HOn30 trainsets available

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
Any of you who are older than dirt, will remember the RMC articles in the late sixties, where these two guys built a portable narrow gauge HOn30 layout for a friend depicting a Maine two foot RR using the old HOn30 train sets then produced by AHM.


I had one of these train sets, and for while used it to depict a narrow gauge tram working the sawmill on my logging railroad. Later that HOn30 operation was abandoned and the locomotive, on 0-4-0T had it's wheels spread to HOn3, had dummy coupelers intstalled to replace the stock hook and loop couplers.

That locomotive was my best running lHon3 locomotive for twenty years or so until the motor played, out, the motor was a part of the frame, so motor replacement was not an easy fix, I finally got the motor working, but the gears on the axles had split.


I noticed recently that these have been re released by Big City Hobbies, and marketed under the Minitrains brand, just as they were in the dark ages . these should be a lot of fun for an industrial or mine railroad on the side or for a mini or a micro layout.

I hunted through my files, and have not found a stock photo of the little tank engine I have, since it's demise it has been a static model either at the ore transfer in Ridgemont, or a flat car load. It made the trip to the work bench to study the prospect of fixing it, and is burred there.


I'll post a photo if I find it, otherwise google Big city hobbies or minitrains to check it out.

according to the literature, these have a new design mechanism. with short wheel bases and small equipment they can do very short radius curves.


Bill Nelson
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
I started to look on my work bench, and remembered I had cleaned my work bench a couple months ago (it didn't stick), and Had carried some project trays to the garage. one of the project trays was a dead locomotive pile, and the 0-4-0T was in it, so it was rescued and put back into static use,


here it is at the ore transfer. the modifications of this locomotive are crude, as I did them when I was a teenager back in the dark ages.

they also sell a little four wheel diesel. the cars shown here are Grant line koppel mine cars, which I haven't seen in a while. the cars that come in the train set with the steamer look similar. I don't know how well they will spread to hon3. I will have to get one of these, and see if I can spread it to Hon3 to replace the one in the photo.

I will also be sorely tempted to make a micro layout with some of this stuff. the Peco Hon30 track (I forgert exactly what they call it) would work well and look good with this stuff.

Bill Nelson
 

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60103

Pooh Bah
Bill:
Peco may refer to it as OO9 or Crazy Track. (OO9 means OO scale, 9mm gauge.)
I have one train in that size -- a Zillertalbahn passenger set. Hasn't been run for decades.
 
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