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.
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.
Ditching the Dummy
The dummy coupler at the front of my Broadway Limited On30 C-16 steam locomotive drove me to distraction. It made impossible any realistic narrow gauge operations, where front couplers were used nearly as much as those on the tender. I wanted a functioning coupler up there.
History of the Bellevue & Cascade
The Chicago, Bellevue, Cascade & Western Railway Company was organized in 1877 and its 36 miles of 30 lb. iron arrived in Cascade Iowa, a town of 900 souls, on the evening of December 31, 1879. The CBC&W’s eastern terminus was at Bellevue, Iowa, on the Mississippi River.
RS Laser add-on deck for Bachmann freight cars
Both kits from RS Laser include two custom fitted plywood decks with double sided tape applied to attach the deck to the host car as well as Grandt Line O scale brake wheels and ratchet and pawl castings for two cars to replace those removed when new decks are installed. The kit for the tank cars also includes Standard Oil Company decal sets to add to the tank of each car.
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.
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.