2024 On30 ANNUAL: What a time to be a modeler, especially in On30! We’ve added even more value to the On30 Annual, delivering amazing models, layouts, and building projects in O scale for 2024. Now in its 19th year of providing modeling fun and accessible narrow gauge for everyone, the On30 Annual is your definitive guide to O scale narrow gauge modeling. Order your copy today!
Adjustments to the Annuals’ Schedule
With the introduction of the new Garden Trains Annual, the print schedule for the On30 Annual gets shuffled around a bit.
Creating a Narrow Gauge Logging Behemoth
I obtained a Banta Model Works conversion cab for the Mantua HO scale 2-6-6-2 tank engine. They are very nice kits and fit the locomotive perfectly. Mine was for the version without a tender but Banta makes both types.
Mann’s Creek Hopper Plans
One of the more appealing aspects of these diminutive wooden 20-ton hoppers was that after twenty or so years of service on the Mann’s Creek Railway, each had been individually rebuilt in a variety of ways. Download free plans to build your own.
Re-gearing the Bachmann On30 Shay
We sometimes forget our model locomotives are as much machinery as they are scale representations of the prototype; perhaps more so. You can replace the gears in your Bachmann On30 Shay for more reliable and precise operation.
San Juan Car Co. O Scale Parts
After getting a few pairs of the excellent On3/On30 passenger car trucks, I was pretty excited when San Juan announced they would be doing a Jackson & Sharp coach. I was equally disappointed when they announced late in 2012 that the coach project was suspended indefinitely.
AMS On3/On30 D&RGW Short Caboose
The short caboose was once the mainstay office and living quarters for train crews throughout the Rio Grande’s narrow gauge operations. Decoration and minor detail miscues aside, this a very good O scale model of a numerous, well-known and well-preserved class of narrow gauge cars.
Creative Laser Design’s Schulz & Sons Kit
Creative Laser Design’s latest O scale kit is based on an actual light manufacturing facility located in northern Vermont. The Frank J. Schulz & Sons Precision Manufacturing Company has manufactured carved wood deep sea fishing lures for decades in Sutton, Vt., at their gambrel-roofed plant.