In HOn30, are Funaro & Camerlengo still making their line? I was looking at their site. A lot of car pages with no photos. Almost seems like not much interest from there? What about Chivers and their freight cars? Will they ever come back into production? The web site says coming soon. But how long has it been?
I don't know what to think about the state of HOn30 today. It seems that when I was active in the scale/gauge (late 60's early 70's), there were actually more modelers interested in it. I lurk around a yahoo HOn30 site and there is "action" but most seems to be of the armchair variety. I wish somebody would prove me wrong, but HOn30 seems to be going the way of TT gauge. Many of the guys who modeled in HOn30 seem to be into On30 now...old hands, eyesight, better operation? I know a couple of guys in HOn30 now and they are able to buy the nice brass locos that used to retail for $650 or so, now are $300 or even less! Grandt Line is out of the HOn30 truck business and the "mom & pop" HOn30 manufacturers are going away. 009 is still big overseas, but HOn30 may be breathing it's last here, I hope not. Woodie
That's the same feeling I was getting. One big blow that I thought of was when Al Sandrini got out of the retailing business. ME has quit making HOn30. T&T doesn't have a web site any more. On and on. Sad state of affairs. I would wish it to not be true. I enjoyed what little I did in the scale. Had thought on and off about dabbling further.
the issue with HO30 is simple, it is too big for 2ft gauge and too small for 3 ft gauge. HOn3 is growing, and you can get a lot of great models...
HOn30 for many is used as a simulation of the Maine Two Footers. While the track may be roughly six inches too wide, the rest is pretty much scale sized. Two Footers have their very small size and wonderful whimsy. HOn3 is not the same.
Yes, most HOn30 modelers are interested in Maine 2 footers, a few are freelancers or model sugar cane or bush lines (Aussies) but the scale/gauge is still viable. The gents who mentioned "why not HOn3?" are probably not familiar with anything but Colorado 3 footers. Look at what's available in HOn3 now and if you want to model SP narrow gauge, East Broad Top, Pacific Coast narrow gauges, or a multitude of other non Colorado railroads, there is almost nothing available. Look at Blackstone's catalog, just D&RG and RGS. Micro Trains are about the same, almost completely Colorado roads. I know that Colorado NG is what's selling...now...but in years past, one could buy HOn3 SP locos and cars, EBT locos and cars, West Side Lumber CO, and many other "less popular" roads. Perhaps it is that the new crop of HOn3 operators don't care for anything but D&RG, or maybe they don't know about anything except D&RG, or maybe they are more RTR types rather than builders as HOn3 once attracted. I know this will start some "talk", so let me just say that it is MY OPINION and others can express theirs also. Woodie
I know we could take the Colorado named stuff and re-decal it to something else. But it would be difficult to not still see the heritage behind it. Plus, cost of such engines is more than those we might create in HOn30. No. I am not bashing HOn3. I am familiar with it, from knowing folks who have been or are currently involved. There is nothing wrong with that size at all. One aspect of HOn30, as I noted before, is the whimsical possibility. One can bash up little critters or rolling stock which have no real companies history. Yet still have a certain feel of small gauge operations. For example, I have wondered if Bob Hayden ever wrote an article about how be built his 30-series center cab diesels.
Yes. That is a near famous article. I have it in my scrap book. Just hoping he'd possibly done the same for the big center cabs.
To answer your question, Funaro & Camerlengo are still making HOn30 but I don't know if they have anything new. They are probably at the GSMTS at Timonium, MD this weekend. Another benefit to HOn30 is that you can use N scale mechanisms, trucks, and if you can stand the tie spacing, track.
What I recall of earlier Hayden/Frary efforts, their scenery and modeling did a good job of drawing the eye away from N track. But what is there currently available which will give the right feeling, with ME now out of it?
I'm going with Peco OO9 track and whatever ME track I can still find available. SL400 Irregular ties SL404 "Mainline" Andy Tetsu Uma
Either one of those Peco examples looks good enough from here. I find myself looking at the darned BCHI little diesel switchers. Alway like how those old MiniTrains looked, but never got one with their gear troubles. A few detail parts and... I'd find myself modeling in HOn30 again. Argh. I wonder if there is a stash of Chivers box car kits somewhere? But what are people using for trucks, now that Grandt Line is out of it? I have followed a topic elsewhere, which is not really conclusive. So many questions....
There's a lot of "talk" about the Shapeways trucks but they really look pretty clunky and may not stand up to a lot of useage. N scale trucks look like...well, N scale trucks. I have done several loco tenders, passenger & freight cars using PSC HOn3 trucks with the wheels squeezed in a bit for HOn30. They are the proper scale and the plastic sideframe trucks are about as cheap as N scale trucks but look a whole lot better. You might invest in just one pair, reguage the wheelsets and then compare. You might find that there is no comparison. Woodie
Which style of PSC trucks? Would it be possible to see a side-by-side photo comparison of Grandt, PSC and?
There is an article comparing some trucks here: http://hon30.blogspot.com/2010/10/hon30-trucks.html Which they'd included in the photo a couple of PSC styles and that Hoffman item as well.
That is a good article. I for one never really thougth about trucks but I can see there that they make a big difference. Andy Tetsu Uma
Chivers is in the process of re-introducing their HOn30 range though he is not sure about the passenger cars. As the designer of some of the HOn30 trucks on Shapeways and eBay I would like to say they are very strong - the WSF material is a form of nylon, much stronger than most of the plastics used in models. It also results in a very free running truck. On the downside I'll be the first to admit the surface finish is not perfect, but from normal viewing distances it looks fine. Tom
Good news about Grandt Line HOn30 trucks. I just received an e-mail from them stating that the 5257 HOn30 archbar trucks are still available (without wheels). I think I'm gonna get me some. Andy Tetsu Uma
