Mountain Man said:
I'm a newbie very much interested in HOn3, as I am from Colorado which is rich in narrow gauge history and still-working narrow gauge trains.
I am not a rivet counter, although attention to time period and detail seems to be part of the hobby. I believe that you can get just as much detail into HO gauge of any type as into O gauge stuff- I think the real difference is that it is easier for modellers to show off their work in the much larger gauge, and On3 lends itself to the working dioramas such as logging that many seem to favor. If, however, you want a large working layout with several towns, mines and so forth, you are probably looking at HOn3 instead, unless you own an old factory building to put it all in!
Mountain Man, that's the lure of Sn3. HOn3 is an absolute paradise for finding equipment...but for me, it's just too small. I view it as having to many of the same limitations that n-scale has with the locomotives being too small for me. I've switched to On3 for the bulk of my work...with the intention of eventually having enough basement to do something with it.
To me, the lure to switch to Sn3 is very strong. It's basically HO size trains, and you still can have a huge layout. I'm especially drawn to it because
Cimarron Works has come out with all the freight cars a South Park modeller needs as well as the Pullman sleeping cars. Unfortunately, they only offer some of the cars in On3 and none of the trucks. They don't offer anything in HOn3. Sn3 modellers also get some awesome support from
Bill's Train Shop...almost everything you need for the East Broad Top! He also has the old Master Creations line of early HOn3 cars...Colorado Central, D&RG, and DSP&P.
But, I think I'll stay with On3. I can get decals from Cimarron for all of the DSP&P cars, and I'll have an easier time building what else I need. Plus I've converted a Bachmann mogul to On3, built a couple Grandt Line cars, and I have my dad's old On3 cars. Further, I love the thought of working Link & Pin couplers as well as hopefully building some working Miller Semi-automatic couplers.
The last thing for On3...Precision Scale is thinking about offering Die-cast DSP&P power in On3!!!! Low cost Mason Boogies, Cooke Moguls, or whatever else they feel like! I'm going to save almost all of my hobby dollars to purchase as many as I can. I hope they offer them...I love their models!