Large Scale Central

New member

Other Scales O / On30
#1

Hi Guys,

I just joined Large Scale Central. I’ve been interested in 1:20.3 scale for many years but I’ve recently become interested in Bachmann’s On30 trains. My plan is to build an indoor On30 layout for something to do in the winter.

Are B’mann On30 trains of good quality? I mean do they run reliably for a reasonably long time? Are there any bear traps I need to be watching out for? Are there any On30 clubs formed yet or is this a lone wolf scale?

Thanks

Walt

#2

On30 seems to be fast becoming the winter choice of garden railroaders.

The B’mann On30 stuff seems to be of reasonable quality at a very good price. Many people seem to prefer Peco track, as the B’mann stuff is really just HO. I have several pieces that I’ve modified into “Gn15” (park trains), too.

There are several Yahoo groups for this scale/gauge, one of the most popular is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/On30conspiracy/ , but I don’t know of any physical “clubs” yet.

#3

Oh yes…hard to go wrong with Bachmann! I suspect there is prolly more of a following for On30 out there than in actual larger scales…course there seems to be a movement for “Winter LArge Scale” in On30 with many folks at least having a switching layout that they mess with on those cold dark nights…

#4

Only problem I had was a motor came loose on it’s mounting, but that was an easy fix. What I have is basically a shelf switching layout. Like Bart said, somethin to “mess with on the cold dark nights”!

#5

I just received the latest issue of NG&SLG. The amount of 0n30 material from both the vendor and modeler standpoint is amazing! Many of the custom kits and individual efforts use the Bachmann motive power as the jumping off point. For example, there is a railtruck conversion that puts the Bachmann mechanism under a much more modern cab / chassis unit. Lots of interesting stuff.

The Gazette seems to be a firm proponent and supporter of 0n30. There’s generally more 0n30 in the Gazette than LS, although Gazette Editor Bob Brown does very well at covering a wide spectrum of scales / gauges.

Happy RRing,

Jerry Bowers