Calamity's Railroad

[Heisler]

As you may know my town of Calamity features a railroad with the current configuration having the tracks running parallel to the edge of the board and then cutting diagonally across the center board while crossing the stream and then off the long edge of the board.



One of the things I have been struggling with is scale. I have enough equipment for an S Scale passenger train which is good but if I want a freight train then I'll have to scratchbuild all the rolling stock. If I go with O Scale narrow gauge I have a lot more equipment available including locomotive choices that I don't have in S Scale. Straight O Scale is just to big, but by going with narrow gauge O scale, in this case On30, the proportions are just about right.
This is the American Flyer S Scale Passenger Car. The door is just about perfect for the Wargames Foundry cowboy. Its going to be a little short for Black Scorpion miniatures


This is the Bachmann Spectrum On30 Passenger Car with our same Wargames Foundry cowboy. The door is definitely on the tall side, although a Black Scorpion miniature might look right at home.


I'm leaning towards the On30 stuff, a direction that a number of other forum members have already jumped into. My preference would still be S Scale but that lack of equipment and just general availability is a huge issue. For a more rambling discussion on the subject hop over to my blog: http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2013/04/s-scale-vs-on30-for-calamity.html

[Deedles]

I guess it depends on how into the actual detail you want to go.. I went for On30 for the availability of off the shelf stock,

I also found the propoer on30 track looked the part as well.

[Cory]

The advantages of On30 are a hard plus to overcome, especially given the prices and or work of S. If the doors really bother you perhaps replacing them with a smaller door with a transom over the top would work. Or breathe deep and relax as the overhanging roof means only you will notice anything.

[Heisler]

I wouldn't go in and make any modifications to the On30 stuff, like I said, the proportions are right and in the end that's what I mostly concerned with. I pointed out the doors because there are a lot of people that insist that O Scale is the right scale for 28mm miniatures and its really not, everything is just to big, but the proportions of the narrow gauge to standard gauge make it work.

It is one of the few things that I get picky about since I have been a scale modeler for a long time. Those details are the stuff that stands out to me. I don't let it affect the games though, quite frankly I may notice it but my friends won't. As long as they can figure out whether the line of sight is blocked or not they are happy!

[Elbows]

I like to keep stuff in scale, but only to a certain extent.  I don't like 1/48th scale stuff with 1/56th etc.  However, I'll be going with a dirt cheap O-Scale train (I think it's O-Scale at least)...just because it's available. 

[former user]

look on ebay for Haribo Goldbärenexpress
it is 0 gauge but on the small side, two passenger coaches, Western Loco and tender
this should be Your thing. Don't worry about conversion to s-gauge, the only problem ist the loco, otherwise it is very easy to convert the axles when You have the tracks

[Heisler]

Although that's a good suggestion I need a bit more historical accuracy than that. That part I will compromise a bit on but not to much.