Join the dark side Jack!

Remember, On30 is more funner 

And yes there were real 30" gauge Shays....

Hi Jack,

the black magic and the lure of the dark side beckons further when you realize that there were "real" 30" gauge Shays running on logging lines

For more temptation, see  http://munrotramway.wixsite.com/mthg and  http://munrotramway.wixsite.com/mthg/locomotives for photos of them in action. 

On30 is Hard to Resist

I got sucked in a few years ago. I love the larger buildings, locos and cars.

I am still working on a design in a bedroom. I thought I had one, then my wife decided it was time to remodel the basement and add a guest room.

Good Luck!

Chris

On30

If I were starting over, I'd be in On30, starting with a SR&RL Forney.

In Deep

I head over heels into my On30 trains. Two Shays and one that occasionally gives me fits. I should have someone replace the gears with metal ones someday. It is fun to tinker with though. I imagine real Shays were a b— to maintain. 

Check out my TOMA link as even a small layout can give you a taste of the scale. While On30 trains are diminutive, it is still 1:48 scale and things take a lot more space.  My engines are also an experimenters paradise with room for batteries and speakers under dcc control. 

Once you are down the rabbit hole be free to listen to the beat of your own drum. “One side will make you smaller and the other make you grow.”  

Looking forward to it

Back on line. Thanks for all the comments on joining the dark side or is it really the light side. Made contact with the guy who will be fixing my shay last night. Local modeler who is very enthusiastic about On30.

I have been looking for an excuse to get back to NG modeling for close to 40 years!

Took a relook at Neal's thread on his TOMA section. I had been reading along but got lost when the news of our move was announced.

Thanks for the reference to the Munro site John.

We have a lot of cleanup to do here. Wife informed me last night? that we are using movers to get my mother in law moved in. One of those thank God moments. I am really wore out. I will be doing some trains in between putting stuff away and the to do list. Sort of a save my sanity necessity.

Jack

I too have been bite by this bug.

As much as I love my HO Tonopah and Tidewater, I have an On30 Heilser arriving this afternoon to see how it would run on my layout.  The temptation to switch and model the Death Valley RR in On30 is overwhelming.  

Great scale for short trains

For me, On30 lends itself well to running shorter trains. A train that's only 4-5 cars long just looks right, anything longer almost looks too big.  That means my On30 "need" roster can be quite a bit smaller than what I would "need" in HO scale.  And shorter trains also means smaller layouts are quite realistic.

I still have plans to build a second shelf layout in On30.  I just need to come up with a track plan...

Craig

Only drawback

Only drawback to On30 I can think of is that credible buildings can take up a lot of space if you don't want the layout to look like the Fiddletown and Copperopolis. People accustomed to HO structures forget the size multiplier.

Sn2 or Sn3 would be ideal but the cost on entry is a lot higher, in either time or money.

Update on the shay

It had a dead motor and 3 broken gears, so both trucks were affected. The guy fixing it told me that Bachmann has no rear trucks in stock. He had the parts on hand to fix the rear truck so he has done that. The front truck and the motor are on order. With any luck I will have it back next week.

Structure size...yup they are bigger. If you want an idea of how much bigger take the measurements of one of your N or HO scale buildings  in scale feet and using 1/4 inch per foot for O scale draw out the same size on a piece of paper or card stock. Want a real shock do it G scale too. If you try it with a DPM building keep in mind that most of them are under size to start with.

Jack