Gauge Questions

While the majority of narrow gauge railroads in the U.S. were 3' gauge, there were actually quite a few that were 2-1/2' gauge. Mallory Hope Ferrell ran a series in the Gazette recently where he chronicled some of them. Most were logging lines or really short lines with a few to several miles of track.

In the model world, the number after the "n" represents the gauge in either feet or inches. On30 and On2-1/2 are therefore the same. Bachmann introduced their On30 line so that O scale trains could run on HO scale track. As Doug said, this works out to 30" gauge, while On3 is 36" gauge.

Posted By Allan W. Miller on 01/13/2008 5:45 AM
I'm also a big fan of "critters"--Plymouths, Porters, gas mechanicals, and the like--and they will provide the primary motive power on the small mining/logging pike I'm building now (Cohasset & Slippery Rock Mining Company Railroad).

Allan - have you seen the various "critters" available from Backwoods Miniatures?

I bought their (Backwoods Miniatures) On30 0-4-4-0 logging mallet some years back. Nice little kit... one of these fine days, I'll finish it. hehehe