55n3 Reboot -Proof of Concept

[hminky]

The 2-6-6-2 was one of the locos I bought in the On30 fire sale of 2010.



Another loco no one in On30 wanted but a great little 55n3 loco.

Not in Bachmann's catalog but still out there and with shopping available inexpensively.

Harold

[hminky]

Going thru my old On30 stuff, found a Bachmann On30 Inside Frame 4-4-0 boiler. Allowed me to check the S Scale cab from the "Willy Monaghan S Scale" shop on Shapeways as a replacement for the funky original cab.



Makes the 4-4-0 closer to this 1897 Rogers.



Harold

[hminky]

The American Models S Scale Rib Side hopper scales 8ft wide x 28ft-6in in Scale55.

The Myner trucks fit just right. The American Model trucks can be regauged.





The mogul is close to the EBT moguls.

Brian Budeit's excellent HO model





Harold

[hminky]

Looking at the American Models S Scale hopper, the question becomes:

What about a EBT Mikado?

The old BLI On30 C-16 has an almost right mechanism, boiler dia and tender.  Bowser HO 69" drivers at 44" are close to the 48" prototype. The axles are .125 on the Bowser and the BLI are .109 but that is an easy fix. The BLI has separate bearings.

Not quite a match but close.



Harold

[hminky]

My original intent with 55n3 was to build 1870s three foot narrow gauge. Then someone asked if On30 Bachmann equipment could be used for 55n3 and got diverted to that tangent.

Scale55 is the only scale that early three foot narrow gauge works easily. Being HO  gauge the use of HO mechanisms and locomotives come into play.

The MDC/Athearn 2-6-0 is a good fit for 55n3. The straight boiler is typical of early D&RG locomotives. New smaller drivers are available from UK suppliers.



Wondered if my stockpile of IHC/Rivarossi 4-4-0 could be used as 55n3.

Found a early porter drawing and compared. Yipes! We have a seminal 4-4-0.  Sound can be added like my HO Bachmann
4-4-0 upgrade.





The PBL Sn3 cars are a close match to the Ohio River and Western Box and other early narrow gauge boxes.  The Sn3 cars are more about the gondolas and cattle cars.

Making gons is very labor intensive compared with house cars.





The trucks can be regauged easily.



Now your question will be "Why not just Sn3?", because Sn3 and the other scales don't have motive power for 1870's narrow gauge.

Harold

[hminky]

The hardest part about an off-scale is determining if an object is the right size.

Found this site with cars and trucks listed at 1/64. They sell this paper model garage. I took the  picture of the garage and scaled the photo to 1/55 using a figure height of 30mm.



Looked like the cars would work in Scale55. Ordered one. Upon receiving the kit the car looked small but placing the parts on a set of scaled plans the car was Scale55.



Love scrounging for stuff, that is what makes odd scale modeling so much fun

Harold

[Lemosteam]

I know there have not been a lot of replies to your posts, but i have been intrigued by all this is and all that you have shared.

Really cool thinking and imagination.  Like stumbling on a different dimension in the universe!

[hminky]

I know there have not been a lot of replies to your posts, but i have been intrigued by all this is and all that you have shared.

Really cool thinking and imagination.  Like stumbling on a different dimension in the universe!

Really not about the replies, more about views, worthwhile if only a few people view the posts.

Doing something out of the box is always more fun than just ordering a standard item from a hobby shop.

Harold

[Dave V]

Glad to see narrow gauge modeling of any kind, especially the more obscure stuff.  Let's face it (as I call the kettle black)...the D&RGW/RGS stuff is so mainstream now it may as well be the PRR or the AT&SF.  Keep it up!  I'm following.

[hminky]

If you want to go more mainstream there is always my 2008 "California in the 1870s with Sn3.5" insanity.

Didn't have the loco or information to flesh that idea out. Now more is available.



The HO new tooling HO 4-4-0 converts to a early porter, someone has a cab and domes at Shapeways that works.



The Bachmann flats and MDC cattle cars scale out right and boxcars can be built from Labelle HO std gauge kits with new siding.

3'-6" gauge early narrow gauge is the logical choice, first used in Norway in 1862.

http://www.jrtr.net/jrtr31/pdf/f39_ste.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B8ros_Line

The Norway narrow gauge was the basis for Japan and other places in the 1870's.

http://www.jrtr.net/jrtr31/pdf/f33_sai.pdf

And Queensland in Australia started in 1864.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensland_Rail

California basically being an island in the early 1860's makes 3'-6" sensible.

Anything But Colorado in the 1930's.

Harold

[nkalanaga]

"3'-6" gauge early narrow gauge is the logical choice, first used in Norway in 1862."

Interesting.  The way it became the "standard" for the British colonies I always assumed the were the first to use it.

[hminky]

Interesting.  The way it became the "standard" for the British colonies I always assumed the were the first to use it.

Robert Fairlie advocated for 3'-6" gauge as a standard for the British colonies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_ft_6_in_gauge_railways

3'-6" is approximately 3/4 of 4'-8.5" so that seems a logical reason. Before air brakes railroads were limited in tonnage.

Harold

[DKS]

3' 6"is still the principal gauge used in Japan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Japan

[nkalanaga]

And in South Africa, New Zealand, and other countries.  It's quite widespread.

[hminky]

Am amazed what 10 years changes, in 2008 I didn't have a loco for Sn3.5.

Now there is just a bash.



There are even really good S Scale people, the translucent guy.

Now there are plastic 5' HO trucks to make early Sn3.5 car bashes.



Even can buy  perfect Sn3.5 Peco code 75 track from the UK and get it in four days.

Life is good.

Harold