come back down. 

I'd be worried about over heating and/or stress on gears/motor.  Thoughts?

AMCDave posted:

Sarge T posted:

Here's a link to the Youtube page with videos of my Christmas layouts for the past two years. On the one from 2016, I used 15" radius on the part of the dog bone closest to the corner where it goes behind the tree.

https://www.youtube.com/my_videos?o=U

dead link......

Hmm.... I'll try to fix that. Try this link. https://www.youtube.com/user/bloakar/videos

My Heisler will do 4% grades pulling 4 Bachmann passenger cars. I had to add weight to my 2-6-0 to get it to pull 3 of them up 4%.

  Bachmann lists prices high to give the dealers a break. Don't resort to new from them untill you have exhausted other avenues.

  You don't mention how old the track is. FYI, IMO the new age nickel silver is way better for the track wheel to connection than the brass or aluminum of the past. It just stays cleaner, and that makes for better running.

  There is more than one trolley system from Bachmann. Choose careful because I think on one, a portion of the sensors are in the trolley. I think there are others offered by Dalee or Electric RR too.  With help in the electrical forum, it would also be possible to set up your own system with relays, boards or what have you.

 

Exercise due caution as you may find the water deeper than expected...