Category Archives: HOn30 Diversions

HOn30 Re-vision

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In all the excitement to build the HOn30 pike, I lost sight of the goal — a small, simple diversion. Poking around the “interweb,” I stumbled across a drawing by Carl Arendt that brought it all back — the Wunceover Light Tram, an HOn30 micro-layout designed to fit in a 16×32″ space.

Wunceover Light Tram

Wunceover Light Tram

“Ah, yeah,” I thought and the light bulb began to flicker. I knew that certain criteria couldn’t be met in that space, but maybe if I could go just a little bigger. I went out and measured the back of the car again, and found that I could meet almost all of the original criteria if I could fit the plan into a space 20×40″. Hmm…

I went into design mode using a variety of software — Empire Express for the track plan, and SketchBookExpress and Pixelmator for the scenic treatment — and came up with my version of the plan.

My version expands the curve radii to 7 5/8″, and uses the Pilz/Tillig switches and flex track.

HOn30 Mini-Layout FINAL

HOn30 Mini-Layout FINAL

You’ll see the same basic concept of the line, except that I’ve added an additional siding at the left-center. The basic idea is that the railroad was originally installed to haul supplies to the lighthouse and keeper’s house at the right side of the layout from the little pier at the upper left. At that point, the only buildings on the island were the lighthouse and keeper’s house.

Eventually, the Coast Guard automated the light, and the keeper and his family decided to convert their home into a bed-and-breakfast. The maintenance workshop was constructed, along with its siding and a storage track. Also, a shelter was built on the pier, which now serves both the B&B guests and supply shipments from the mainland.

With increased traffic, and B&B guests expecting a certain level of “creature comfort,” a small coach car was constructed, as well as a couple of boxcars and flats.

Although not shown on this drawing, a small house was also constructed along the creek for the B&B’s handyman and his companion, who also helps out at the B&B.

With a plan now firmly in place, I spent parts of yesterday and today collecting and rounding up a few more supplies for this little project. As it turns out, with the exception of the lighthouse, I have all the structures I need for the project.

Two of the structures, the workshop and the small house, date back to the first HO scale layout that my father built when I was about six years old. At that time, the kits were marketed by Atlas. Both are still available, now sold by Model Power. The little station is an AMB Laserkit, which I built in a hotel room while on a business trip several years ago.

I still anticipate building a second HOn30 layout to use some of the other HO structures I have on hand or have recently purchased. But I think this will be an excellent testing ground for some interesting portable layout build concepts. At this point, I need very little in the way of additional supplies, and I believe that construction will proceed pretty rapidly.

When Geren Escapes

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I’ve been a little bit trapped the past couple of weeks, in that my car has been in the shop after a very minor accident (I won’t get it back until sometime this week). Anyway, yesterday Donna let me have her car yesterday, and I headed out to Peach Creek Shops, The Moose Caboose, JoAnne Fabric, Michael’s and Lowes.

At Peach Creek, I picked up two pair of Pilz/Tillig HOn30 switches and a few pieces of HOn30 flex track. I also had a good chance to look at Bachmann’s scenic items — particularly their line of trees. For smaller scales (HO included), they’ve got some really nice, affordable boxes of trees. I’ll certainly be using them on the HOn30 layout(s), and likely some will find their way to the On30 as well.

Tillig HOn30 Turnout (Bottom)

Tillig HOn30 Turnout (Bottom)

Tillig HOn30 Turnout (Top)

Tillig HOn30 Turnout (Top)

Back to the track. The Pilz/Tillig turnouts are really quite nice, and have a couple of unique features, the most notable being that they are flexible. Yes, you read that right. While they have a nominal 14″ radius diverging route, the entire turnout can be bent to create a curved turnout or a wye. A close look at the picture of the bottom of the turnout shows how that works.

Tillig have also seen fit to pre-install a solder tab so that the frog can be easily wired, and they include a pair of insulated rail joiners, a pair of regular rail joiners and a couple of extra solder tabs. Nifty.

There is a drawback to these turnouts over the Peco — some sort of switch throw is mandatory. While the Peco have an integrated hold-over spring, the Tillig’s have none. And, with the point rails being continuous into the frog, they tend to want to stay centered. That said, I do have a large quantity of micro-slide switches that I think I can attach to the bottom of the turnout. That would allow holding the points appropriately, and also be able to be used to route the power to the frogs.

Bachmann 32008-1 Elm Trees

Bachmann 32008-1 Elm Trees

The picture above shows one of the many types of Bachmann trees (they have almost 40 varieties/sizes). They really look better in person than they do in this picture, and will make excellent foreground HOn30 trees (and very good mid-ground On30 trees). They tend to be under $7 a box (typically three trees) at either Peach Creek or Moose Caboose. (For “background” trees on the HOn30, Scenic Express “Super Trees” will also be used — they’re really economical!).

I also stopped by The Moose Caboose to pick up a box of cork roadbed and see what other trouble I could get in to. Glenn did a good job, though, of keeping me in line (I think Donna must have called ahead!), though I did look around the shop to see what interesting HO stuff was there. Woodland Scenics have some beautiful built-ups, although they’re really expensive.

At JoAnne’s, I picked up a couple of rolls of moss ribbon. I have no idea what this stuff is intended for, but it looks like it’s going to be fantastic for making vines and ivy. From there, I moved on to Michaels, where I picked up about a half-dozen different kinds of floral wire (for tree-making) and some really tiny tools. Also, for tree-making, I picked up some masking tape and a couple of gray and brownish spray paints from Lowes.

All that was just about a hundred miles on Donna’s car. Can’t wait to get mine back from the shop!

GSMTS 2/11 Update

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Corinna off the wall at the GSMTS

Corinna off the wall at the GSMTS

I spent the past weekend at the Great Scale Model Train Show in Timonium. As planned, I took Corinna for the On30 modular setup, and everything worked a treat! My modules ran well, and were a subject of much curiosity and discussion. There are more pictures at the MADmodules site.

Motrak Models HO scale "Little Depot"

Motrak Models HO scale "Little Depot"

I also went a little wild on the shopping front. In addition to some basic scenic supplies for the layout, I went ahead and bought a few things for the HOn30 project — a MinitrainS Plymouth diesel set and a very nice little station kit from Motrak Models. Stylistically, it’s a perfect match for the other two HO station kits I have already on hand, and so will work very nicely on the mini-layout.

I was not able to see all of the available Peco track for HOn30. Apparently, it’s not all available in the states — we’re limited here to a “medium” radius turnout and meter-long flex track sections. The Peco medium turnouts are pretty similar in size to a regular Atlas snap-switch, but with chunkier ties. I’m going to spend a little bit of time to see if I can find someone in the UK who ships to the US to try to get a couple of the “set” series HOn30 switches. If I can’t do that, then I’ll just go with Atlas and bury it in the dirt.

As an aside, I previously mentioned that Tom Bell was designing a few conversion shells and whatnot for HOn30. Since my last posting, he seems to have increased his offerings on the Shapeways site, and he now has models in HOn30, TTn3 and On30 listed at very reasonable prices. I’ll probably be ordering an item or two from him in the next week or so…

In the mean time, I’ve decided it would be prudent to build a “proof-of-concept” mini-layout prior to going all-out on the three-piece display. I’m thinking that 20″x30″ or so will still be the size to get going with — just a loop with a switch or two for fun.

Just a Couple of Things

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First up, it seems that I calculated the radius on the Peco HOn30 switches incorrectly — they’re 12″ instead of 9″. No big deal, though I will look quickly at the Peco switches and track more closely at the show tomorrow.

Second up, I’ve looking at some stuff for bashing HOn30 locos. A fellow I’ve corresponded with in the past (Tom Bell) has designed several HOn30 items, which can be purchased through Shapeways. Here’s a link to Tom’s designs: http://www.shapeways.com/shops/tebee

Finally, Dallas Mallerich just posted this link on facebook: http://www.009.cd2.com/members/how_to/nouaillier_a.htm

More HOn30 Musings

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Last week, I presented a track plan found on the internet for the Conway, Broomshire & Hill Town Railway, and wondered if it could be made in a 40″x24″ section using Atlas track components. As I suspected, there was no way it would fit, and there was no reference on the web site as to the size of the layout. This morning, I dug out the Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette issue to see the article.

As it turns out, the original layout was built by Bob Van Gelder in a space 30″x60″, but I was still determined to see if I could make it fit into 24″x40″. After some further digging, I found that Peco’s small-radius HOn30 switches have a 9″ radius, so I based a sketch on a 9″ radius. Still, no joy.

In any event, this is a train show weekend! So, once we’ve got the MADmodules set up and running, I’ll have some time to browse the aisles. There are at least two dealers who carry HOn30 items who will be present at the show — and, they’re both somewhat local as well. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get my hands on something useful this weekend.