STONE RAILS: On30 Layouts
On30 is "O" scale, "n" for narrow gauge, and "30" which stands for 30 inch gauge track. Thirty inch gauge in O scale comes to about HO gauge track. (I use S gauge as standard gauge and On30 for narrow gauge.)
On30 allows for MUCH tighter curves and in fact there is a lot of interest in Micro Layouts of two square feet or less. Curve radius' of 6" is not at all unheard of. Because layouts can be so small, I can concentrate on building layouts, while S gauge requires more space, so I concentrate more on locos and rolling stock.
Carl Arendt's "Micro Layouts" website ran occasional "contests." One was for Best Pizza Box Layout and I was once second with the layout at left! I called it "Jurrasic Pizza." Inside the circle of track I placed a pizza shop (a modified MTH O gauge building) and surrounded the back of the place with dinosaur proof electric fence (rain gutter screen.) Fence and sign posts were bamboo meat skews (100 for less than two dollars) and dinosaurs were from the Dollar Store. The train is a kit bashed Bachmann 0-4-0 pulling a Chivers caboose with BVM sides.
As you can tell, On30 also has a history of more creativity and humor, despite the continuing influx of "rivet counters."
On30 is "O" scale, "n" for narrow gauge, and "30" which stands for 30 inch gauge track. Thirty inch gauge in O scale comes to about HO gauge track. (I use S gauge as standard gauge and On30 for narrow gauge.)
On30 allows for MUCH tighter curves and in fact there is a lot of interest in Micro Layouts of two square feet or less. Curve radius' of 6" is not at all unheard of. Because layouts can be so small, I can concentrate on building layouts, while S gauge requires more space, so I concentrate more on locos and rolling stock.
Carl Arendt's "Micro Layouts" website ran occasional "contests." One was for Best Pizza Box Layout and I was once second with the layout at left! I called it "Jurrasic Pizza." Inside the circle of track I placed a pizza shop (a modified MTH O gauge building) and surrounded the back of the place with dinosaur proof electric fence (rain gutter screen.) Fence and sign posts were bamboo meat skews (100 for less than two dollars) and dinosaurs were from the Dollar Store. The train is a kit bashed Bachmann 0-4-0 pulling a Chivers caboose with BVM sides.
As you can tell, On30 also has a history of more creativity and humor, despite the continuing influx of "rivet counters."
Here is On30 layout number one in the winter of 2001 (previous to this I ran On30 on an HO layout.) At that point not much was available and 18" radius curves was normal because conventional wisdom was to follow HO standards which On30 was based on. The layout was 39x 75 inches , or a little over 3x6 feet.
I had two Bachmann Moguls and an 0-4-0 Porter for power, a set of passenger cars, and a few freight cars, all of which got repainted and weathered. My earlier scratch built On30 locos and rolling stock had been built a bit differently and equipped with link and pin couplers, so I did not use them very often.
I used a few O scale plastic structure kits painted and weathered but otherwise pretty much as they were supposed to be built.
As you can see, this layout was set up more for operations and had very limited scenery.
I had two Bachmann Moguls and an 0-4-0 Porter for power, a set of passenger cars, and a few freight cars, all of which got repainted and weathered. My earlier scratch built On30 locos and rolling stock had been built a bit differently and equipped with link and pin couplers, so I did not use them very often.
I used a few O scale plastic structure kits painted and weathered but otherwise pretty much as they were supposed to be built.
As you can see, this layout was set up more for operations and had very limited scenery.
When I was doing G scale Garden Railroading, the film "Blazing Saddles" came out and I decided that my outdoor line would be the "Rock Ridge Route" named after the town in the movie. I had custom decals made for that, using Rio Grande "speed lettering" for the logo/name and the rest in railroad roman style. I started using about half of the decals in On30 because the smaller ones on the sheet were just right in size and I still had over eighty sheets left! The number on the cab is G scale, while the Rock Ridge on the tender is about O scale size.
The station is an Atlas O scale Rico Station, the water tower is the Lionel kit. Track is Atlas HO with Customline switches. The Porter stalled on the switches.
The station is an Atlas O scale Rico Station, the water tower is the Lionel kit. Track is Atlas HO with Customline switches. The Porter stalled on the switches.
This is one of the few buildings on the first layout, "Watson's Warehouse" named after Gary Watson, part owner of G&M Train & Hobby where I worked part time for twenty years. A great little hobby shop, the economy and the Internet dealers overwhelmed it in 2009.
The small tank farm is being serviced by the Porter and a tank car, which is really a Bachmann flat with an HO tank car tank on it. No Flatulene yet, that creation was still a few years off. The two tanks and the small building are Walthers O scale kits.
This layout would be followed by dicovery of Carl Arendt's Micro Layouts website and the railroads would afterward be micros with tighter and tighter radius curves and better scenery.
This layout would be followed by dicovery of Carl Arendt's Micro Layouts website and the railroads would afterward be micros with tighter and tighter radius curves and better scenery.
"Taking it on the road!" Not long after discovering Carl Arendt's Micro Layouts website, I built a two piece micro for the first time, each section would fit on a single card table. That layout is in the upper 2/3 of the photo at left. There was barely a circle of track running through a tunnel on the "mainline" section, and this was connected to the busy "town" section which had three sidings and several structures.
This layout was followed by the pizza box competition layout.
The March after these were built, we first went to the Midwest Narrow Gauge Show in Greenford, Ohio, a "mini-convention" of narrow gauge modelers in all scales. We have attended every year since, except for two years when health problems did not allow. This photo was taken at that meet.
This layout was followed by the pizza box competition layout.
The March after these were built, we first went to the Midwest Narrow Gauge Show in Greenford, Ohio, a "mini-convention" of narrow gauge modelers in all scales. We have attended every year since, except for two years when health problems did not allow. This photo was taken at that meet.
I had been with a modular railroad club with both HO and O scale layouts for several years and was well known at several local and regional train shows. With the success of the On30 Micro layout at the Greenford show, we took the little railroad to several train shows. This led to building a series of small layouts to display on my own. One of the shows we did was at the Pennsyvania Trolley Museum in Washington, PA. so I decided to try my hand at a trolley based micro layout. This ended up being popular at other train shows as well.
The trolley guys were quick to note that there were no overhead wires. I told them that if modeled in accurate O narrow gauge scale, they would be too small to see anyway. And they fell for that explanation! I have used the same tale many times since. The photo at left is an overall shot of the just completed two section layout.
The trolley guys were quick to note that there were no overhead wires. I told them that if modeled in accurate O narrow gauge scale, they would be too small to see anyway. And they fell for that explanation! I have used the same tale many times since. The photo at left is an overall shot of the just completed two section layout.
Here is the left half of the two section Trolley layout. This layout was made on 2x2 foot panels of extruded styrofaom insulation board to make it very light weight. Unlike previous micros I had done, each section had a loop of track so that I could run two seperate trolley cars. They were connected by switches and a short length of straight track.
The trolley car is the Bachmann On30 car (at this point unmodified) and the track is HO flex track "buried" in ballast and ground foam "weeds." The house and garage are standard Mike's Train House ready built structures that have been detailed and repainted and weathered. The vehicles are cheap Yat-Ming die casts (sold by K-Line at the time) that have been repainted and detailed (I'm a "car guy" too you know.)
The trolley car is the Bachmann On30 car (at this point unmodified) and the track is HO flex track "buried" in ballast and ground foam "weeds." The house and garage are standard Mike's Train House ready built structures that have been detailed and repainted and weathered. The vehicles are cheap Yat-Ming die casts (sold by K-Line at the time) that have been repainted and detailed (I'm a "car guy" too you know.)
Here's an overall view of the "town" section of the Trolley micro layout. Again HO code 100 flex track hides under ballast and "weeds" and many people took it for code 83 track. The three "tall" buildings are MTH "Town Houses" that have been detailed, painted and weathered. The gas station is the MTH "Power Station" or "Jail" redone similarly. The trolley station is the small station kit made by several manufacturers over the years, and the cars are reworked Yat-Mings from K-Line.
The trolley poles are not wood or plastic, but resin cast from a single master pattern I made up. Since I had to make several poles, I decided that rather than do it one at a time from stripwood and plastic details, I'd cast all of them.
The trolley poles are not wood or plastic, but resin cast from a single master pattern I made up. Since I had to make several poles, I decided that rather than do it one at a time from stripwood and plastic details, I'd cast all of them.
Here's an end view of the "town" section showing the gas station better. All the autos are either the Yat-Ming "Model A" coupe (actually it's a 1932 Model B) and the '32 Ford Pick up. But after detailing and repainting (in correct colors) each car is very different.
The MTH building looks better as a gas station than either a jail or power station. It was modified, painted, and weathered, and the sign along the front of the roof now says "Flatulene...the all natural gas." This was done by making up the sign on my computer and printing it out and then gluing it onto the face of the sign board.
The gas pumps are 1930's era "Visible Pumps" from Die Cast Direct. The tall sign is Plastruct tube and sheet for the sign. The logo is a red bull's head for Flatulene. Flatulene was my own creation of an "anti oil company" using distilled methane for motor fuel, basically "farts!"
The MTH building looks better as a gas station than either a jail or power station. It was modified, painted, and weathered, and the sign along the front of the roof now says "Flatulene...the all natural gas." This was done by making up the sign on my computer and printing it out and then gluing it onto the face of the sign board.
The gas pumps are 1930's era "Visible Pumps" from Die Cast Direct. The tall sign is Plastruct tube and sheet for the sign. The logo is a red bull's head for Flatulene. Flatulene was my own creation of an "anti oil company" using distilled methane for motor fuel, basically "farts!"
Here's a close up view at a track crossing. The street was made of Joint Compound, a pre mixed plaster compound for drywall work available at home supply stores, and spread with a putty knife. Like working with many such materials, it was applied in several coats and sanded to get a smooth, pavement like finish, then painted gray.
Can you find the figure in this scene? It is purposely not obvious, so I could tell who was really looking at the layout. Unfortunately, kids are often the first to spot this figure while adults often miss it!
There's a naked woman in the second floor window of the Hotel... the window on the right.
You can barely see her in the right window? Well, what do you expect, this site is rated "G!"
Can you find the figure in this scene? It is purposely not obvious, so I could tell who was really looking at the layout. Unfortunately, kids are often the first to spot this figure while adults often miss it!
There's a naked woman in the second floor window of the Hotel... the window on the right.
You can barely see her in the right window? Well, what do you expect, this site is rated "G!"
By far, the most fun and most popular On30 Micro Layout I have built is "Marabunta Island." This was a depiction of a run down Central American island line, built in about three by four feet (a "big" micro layout.) It was requested over and over by train show promoters and toured up to eight shows a year for nine years!
The name "Marabunta" comes from the 1953 Paramount film "The Naked Jungle" where Charlton Heston's plantation is overrun by army ants, called "Marabunta" in the movie.
The name "Marabunta" comes from the 1953 Paramount film "The Naked Jungle" where Charlton Heston's plantation is overrun by army ants, called "Marabunta" in the movie.
Marabunta Island is based on two 1 inch thick sheets of extruded styrofoam insulation board glued together to get a 2 inch thickness. The edges of the styrofoam boards were then carved to look like the rocky "coastline" of an island. The track was Atlas HO code 100 flex track and the switches are Peco On30 ElectroFrog.
Every other tie of the HO flex track was removed and the ties re-spaced, then painted gray. The track was laid with "cinders" and some "ballast, and a lot of ground foam "weeds" to "bury it in the soft island ground." Rails were painted Tuscan red to depict "rust." The total effect was so good that even experienced model railroaders sometimes mistook the code 100 track for code 70 track!
Every other tie of the HO flex track was removed and the ties re-spaced, then painted gray. The track was laid with "cinders" and some "ballast, and a lot of ground foam "weeds" to "bury it in the soft island ground." Rails were painted Tuscan red to depict "rust." The total effect was so good that even experienced model railroaders sometimes mistook the code 100 track for code 70 track!
The short train of a Bachmann 0-4-0 Porter and two Chivers shorty flat cars have just passed the stucco engine house and are rumbling through the small yard. In the foreground, a Chivers shorty box car awaits loading at the Customs House at the island's dock.
The engine house, Customs House/Warehouse and a Still House were all kitbashed and weathered Plasticville buildings bought on sale! The Customs House was a Plasticville Union Station that had a peaked roof built of balsa and covered with Plastruct tile roofing. The engine house was a Plasticville Fire Station, narrowed to one stall and a peaked roof was added and covered with Plastruct corrugated metal roofing.
The dock is all stripwood with dowel pilings glued right to the extruded styrofoam.
Because this was a tropical island, I added a LOT of vines made of ground foam growing on everything. Taking the pictures of the just finished layout outdoors added to the feel. Left over extruded foam was used for the background of sea and sky for the photos, but was not used at shows.
The engine house, Customs House/Warehouse and a Still House were all kitbashed and weathered Plasticville buildings bought on sale! The Customs House was a Plasticville Union Station that had a peaked roof built of balsa and covered with Plastruct tile roofing. The engine house was a Plasticville Fire Station, narrowed to one stall and a peaked roof was added and covered with Plastruct corrugated metal roofing.
The dock is all stripwood with dowel pilings glued right to the extruded styrofoam.
Because this was a tropical island, I added a LOT of vines made of ground foam growing on everything. Taking the pictures of the just finished layout outdoors added to the feel. Left over extruded foam was used for the background of sea and sky for the photos, but was not used at shows.
Along the "back" of the layout were two other sidings so that the layout could be operated at home, or turned around to create another scene for train shows.
You can barely see a track going off into the jungle along the path. The siding the train is on leads to the edge of the island where a bridge was to have been built, but never was. You can see at one point part of the track along the shore was washed out and has been repaired by pilings and fill.
The rusty truck is (once again) a five dollar Yat-Ming '32 Ford pick up, GREATLY changed to depict a vehilce which has seen decades of hard use.
You can barely see a track going off into the jungle along the path. The siding the train is on leads to the edge of the island where a bridge was to have been built, but never was. You can see at one point part of the track along the shore was washed out and has been repaired by pilings and fill.
The rusty truck is (once again) a five dollar Yat-Ming '32 Ford pick up, GREATLY changed to depict a vehilce which has seen decades of hard use.
Here's the side of the former Plasticville Fire Station which is now serving Marabunta Island's small fleet of locomotives as a single stall engine house. A piece of the battered and aged corrugated metal roofing blown off in a storm rests by the front corner of the stucco building.
All three stuctures are Plasticville stucco buildings chosen specifically to be kit bashed into tropical island buildings. The Still House was a Plasticville Cottage in it's original form. The Still House can be seen in the second Marabunta Island photo to the left of the scratch built open top water tower.
By the way, the Still House was used to distill small batches of "Marabunta Juice" from the fruit of the Venades Tree. The drink is said to "Have the bite of the Marabunta" the vicious army ant from the movie "The Naked Jungle." Oddly there are NO Marabunta on the island!
All three stuctures are Plasticville stucco buildings chosen specifically to be kit bashed into tropical island buildings. The Still House was a Plasticville Cottage in it's original form. The Still House can be seen in the second Marabunta Island photo to the left of the scratch built open top water tower.
By the way, the Still House was used to distill small batches of "Marabunta Juice" from the fruit of the Venades Tree. The drink is said to "Have the bite of the Marabunta" the vicious army ant from the movie "The Naked Jungle." Oddly there are NO Marabunta on the island!
Here's the only overall photo of Marabunta Island right after it was completed and pictures taken outdoors that has survived. It is the "back" of the island, reverse of the "town" side. This shot shows how extra exrtuded styrofoam was used as background for the photos.
I was often asked where I got so many palm trees and what they cost. If you look for palm trees made specifically for model railroaders, you'll find that they are VERY expensive, running as much as nine bucks each when Marabunta Island was built.
The trees I used were from Sugarcraft, a cake decorating supply company in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were $12. for 36 palm trees! I made small holes in the styrofaom, glued short pieces of plastic tubing in them, and the trees are "planted" for each display and then removed for transporting the layout.
After nine years of as many as ten displays per year, the sides of the rails on the mainline curves wore out of gauge, the two piece styrofoam base has started to warp, and Marabunta Island was retired. It was replaced by Chupacabra Mountain, another tropical themed layout, but the "magic" was gone. I hope to "return to the tropics" again someday
I was often asked where I got so many palm trees and what they cost. If you look for palm trees made specifically for model railroaders, you'll find that they are VERY expensive, running as much as nine bucks each when Marabunta Island was built.
The trees I used were from Sugarcraft, a cake decorating supply company in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were $12. for 36 palm trees! I made small holes in the styrofaom, glued short pieces of plastic tubing in them, and the trees are "planted" for each display and then removed for transporting the layout.
After nine years of as many as ten displays per year, the sides of the rails on the mainline curves wore out of gauge, the two piece styrofoam base has started to warp, and Marabunta Island was retired. It was replaced by Chupacabra Mountain, another tropical themed layout, but the "magic" was gone. I hope to "return to the tropics" again someday