My g/f likes OLD steam... Ive been seeing these Shays, Connies, and Americans and they are right up her alley. What I would like to know... On30 runs on stanard HO track right? What are the minimum radius'? Minimum turnouts? General Pros and Cons??? Thanks guys!
You can use actual HO track. It won't look quite right, as running O scale stuff on it, the ties appear way too small. There isn't a large selection of On30 turnouts. But HO has plenty. Logging engines will negotiate a tighter radius than rod style engines. The more drivers, the longer the engine, the larger the radius. There seems to be radius variance according to actual individual results. It might be best, to lay some test track down, and experiment. Boxcab E50
Thanks! Im looking at a Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 and a Shay. Im not to picky about looks, shes certainly not a rivet counter...hehe SHe justs like old steam. I would do HO for her but I cant find decent models of what she likes.
Gabriel, a couple of things. I LOVE my 2-6-0s and my Climax is unreal for slow motion. Don't discount the little Porters. Bachmann makes an 0-4-0 and an 0-4-2 (which BEGS to be kit bashed into a Forney). These things look great, run smooth AND run in a lot smaller space than the larger engines. They have negotiated Atlas Number 5 Turn Outs (sorry guys, I have to save $$$ some where ) and can be used as short-run mainline locos or branchline workhorses. They are also generally a bit cheaper than the larger engines. One draw back, I understand, is that it is difficult to wire these for DCC. I plan on sending mine off for installation when I go DCC, but hey, I plan on doing that with ALL my engines . At any rate, I am not disappointed in any of the engines I have. If you want track that looks a bit more prototypical, you have some choices. I think Peco is making On30 track now (its HO width BUT the ties are spaced further apart), there is also a company somewhere that makes tie extensions for regular HO track, making the ties the right length. For me, the tie length is not that big a deal as I think it is fairly close. Tie spacing, however, is TOO close together. If you cut every other tie it comes out much closer to prototype. Anyway, hope this helps
I have a bachman t-boiler shay and it can do a 12 inch inner rail radius but looks much better on 15 inches. The 2-8-0 I don't have but one guy mentioned that 22 inch radius [center of rails] was best for it. I also have an 0-4-0 Porter that does 12 inches inner rail radius easily. it can do 6 inches with slippage and pull two cars with slippage at 10 inches radius. I lay my own track and make my own stub switches. I am only guessing but I think some of my switches are 3 or 4. Not sure, but they are tight. At least one is anyhow. Most would be about a 6. Pros for me is the size. They are kind of large, but still small enough to fit into a tight space. On my website I have pictures of some of the things I have made that might be helpful to you for ideas etc. I hope this helps.
