What is HOn2½ - or HOn30 - by Bob Hayden

Well, simply stated, HOn2½ is HO scale narrow gauge rolling stock running on N gauge track. The trains are smaller than regular HO equipment because most HOn2½ modelers build layouts based on the 2-foot railroads that ran in the state of Maine, U.S.A. These were about half the size of standard gauge trains, but they still performed a full-size job. These two-footers, as they were called, cost only half the money and real estate to get a working railroad up and running.

There were, and are, 30" and 24" railroads still operating around the world, and many people model them. The techniques you'll read about here apply to all HOn2½ modeling.

Dave Frary and I started modeling the Maine two-footers in 1970 when we discovered the Minitrains line of HOn2½ models in a Woolworth's five-and-ten-cent store. These train sets were imported from Europe by Asociated Hobby Manufacturers, where they were sold as HOe.

Read on..