So Many Options in HO Narrow Gauge!

2024 HOn3 AnnualWelcome to the sweet sixteenth issue of the HOn3 Annual! It seems like only yesterday I felt the On30 Annual needed a little brother, and here it is, old enough to drive a car. So if this is your latest issue, or your first one, we are glad to have you.

I often ruminate about the state of the hobby in this column or changes to it that affect us as modelers. Certainly, the landscape of large scale, narrow gauge, or any of the minority scales looks different that it did when this publication first came out. I even hear the question, “Are these scales/modeling categories even viable anymore?”

In my view, on the specific of HOn3 and its adjunct HOn30, the answer is YES.

To have a viable scale, you need three things; including track, locomotives, and rolling stock. Track is easy. The two major suppliers, Peco and Micro Engineering have HOn3 track and turnouts in stock. For those who want to build their own, Fast Tracks offers a complete system for hand laid track, and even for those who use commercial flex track, Fast Track turnout jigs can create custom-situation turnouts such as Dennis Carroll describes on page 90.

Rolling stock is plentiful. While neither Blackstone Models or MicroTrains has any new releases of their product line available at the time of writing, both are readily available in the secondary market. San Juan Details has released all the former Grandt Line HOn3 rolling stock kits, and the 3-D printed cars and laser-cut kits are currently quite robust.

Things are admittedly slower in the locomotive category. Northbound Model Works announced a kit for the White Pass Bombardier DL535 last year and we hope to get a release date at the Narrow Gauge Convention in Pittsburgh. The used locomotive market remains active, with Blackstone K-27s and C-19s along with all the various brass locomotives imported over the years, continuing to find new homes. In fact, some of the brass has been around long enough that there is a market of repowering/replacing mechanisms and Leadville Designs is offering both C-16 and T-12 drives as replacements for worn brass locomotives. Of special note: see the T-12 3-D locomotive printing article this issue. This is an area of great promise on the locomotive front.

Change in the hobby can be both bad and good. The news that Shapeways was closing caught many by surprise and caused some angst among those who utilized their services. Because of that, I asked one of my On30 Annual authors (and long-time Shapeways user), Robb Thomas, to discuss their history, provide the eulogy, and point out that 3-D printing has moved well beyond that one source. On whole, the advent of CAD, 3-D printing, laser cutting and other technological advances in electronics and materials bodes well for the future of our scale and narrow gauge in general. We are loaded with talented modelers and companies that are applying these advancements to bring us the models we seek. As one of my favorite bands, The Who, sang decades ago “the kids are all right.” And so is the hobby.

While it will be over by the time you read this, I look forward to seeing you in Pittsburgh.

With that, it is my pleasure to present to you this year’s HOn3 Annual. As always, I hope you find the mix of articles useful, entertaining, and inspiring, and all of us at White River Productions thank you for your continued support of this, and all our publications.

—Chris Lane, Editor

This article was posted on: October 6, 2024