US Track Gauges

rick1958

Active member
Most popular gauges in the USA are Standard (of course), followed by 3ft brought to you mainly by the mighty Rocky and San Jaun Mountains and next runner up, IMO, would be 2ft gauge of the New England states. After that would be the relatively obscure gauges like 30 and 42" gauge etc...
So, that being said, what is the big Infatuation with 30" when it's actually not very common. There's really not much in 24 except some very dated assets from Rich Blake and Narrowgauge. On "the other side of the pond" there's a lot of really nice rolling stock and engines, but virtually none for the US. Granted 2ft was a lot more common "over there" then here. Thoughts? Due to lack of interest? 30" became fashionable due to Bachmann's On30? I think the Maine 2ft'ers could use a little representation!
 
Last edited:
U.S. had gauges from 18" up to 6'.
The Erie Railroad was originally built to British Broad-gauge standards. Recently, I saw a video about some tank locomotives used on a 23-inch gauge industrial railroad used for a steel mill in Pennsylvania. The narrow-gauge railroad was used within the grounds of the steel mill to shunt around the steel ingots and flasks. This was the first time I ever saw that gauge being mentioned.
 
30" became fashionable due to Bachmann's On30?
It came to Trainz due mostly to one teenage boy back in about 2008 or 09. I think it is safe to assume he wanted his Bachmann toy trains in Trainz and began to plead with the creators of 36" equipment to convert it to 30". Once someone made him a bogie, he converted a great deal of rolling stock and uploaded it to the DLS. It became a bit of an obession in my opinion. Of course, he grew out of it and disappearred leaving his unprototypical legacy behind him.

To the best of my knowledge, there were 6 uses of 30" guage in the USA. They were all associated with agricultural businesses or bulk mineral pit mining. None were ever common carriers and mostly carried crops from the field to a processing plant or minerals from the pit mine to a processing plant. The most famous being the Dole Pineapple plantations in Hawaii.

On a side note, many zoos had 18" trains for people to ride in the 50s and 60s, The Birmingham Zoo had one that was built to look like the Southern Crescent train which ran through Birmingham in the 60s. It was an F3 style unit and a fleet of passenger cars. The loco was powered by a motocycle motor I believe. The engineer sat in a seat at the back of the loco with his head and shoulders above the top of the loco. The passenger cars had openings as well in the roof for the children to sit. As best I can remember the cars were about three feet high. The track made a big loop and included a tunnel through a concrete pipe. Great fun. It was replaced in the 70s with a live steamer that ran on 24" guage.
 
Last edited:
The Erie Railroad was originally built to British Broad-gauge standards. Recently, I saw a video about some tank locomotives used on a 23-inch gauge industrial railroad used for a steel mill in Pennsylvania. The narrow-gauge railroad was used within the grounds of the steel mill to shunt around the steel ingots and flasks. This was the first time I ever saw that gauge being mentioned.
Yeah...23" is REALLY odd. You would have to wonder what the reasoning was. 18" is a fairly common industrial gauge, but 12 is really odd.
 
It came to Trainz due mostly to one teenage boy back in about 2008 or 09. I think it is safe to assume he wanted his Bachmann toy trains in Trainz and began to plead with the creators of 36" equipment to convert it to 30". Once someone made him a bogie, he converted a great deal of rolling stock and uploaded it to the DLS. It became a bit of an obession in my opinion. Of course, he grew out of it and disappearred leaving his unprototypical legacy behind him.

To the best of my knowledge, there were 6 uses of 30" guage in the USA. They were all associated with agricultural businesses or bulk mineral pit mining. None were ever common carriers and mostly carried crops from the field to a processing plant or minerals from the pit mine to a processing plant. The most famous being the Dole Pineapple plantations in Hawaii.

On a side note, many zoos had 18" trains for people to ride in the 50s and 60s, The Birmingham Zoo had one that was built to look like the Southern Crescent train which ran through Birmingham in the 60s. It was an F3 style unit and a fleet of passenger cars. The loco was powered by a motocycle motor I believe. The engineer sat in a seat at the back of the loco with his head and shoulders above the top of the loco. The passenger cars had openings as well in the roof for the children to sit. As best I can remember the cars were about three feet high. The track made a big loop and included a tunnel through a concrete pipe. Great fun. It was replaced in the 70s with a live steamer that ran on 24" guage.
I figured the Bachmann content was behind it...LOL On the same note as your zoo RR's, Crown made large live steam loco's that ran on 15". As far as I know they only made an American wheel arrangement and not very attractive, at least to me. There was a Crown on eBay a couple years ago that sold for $19K
 
Last edited:
This is all a great conversation, but doesn't answer the curiosity of why no one has had any interest in the Maine 2ft'ers since Trainz '04. Granted, it's a small niche, but you would think at least one creator might put out some updated engines or rolling stock.
 
The old Maine 2-footers are probably on someone's list, but like anything else with this hobby there's so much to do and so little time. Peter's old locomotives are a bit long in the tooth now, I agree but it would be nice to have someday.
 
The old Maine 2-footers are probably on someone's list, but like anything else with this hobby there's so much to do and so little time. Peter's old locomotives are a bit long in the tooth now, I agree but it would be nice to have someday.
Agreed... Even if the antiquated sounds could be updated would be great. The models are a little too clean and "toy like", but it's something.
Trainboi has a nice little 30" engine... J.C. Rees (link below)... that I contacted him regarding commisioning him to convert it to a freelanced 24" and maybe a fresh paint job. Obivously not a prototype, but a neat little engine none-the-less. He didn't respond, so I dropped it
 
That locomotive is "close" but really not quite. It looks like a Mason-Bogey but it's a saddle tank. This could be a stand-in for a 36-inch Boston Revere Beach and Lynn locomotive before they electrified their line. Electrified... put up wires and put traction motors under the floors of their Laconia Car Works parlor and passenger cars.
 
Back
Top