2ft x 6ft in 0n30 (That's 7mm narrow gauge to us in the UK)

Post your narrow gauge model railway questions here. That includes model railway narrow track gauges Nn3 to Gn15 and beyond!.
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PinkNosedPenguin
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Re: 2ft x 6ft in 0n30 (That's 7mm narrow gauge to us in the UK)

Post by PinkNosedPenguin »

Builder wrote:
PinkNosedPenguin wrote:That looks like a Bachmann Porter in your first video - which coincidentally I have just purchased from Train World in the US - it seemed a bargain at $59.99 DCC-fitted, though postage and possible customs charge will push that up. I'll then attempt to Anglicise it somewhat with a new cab and probably a much taller smokebox with a new chimney. Anyway, we'll see how it looks and runs when it arrives - I've seen them on eBay for up to £139.99 + postage (and I'm not talking about ones with sound) so I can always sell it on if I don't like it :D

Hiya, firstly thanks for the tip!, I have also ordered a 0-4-0 porter from them, as you say, a bargain at the price,along with a lot of other items priced to go! My order has been dispatched, but i don't know what the postage/delivery period is, and wonder if you have info on your order?
Also, I was looking on peter`s spares, and he has hornby 0-4-0 rolling chassis for £13.60 looks good, but is it robust? http://www.petersspares.com/hornby-h56- ... on-rods.ir
Thanks, Jim.
Builder, The Porter did not take very long to arrive - it would have been very quick except, when it arrived in the UK, Parcelforce contacted me to pay vat on the item = including their extortionate handling fee, this was another £25. It runs ok, though the decoder that is fitted does not seem to offer much in the way of speed tuning via CV's, and the loco needs running-in (which I have not done yet).

Chris Ward Railways (now under different ownership I think?) does an 'anglicising' cab conversion kit for the loco (about a third of the way down this page: https://www.cwrailways.com/0-165-ng-7mm-scale.html) but I have not been able to contact them by email at the moment (though have done successfully previously) . . .
Builder
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Re: 2ft x 6ft in 0n30 (That's 7mm narrow gauge to us in the UK)

Post by Builder »

OUCH !
I received my loco today, the same one as PNP, It is a mostly metal body, quite heavy, 2 spare chimneys, and DCC, well packed in a pretty box, like most Bachmann stuff.
I would be pleased, but for the cost! £42 for the loco on a special, then copped for £32.86 postage, then this end a further £25 for duty and `costs` from Parcelforce! A total of £104 in fact.So, a bit of a lesson, so be careful of non-EU purchases!
just for interest, I sent a 0-6-0 loco to someone in Australia, similar in size but smaller box, cost was £8.90, and took 9 days to arrive.no charges extra, but it was `used`.
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Mountain
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Re: 2ft x 6ft in 0n30 (That's 7mm narrow gauge to us in the UK)

Post by Mountain »

Something like that happened to my brother who saw a go pro camera on sale for about a third of the price they sell here for. (Actually puzzle a bit when those in the USA complain about prices as they are so cheap compared to the UK).
Anyway, the camera arrived in a few weeks and he had to pay a whopping £50 or more pounds in import duty which took the camera way above the UK prices. (I did try to tell him before he ordered but he had to learn for himself). To make it worse, they sent him the cheaper version and not the one he wanted, so he had to send it back, and he did get his money back.
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PinkNosedPenguin
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Re: 2ft x 6ft in 0n30 (That's 7mm narrow gauge to us in the UK)

Post by PinkNosedPenguin »

Builder wrote:I would be pleased, but for the cost! £42 for the loco on a special, then copped for £32.86 postage, then this end a further £25 for duty and `costs` from Parcelforce! A total of £104 in fact.So, a bit of a lesson, so be careful of non-EU purchases!
Well you've gotta realise part of why the loco seems cheap is that it has no vat on it - i.e. 20% of the cost including postage = £74 - but the annoying bit is that ParcelForce and Royal Mail both add a 'handling fee' of £12 which is bit steep.
Still a DCC-fitted loco for £104 is not really unreasonable these days - how does yours run? Mine is a bit hesitant, but I haven't run it in yet. Also the decoder has a very strange speed curve on it - it start EXTREMELY slowly, then as you increase speed by 1 at a time, it suddenly speeds up very quickly :x and there doesn't seem to be any CVs to adjust to avoid this . . .
Builder
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Re: 2ft x 6ft in 0n30 (That's 7mm narrow gauge to us in the UK)

Post by Builder »

Glad to see PNP`s porter is sorted for running reliably, Obviously proving to be a pricey experiment ? Thanks for passing the bits left!
So i received 3 kits from Simon of Slimrails , and they look really good quality, looking forward to building them, I also got 4 bogies from Peters spares,and a 0-4-0 hornby chassis, (£13.odd ) , Bogies i am building tenders for the porters, And using Kadee couplers on all the rolling stock too , as i don't expect to run more than 4 cars with a loco.I looked at s/hand stuff to convert, and decided against it,not going to be a big layout. Looks like a foray into DCC as well, whatever that is !!
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Mountain
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Re: 2ft x 6ft in 0n30 (That's 7mm narrow gauge to us in the UK)

Post by Mountain »

Ooh. I hope your exciting project works well builder. :) Dont forget, you can mix 0n30, 0-16.5 and 0e on the same rails if you are careful, as long as you are aware that larger 0n30 locomotives and coaches need more generously relaxed curves and a little more space to fit through tunnels, along with platform widths. Other then that, they can be mixed.
There are examples of USA narrow gauge locos in the uk along with examples of uk narrow gauge locos in the USA, so one has an excuse either way if one wants to be prototypically correct. Is just a thought which can expand into all sorts of possibilities. However, I do love the laid back timeless appeal of the narrow gauge in the USA. If you go for DCC, you just have to have sound for the USA locos! The sound of the bell and whistle! Lovely! :D
Electraman
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Re: 2ft x 6ft in 0n30 (That's 7mm narrow gauge to us in the UK)

Post by Electraman »

Hi Mountain,
I am always impressed with small industrial On30 railways. Their subject, form and technical expertise in craming so much into such a small space. The skills of being able to modify or construct your own everything is so impressive.
I live (sleep) in a caravan in the garden. Here in NSW the weather is kinder. We do occasionally freeze but only for about an hour either side of sun up. You get some days where it will be cold over night, and then the day time temp goes up and for a few hours you can runaround in shorts.
My Van is under shelter and in my shed! I have moved the stock pile of junk, you know those things you think you might need at some point, but actually don't get around to using. ( Round Twits)
I'm currently making up a bench base, made out of a few of those B and Q ( Bunnings) folding tables. On top a simple but sectional Frame glued and screwed to 12mm MDF and covered in a 6mm rubber sheet. I'm making it in 4 separate sections to bolt together. Well I've got a space of (in old money) of 3.6Ft X 20Ft. It sounds alot, but it isn't.
I've ordered a couple of 4-6-0s from the USA. Here in Aus, we now have to pay GST (VAT) on imports. Even with that (10%) added on it is still a bargain price, important if you have to live on a small disability pension. I don't have skills or knowledge at this time to model for myself, so I'm going to be a RTR whore. I will still modify, Australianise tho. I'm aiming for an "Outback, Desert" look with that typical mountain in the middle of nowhere. Melbournites say I already live outback, but that's not so, we still have trees. We do get Roos in the front yard, along with Redback spiders and others and of course the odd venomous snake, as over here they mostly are.
G scale Locos and rolling stock is expensive , and my pet hate is they use Hook and loop couplings which are as realistic as Trump is a good President. Bachmann of course have the little knuckle coupling. I converted the G scale over to Link and Pin, primarily because it looked so much better than the standard. In G scale it's a very fiddly time to hook the pins up. Mind numbingly so. But on a wonky track they never uncoupled. I don't suppose the L and Ps are available in On30, or should I stick with knuckles?
I'm not sure if I should ask that and this question here in your post, but as you are someone in the know. I'm using a 24inch (610mm) as the standard curve, and I wanted to know about gradients. Like the video you posted, small loco configuration, extremely tight curves, and frightening inclines. With the 4-6-0s pulling 3-5 coaches do you think a One in Thirty ( can't work with %) would be ok? It's just with 2 boards down, I want to ensure the route is built before I put track down permanently. Of course everyone and anyone can reply


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Mountain
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Re: 2ft x 6ft in 0n30 (That's 7mm narrow gauge to us in the UK)

Post by Mountain »

Though I've been into the hobby since a child, I am relatively new to 7mm narrow gauge so while I know what my own models can do, they are small locos and stock which are built to fit my small layout. The 0n30 locos I've seen (Apart from the little Porters) are so much larger due to the USA generous loading gauge. They have a lot of space out there!
Hopefully someone else can give advice with gradients. They shouldnt be too bad at climbing, but it is best to wait until you get your locos and track (Along with something for them to pull) to do a few experiments.
My layout is much smaller then your plans being just 2ft x 7ft. Here is a picture of it. (You see why I need to restrict the sizes of what I build to run on it, though the type of line I'm modelling probably wouldn't run too much larger locos or stock anyway).
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Electraman
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Re: 2ft x 6ft in 0n30 (That's 7mm narrow gauge to us in the UK)

Post by Electraman »

I must have had a Senior's moment earlier. Sitting here working on the plan, I realised I made a mistake. I guess like the UK, boards are sold by size 4 X 8, here 1.2 X 2.4. I always have difficulty converting. I will be putting down a maximum 22.5 radius. That equals 571.5mm. I am not sure how to cope with the .5mm. Being one end of plan I am putting a return loop in that will be the widest point. I'll narrow it to 2ft, 60cm.
Having grown up with inches, and now having to cope in mms as everything over here is of course metric, it gets to be a bit of a problem.
Once I get something together ie some track down, I'll start posting pics somewhere. Definitely not Face Plant!

Pete.
Electraman
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Re: 2ft x 6ft in 0n30 (That's 7mm narrow gauge to us in the UK)

Post by Electraman »

BTW, is that hand made/laid track?

Pete.
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Mountain
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Re: 2ft x 6ft in 0n30 (That's 7mm narrow gauge to us in the UK)

Post by Mountain »

Regarding width. Only 0-4-0's and shorter wheelbase 0-6-0's (Some need the flanges of the centre wheels taken off) will get round my tight curves, so, depending on what locos you've ordered, you may need wider boards where the curves are. I'm not sure how sharp the larger 0n30 locos will go. Hopefully someone who has one will be able to advise.

My track started life as Peco 00 gauge track which ended up being scratchbuilt track using the Peco code 100 rails. I cut myself sleepers from printed circuit board, and soldered them on. I did do other experiments with using coffee stirers for sleepers and track pins to hold the rails on, but I had so many issues that I had to try another approach, and the copper topped PCB sleepers have worked a treat. It is time consuming though. It has all been a learning curve.

I also found the need to make my own controller (Not finished yet) as the Gaugemaster panel controller I did intend to use wasn't designed to run from a 12 volt DC battery, which I intend to use. The controller is very simple using parts from an old Triang controller.
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b308
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Re: 2ft x 6ft in 0n30 (That's 7mm narrow gauge to us in the UK)

Post by b308 »

Come-on Mountain, 'bout time you got some scenery on that layout!! ;) :)
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Mountain
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Re: 2ft x 6ft in 0n30 (That's 7mm narrow gauge to us in the UK)

Post by Mountain »

I know! I've been resisting the urge for now due to the need to protect the boards pending a house move... Though I may as well start with the simpler items of scenery fairly soon though I do have thoughts of making an additional siding and then the wiring. The trackwork has isolating areas in the right places ready for this. Also a little extra work on the controller... Once the trains are running then I can do the backscenes and the scenery.
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