In most cases all of the fake American 30 inch gauge equipment has a 36 inch gauge original that it was derived from in the first place. Back in 2008-2009 a single individual began to ask creators of models of real 36 inch gauge equipment to alter it to 30 inch gauge. Some went along with the request as they assume the requestor was a kid and it wasn't much work for them. My memory isn't what it used to be but I seem to recalled that it was all based on this person having Bachmann HoN30 toy trains and wanted to use them in Trainz.
Historically, there was 6 uses of 30 inch gauge in the United States. Five were in the agricultural field where the crop was hauled from the field to a processing plant on site. One was in the mining industry where ore was hauled from the mine openings to a collection point. None were ever common carriers. The largest was the Dole pineapple plantations in Hawaii.
