Egger - Bahn Mini HOn30 Train Cars

A few decades ago Egger-Bahn were manfacturing a line of products in HOn30 gauge including these charming little train cars. It is ashame these models are no longer available. However there are two places where tiny train cars can still be found. One is Minitrains which sells miniature railroad freight cars. The other is JTs Trains and Stuff. They sell parts for a few small cars. This a a flat car. The small cars, usually at 6 foot, come in packs of two. You will need to provide the wheels and couplers.

Superstructure for the Flat Cars

The needed hardware for the flat cars is on its way and I have started with the superstructures, the loads or the items to be added to the flat cars.

The "caboose" structure is built from leftover plastic and measures approximately 18w by 30 mm high.

It needs a a piece of iron bar attached to the side of the structure and a rail at the end of the car.

Selly Go Devil Kit

I found this model on the last page, page 7, of the Selly line of products. It was their #608 Go Devil Kit and sold for $15.20.It is funny how we come back to things when the time is right. At the time I made this post I don't remember being all that interested in this small flat car when I first saw it.

I am in the lookout for small flat cars with loads since I started my building of the four short fat cars. I realize that it had been offered in HO gauge, but thought it might have converted to HOn30. Well at least I would have the crane gear to transfer to a HOn30 flat car if the body turned out to be too difficult to convert. That got me thinking, if I could come up with enough crane parts I could just fashion my own.

Inspiration Comes from the DirtSpot.7 HOn30 Layout

It sounds like the DirtSpot.7 HOn30 layout is in flux, infact I didn't see any locos on the layout at this time. However, the layout features plenty of structures, many of them scratch built. I do appricate the many signs of dirt and decay where I got more than a few ideas for my own structures.

More on ...

Four Short HOn30 Flat Cars

Here is another picture for future production. These train cars were built in On30 scale whereas my adaptation will be built in HOn30.

I just received four mini-flat cars from ebay today.

I will use these four 6-foot flat cars as a base for the four cars and build my own superstructures.

Three HOn30 Mine Cars

Recently, I opened a reference book and found this insert within its pages, it was marking the page I was looking for, but I don't see myself using this instruction sheet as a book mark. I am thinking that I had stuck it in there to flatten it. At any rate, that got me thinking about the other "mine" equipment I had and happened to know where to find it.

The model depicts a Kanawha Mine car, the prototype of one built by the Kanawha Manufacturing Company of Charleston, West Virginia designed haul upto 2 tons of coal.

Having a small narrow gauge model railroad and since it is a narrow gauge the cars are small anyway.I only run small trains with up to six cars, mostly small ones. For normal sized card I usually run three or four cars.

The question arises, will they track well? I will have to build one and see.

Nine Lines 009 Narrow Gauge Kits

Two Nine Lines Narrow Gauge Boxcars, Under Construction.

I purchased three box cars and two gondolas from Nine Lines years ago. The boxcar on the left is almost completed and the one on the right is under way. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be availble anylonger.

They come complete with trucks, wheels, and even a couple of detail parts and they are very easily constructed.

It Looks Like a Gondola to Me

I perchased this bag of metal parts sometime ago, and at the time I, did inventory of the components I noticed parts for what looked like a gondola. I have been some tinkering and dry fitting the parts and I have decided that the parts will create a narrow gauge gondola. N-gauge wheels fit comfortable in the boggie so that makes it a narrow gauge (HOn30} train car. This, atleast, is my intention for these kits parts.

The "kit" in under construction. I used expoxy to construct the kit.

N-guage wheels fit comfortable within the wheel set.

Japanese Critters

How I wish these little beauties were readily available.

The page features both HOn30 and On30 locomotives.

Although I do have a couple of narrow gauge locomotives of this complexity in my inventory, having one or two more wouldn't hurt.

Japanese Narrow Gauge Modeling Festival

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To prove my facination with locomotive critters here is a link to my Collection of Locomotive Critters on Pinterest

More Japanese Prototypes- Akinori's Toy-Box

Akinori has surely put together a rather collection of his reviews items that interest him. This page is a review of a narrow gauge box cab, and passenger car kits. The kits are cast, from what looks like polystyrene, and are finely detailed.

Akinori has added some details of his own and an oval of track to run his small train.

Model Train Sites-Karakuri Karat Creek Lab

Karakuri Lab Karat Creek Lab

Although the author has some recent posts this page is from back in 2019. YHe authors talks of narrow guage trains, mostly On30 guage?

There is a nioce collection of model trains here which are reviewed in as far how they handle and hold on to the track. I find these specimens quite lovely and enjoyed reading through the authors remarks.

Photo-etched 009 Kit No 8 Hunslet Bo-Bo

009 Kit No 8 Hunslet Bo-Bo, brass etching

The Hunslet requires a Kato 11-105 chassis, which I have on hand.

I have these items on-hand or have the materials to fabricate them. I am planning on adding the following:

• Grab irons and rails
• Bell
• Horn
• Fillers
• Buffer Beam
• Steps
• Couplers
• Exhuast pipe

A 009 Model Railroad

Two short videos depicting the Pen Gwyn a small narrow gauge model railraod.

Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad

The Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad was a 2 ft narrow gauge that was founded in 1879 that operated approximately 112 miles of track in Franklin County, Maine. It still runs today as a tourist, railfan railroad.

Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes model Railroad features pages of a HO scale model railroad that depicts scenes of the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes region of the state of Maine. In addition you will also notice the railroad equipment that is geared to Hon30, instead of the 2-foot gauge that is still being used on the tourist line.

For Future Development

Grandt Line: GE 23 Ton Box Cab, Diesel/Electric Loco

This locomotive can be built either in standard or narrow guage (HOn3). When I purchased the model I had hopes of converting it to HOn30.

Highway Miniatures: 15 Ton Mack Locomotive

The loco, like the one above is a dummy, that it is unpowered and is meant to be built in standard gauge.

Tsugawa Yokou 14054 Super Mini Size Motorized Chassis TU-16A (N scale)

Up to this point finding mechanisms for these two models has been exasperating. Now, it seems I might have found a mechanism that work for both of them, albeit it might take some careful adjustments and perhaps a few additions to the kits.

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Mack 15 Ton Loco Project

It seems that someone has built a railready loco from this kit.

Mack Rail – The Locomotives

Some images of the prototype in use.

The Coincidence of Combination’s

One of the factors that fascinates me about narrow gauge model railroading is all the different configurations one can come up with by using off the shelf track and mechanisms.

OO gauge is 36” in 1:48 scale-On3
HO gauge is 42” gauge in 1:64 scale-Sn3 ½
HO gauge is close to 30” gauge in 1:48 scale-On30
TT gauge is 30” gauge in 1:64 scale-Sn2 ½
N gauge is 30" gauge in 1:87 scale-HOn30
Z gauge is close to meter and 42” gauge in 1:160 scale-Nnm, Nn3 ½
N gauge is close to 15” gauge in 1:48 scale-On 1 ¼

Creative Model Railroad Design, John Armstrong, Kalmbach Books, 1990

Author Starts Three Mini-Layouts at Once

With the start of mini-model train layout I am out looking for how-to's and some inspiration for my 3 by 3' HOn30 layout. There are a lot of details that I am still up-in-the-air about, but there are a few details that I am sure that I want include:

1. There will be at least one over and under section
2. The railway will make use of the motive power I already have on hand. The railway will feature steam and early diesel engines
3. The layout will model rural america in the late twenties to early thirties
4. Include at least one train stop

The History of Egger Bahn Model Trains

I have seen a few of these models before. If I am not mistaken, Mini trains reissued a couple of these models a few years back. The Eggaer Bahn brand was a Germn manufactured model train line modeled in HOn30. HOn30 offers thirty inches between the rails and run on n-gauge track. The brand made its deput back in the sixites and they produced a full line of locomotive, rolling stock, track, and scenry pieces.

The Eggaer Bahn story can be found here and if and when I find the page again there is a French article that I will make availalbe. This was my first introduction to the brand and it depicts many different aspects of of brand and is expressed in away that appealed to me.

The Cray Valley Railroad

I learned about the Cray Valley Railroad through my reading of Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette. The article, written by Peter Bartlett, was about his Hon30 railroad. Bartlett a native of England models an American narrow gauge prototype.

I am truly amazed by Bartlett’s roster of locomotives. The Cray Valley Railroad features dozens of steam, locomotives and critters of both types. This layout is truly a one of kind.

It is Getting Close to the Season for Model Railroading

This is the time of year when I usually start to devote more time to model railroading. I model in HO scale and run HO narrow gauge trains. HOn30 gauge runs on N-gauge track.

I don’t have a permanent layout, one in which I keep up all the time, I have what might be considered a mobile layout, one in which can be easily transported and assembled at train shows and other events.

The layout measures six by eight feet and consists of four three by four sections. The sub-assemblies are stored just with their scenery shell and track. All the structures are labeled on the layout and on an accompanied diagram. Everything is removed, wrapped to protect and keep dust from accumulating and packed away. The trees, all one hundred of them are pinned to the layout and must be removed one by one. These usually need to be spruced up before they are painstakingly replanted on the layout.

I have had the layout for five years and it has been assembled seven times, either at home or at some event. Usually when the layout is taken to an event I usually take two sections and assembly a three by eight layout. The layout is pretty versatile and can be assembled in a few different configurations (with a few minor modifications to the layout). I will be setting the whole layout very soon and plan on keeping it up over the holidays.

A model train layout is never really ever finished and I am always thinking about ways to improve the scenery, adding detail parts, or about adding new structures to fill in some of the gaps. I will be digging through my un-or-partially-built kits, picking a few of these out, and assembling them. I will be posting several articles on different aspects of this endeavor over the next couple of months.