Greg, is the kit you're talking about listed here?: http://railmasterhobbies.com/loco.htm And is that... S scale that runs on HO track for that engine?
KaiserWilhelm, Those are the kits I was talking about. They use HO standard gauge chassis under the bodies with a minor bit of work to re-gauge them to 3' gauge or 3'6" gauge as is for S scale. If you are modeling meter gauge, which equals 39.37” you can reduce the gauge by 1/8th for 40 inches or 3/64ths for 39”. For my modeling, I’m going to leave the HO gauge alone and not worry about the 2.63” over wide gauge as meter gauge. That way my HO turnouts will work and Microengineering On30 flex track will fill in between them. I may even just reduce the number of ties on my HO ME flex track and use that. The American Models S scale equipment is on the pricey side considering you can get used HO for pennies on the dollar at train shows. A friend of mine wants to model the DD45M in On30, as rediculas as it sounds he’s serious about doing it. I’ve seen some of his modeling and he could pull it off. Greg
Greg, you've been great help. Seeing as they are S scale, though, I am guessing that's a bit much to try and "fudge" as an O scale running on 3' track like the real WP&Y is? Or is that possible? For my purposes, I am leaning increasingly towards staying with ON30 just because I have like 4 engines for it already, and there is an easy of availability that I find really appealing. *Edit* And I understand that On30 doesn't 'really' model 3' gauge track, but rather closer to 2'6". But a lot of people treat it like it's O scale 3' narrow gauge for some reason (I guess because it's easier to just pretend then to acknowledge a six inch discrepancy?). For the sticklers out there who want to model O on 3' gauge, do they have to actually customize their wheelsets and build all their own track because there is no convenient median between HO track and S track?
Micro Engineering sell's On3 flex track. IIRC there are On3 RTR turnouts now. Since I don't model in On3 I can't say for sure. I've settled on Sn42 or Sm and living with the 2 2/3's gauge discrepancy. Greg
KW, the Frateschi stuff is really OO scale about 1/76th. Frateschi sells it with HO track, because they don't have to make a correct width track of their own. SOME of their diesel line IS HO, like the FA's and some passenger cars (old wooden ones) and the mechanisms are no where near as good as a Blue Box Athearn. On the On30 Conspiracy Yahoo Group a fella scratch built a DL535E (White Pass & Yukon Alco) in On30. There were photos on the site but I was unable to find them however I believe I saved them, I'll have to see if I can find them and post 'em. He used an Athearn PA chassis and trucks and scratched the body from clear plexiglas. Since the unit was already designed for a 3' gauge railroad he didn't have to make the width much narrower for On30. No one has made a Shovel nose GE, the other White Pass mainline engine. They were plentiful around the world used in Alaska, Peru, Uruguay and some in Africa I think. I pondered how to make a shovel nose, because of the body, and thought a couple of S scale F units could be butchered, er, modified to make the body (S scale is 75% of O, so a 10 foot wide S scale F unit body would be 7'6" for On30. I like those G8, G12, G22's used in Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere, but that would be a total scratch build. Some of the Australian locomotives, such as Queensland Rail and Westrail in Western Australia have some neat looking engines, and they're big 6 axle things, not as big as American 6 axle but big none the less. I especially like the Westrail P class. If I can find those pics of the DL535E I'll post 'em here. Joe Hueber <lv4142003>
Here is a picture of a Westrail (now ARG) S class diesel based in Western Australia on the 3'6" gauge in the southwest here.... Weight: 118 tonnes Power: 3010hp The modelling here in WA is done as Sn3 1/2 (or Sn42 as mentioned above), so S scale on HO gauge track..... I think this is the same as New Zealand, and some in Tasmania, but most of the Queensland stuff is on HOn3 1/2 (or HOn42), using hadlaid track or HOm track as a close enough guide...... Here is a good site (blog) for the WA Sn3 1/2 modelling group here in Perth: http://wasnmodeller.blogspot.com/ Most models use HO mechanisms with kit bodies.....
Maybe something like this.. HOn30 on an N scale Atlas RSD-4/5 chassis.. I've got it in a box somewhere I haven't found yet when I moved my room around. I should find it and get it finished.
http://www.wuiskemodels.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=251 The most modern narrow gauge diesel you'll find. AC, 3300hp.
It works for them because O scale is considered a 1:45 scale, not 1:48. Thus, those 22.5 mm are quite close to the 1 meter prototype.
Robert, O in the US is 1:48 or 1/4 inch equals 1 foot. Something got lost in the travel across the Atlantic early in the history of model trains maybe. I know European O is 1:45 and it causes some problems when one tries to combine the two. Personally, I like the 1:64 (S scale) for my meter gauge or 42" gauge. HO track isn't quite 42" and a bit too wide for Meter gauge in S but way closer than On30 for 2' or 3' gauge in O. S scale standard gauge measures out to a close 42" gauge in O 1:48.
Yes, I have always wondered about the strange difference of O scales. Would be interesting to know the history of this. It's pretty dumb as far as I'm concerned. There was a bit of a similar story with HO which was originally all 00 (or OO), where it's also not clear to me how that came about. UK models still are 00/OO. Anyway, I'm mostly a HO/HOn3 modeler. But I have some N and - most importantly here - some On3 of US models only. Thus no scale problems in my case, fortunately.
Robert, I'm like you, prefer the On3 over the On30 and HOn3 over HOn30. Since I'm having to get new wheel sets for my Sm, I might as well go all the way and regauge my freight trucks and make my switches. I've made many S scale standard gauge switches so meter gauge won't be any different work and time wise. I have a friend in Australia who is fighting the 1:48 and 1:45 scale differences with their broad gauge and 42" gauge railroad models.
Are you sure about that? Kiwirail's 1067 mm gauge DL class (3600 hp, V20 MTU) are just entering service and more are still being delivered. They also have the distinction of being one of the world's ugliest locomotives.
Who manufactures the DL class? Is it an EMD product? Seems that each model offered by the manufacturers gets a little big uglier each time. Greg
Chinese actually, and I totally forgot about them because of their reliability Steve. Since when should you have to completely rewire a new locomotive because of a failure!
Walmart locos. Cheap and Chinese. At least they have a German MTU engine. A few years ago I was involved in a serious design study for an alternative locally-built dual cab loco which was essentially a modernised U26C with a 3300 hp GE 7FDL12 or a 3600 hp V20 MTU. Alas the low Chinese price was too tempting.
