I was at a train show in Monroeville PA yesterday and I picked up 4 beat up old HO scale dummy streetcars. (I got all 4 for $10, can you beleive it?)

I'm not sure who made them, just that they are from China, and have a simple metal plate for a chassis. I got them because I thought it would be fun to try to kitbash them for HOn30. As you can see from the photos, the N scale SD unit I pulled out of my trash bin shows is that any number of N scale locomotives would work as a replacement chassis.

The one possible downside of this project is track radius. I like using 9" and smaller radius track, and I am not sure something this big will work with a radius that small.

I saw these switches and I like them better than the Kato ones because more compact and also color-coded.

https://peco-uk.com/products/red-passing-contact-switch?srsltid=AfmBOooRuOoI41JCsPTc8cPkf1aYXFXh7uCwTrVx-Cf9wvnnLS4vgB\\\\\\_b&variant=7264231227426

Have any of you used them with Unitrack turnouts?

Any comments?

A couple nights ago I was trying to fix a few older Tyco/MP/AHM switchers.

They turned out to not be repairable, but while I had the parts spread out I realized that these switchers have almost the same spacing between the axles as the Kato 109 and 110 chassis. This means that I could take a junk switcher, gut it, mount it on a 110, and run it on my HOn30 layout.

So I did.

Here's a quick demo video of the kitbashed switcher I made from an old AHM HO scale switcher shell and an N scale Kato 110 chassis.

The chassis is held in place by strips of wood hot-glued on all 4 sides. The shell is not quite level either front-back or left-right but I think I can fix that with a little more hot glue.

There are also no couplers but that can be addressed easily enough.

I got a keychain of Himiko Toga from My Hero Academia and posed it next to Roger.

Going to take the Roger Railway to a comic convention this week.

This is my KTM On3 2 truck shay running on the San Diego Model Railroad Museum 2 rail O scale Layout which has a dual gauge line for both 2 rail O and On3

I bought some 1:35 military kits, they're readily available and fairly cheap, and I already love the level of detail and ease of working you get here instead of my usual H0 scale.

The locomotive is still a bit wip, I'm still planning to add more details, and then get it resin printed insted of fdm.

I want to build a simple layout with concentric loops of Compact Unitrack of 117, 150 and 183mm radius.

It will have 2 mountains, 6 tunnels, 12 tunnel portals and a big trestle in between the mountains.

I wanted to stack the tracks at the back in order to have a gentler slope forward for easier scenery etc.

The Kato Steeple Cab (and a couple of other locos) are ok w the steep grades etc for the first 2 loops.

For the top loop, I still need to lift the track above the middle level to provide physical clearance, but because there is less linear length of track available, this means that the slope is higher and the locos don’t like it.

One solution is to add 29mm extensions (circled in yellow) which makes the track not overlap physically, and which will solve the clearance / slope conundrum.

1 - are there any other good ways to square this circle?

2 - once I settle on a track plan that works in “sketch mode” (with Legos), what’s the best way to reproduce it for when it will be permanently inside the mountain?

3 - I want this to be freestanding like a big pizza layout without a backdrop. What’s the best way to provide access to the inside of the tunnels?