John Spehar said:
Thanks for clearing it up for me. I have an old 0 gauge Lionel freight train with a 2-6-0 steam engine. I thought I might set up a small layout using it but not on 0 gauge track. That is why I was asking about 0n30. Are there trucks available to replace the standard 0 gauge trucks that are on my cars so they will run on H0 track? Are the 0n30 couplers smaller or similar in size to my current Lionel 0 gauge system. I guess I would have to purchase a new engine as it would be very difficult (meaning impossible) to change the wheel spacing on the one I have. Are the 0n30 gauge steam engines the same size scale as the standard 0 gauge engines except for wheel spacing?
John
John, Jerry has given you a pretty good idea about the relative sizes of 0 and 0n30 rolling stock, but you really have to see them side by side to get the full picture.
0n30 steam engines are most definitely NOT the same size, but ARE the same scale as their much larger 0 scale relatives. First of all, you gots to remember that the ‘30’ refers to 30 inches rail gauge - and most, if not all of the rolling stock, in particular the locomotives, are positively minute by comparison with their standard gauge brethren.
Even in the other 0 scale NG that is increasingly popular - 0n3 - where the 3 refers to the three foot Colorado gauge, the locos are VERY much smaller than their Class 1 brethren, but the modles, in general, are the realm of brass prices - even the latest technology mass-produced K27 is still around the $500 mark. The Colorado mikes were the largest NG rigid coupled locos ever built for US tracks when they were produced, but they are only around 2/3 the size, or even less, of their smallest Class 1 counterparts.
With the price of 0n30 modelling pretty darn cheap by the standards of large-scale, headed up by the wonderful models from Bachmann and the UK-based Backwoods Miniatures and Chivers Finelines, there is no excuse for not going that route. I have a good selection of Bachmann 0n30 stuff, some of the locos with full sound in them too.
However, I have to admit that I am still a mite confused as to the effect you are trying to achieve…
tac