Freelancing narrow gauge/broad gauge for the scale of your choice

I don't think this is exactly what you are looking for, but I figure I would chime in....

I have 2 level benchwork all the way around a 27' x 28' room.  The lower level (36" off the floor) is O gauge.  The upper level (60" off the floor) is G gauge.

Hmm, I don't have a mixed layout, but I am planning a round the room shelf layout with O gauge on one shelf and S gauge on the next shelf up. As soon as I get started I will post benchwork pics and certainly layout pics. 

     I don't think this is what you are looking for but my layout is "O" and I will be making A coal mine scene that will be On30. Choo Choo Kenny

Ace,

It's not uncommon for some O-Gauge operators to use modified N-Gauge trains on their layouts as rides in amusement parks.

I use a large S gauge loop on my O27 layout, even scratch-built an S/O27 crossover, but it would never be considered a "serious" layout because of its many whimsical elements.

Hobbyland in Bloomington, IL has a layout with several gauges, smaller gauges as you go up the hill in the center of the layout.

Our family layout has On30 in addition to O.  On one end, the On30 is placed atop a "mountain" through which the O runs in a tunnel; on the other end, they meet in a yard with O on one side of the depot and the On30 ont he other.

My wife claims the On30, while my boys and I have the O.

 At Northam Western Australia, S gauge and O gauge run side by side. 42" gauge is essentially three-quarters of 56.5" standard gauge, about the same proportions as S scale relative to O scale. 

 Further west is double-track dual gauge. WA has a large fleet of grain cars which are used on both gauges with just the wheelsets different. This is the one main transcontinental line approaching Perth; most of the remaining WA state rail network is 42" gauge which hauls a lot of grain to WA ports for export.

For model railroad purposes it would be fun to have different gauges that haul different traffic. If I can find a place to fit in more track. 

 Australian 48-class locomotives (lead unit in last photo) were lightweight six-axle C-C 900/950HP units with Alco 8 cylinder 251 engines and axle loading only 12.5 tons, built 1959-on, used on many different main and branch lines on three different gauges: 42", 56.5" and 63". They were a smaller locomotive with a low profile, somewhat like S-scale in an O-gauge world. That's part of my inspiration for maybe combining O-gauge and S-gauge. 

 A 42" narrow gauge line has appeared in Carpet County. It runs alongside the three-rail main lines and disappears under the Filecabinet Monolith. The other end terminates near Helix Junction, and has trans-loading facilities alongside a standard gauge spur. It appears the line was constructed very quickly with prefabricated track panels, Decauville-style. The flat dry terrain did not require any special preparation to lay the track.

So far the only train seen is a locomotive with a 5-axle flat car, two tank cars and caboose. The line is a simple point-to-point operation with no switches or turning facilities. The short train simply runs in reverse for the return trip, a total distance of 30 pediatric units.

The solitary locomotive has the general appearance of an EMD GP7 but is somewhat smaller, possibly an obscure EMD export unit. The trucks have an unusually long wheelbase.

We have only rumors about the purpose of the line. Apparently it serves a secret military installation near the Monolith which is believed to have an experimental "rocket cannon" used to launch payloads into orbit with reduced on-board rocket propellants.

For security reasons the base did not want a direct rail link. The inbound fuels are processed when they are trans-shipped from standard gauge tank cars to the narrow gauge line.

The real story ...

I've laid 30 feet of S-gauge track along my O-gauge floor layout mainlines. I had a box of old S-gauge track and one good freight loco and tank car. I decided it was time to try out S-scale trains. They aren't so much smaller than "traditional" O-gauge so I figure they can logically pose as 42" narrow gauge alongside my O-gauge trains. I refitted three small O-gauge items with S-gauge wheelsets: a prewar AF caboose and flatcar, and a Marx 246 "rocket fuel" tank car.

The "rocket cannon" is the insulated chimney for my wood stove which extends several feet above and below the floor of my upstairs hobby room. Because of the room layout, it was convenient to terminate the S-gauge line right next to the insulated chimney pipe. It's a simple one-train one-track operation that shuttles back and forth. A good bull story makes it more interesting.

I never expected to get involved with S-scale (I said the same about O-gauge some years ago). But these miscellaneous items came along and I decided to try them out. The GP7 loco is a good heavy-duty item and runs well, except I didn't like the hum-click-hestitation of the balky reversing unit. I converted the loco to DC track power with a bridge rectifier in the loco which maintains the same polarity on the motor field windings. Now I change the track polarity for smooth-quiet-reliable direction change.

I admit that I don't want to do an O42 layout, but there are (or were) lots of interesting prototypes out there.

There were several examples in the Americas. I'm sure many Canadian modelers have probably heard of the 42 inch gauge Newfoundland Railway (Now abandoned). Honduras had a nationalized 42 inch gauge network as well as the Tela Railroad (Wrecked by Hurricane Mitch). Ecuador still has a 42 inch gauge railroad network, although it has long since been dieselized.

I sure thought about it.

 Its how I discovered On30.

I was searching for old NG logging steam in S, suitable for the job.

I often wondered, not owning much in full 1:48, if On30 or S would be more scale appropriate for a narrow gauge. IE- Would On30 be too large, sitting next to PW Lionel semi scale?

  As long as I can perceive a gauge difference, I'd be happier with a more correct train scale, than correct gauge scale.

I still haven't  gotten either yet.

Well, do I have about 10" of unpowered HO coming out of a mine and a couple of wood ore cars I slapped together. I'm tinkering on a couple of mine locos. I'm leaning toward one fabricated of pure fantasy, and a broken and roofless, 1:74ish plastic, streamlined, art deco, fire truck. Running backwards, the truck bed becomes the low seating area.

I'm thinking, probably yes because On30 is scale (although the gauge is fudged from 36" gauge prototypes) and PW Lionel is undersized from actual 1:48 scale. But it could look OK if it's not in close proximity on the same layout.

Interesting idea. I've mentioned elsewhere my observation on items like the MTH Galloping Goose and K-Line Porter 0-4-0, and how oversize they are for O gauge. They seem more like Gauge 1 scale on O gauge track which would make it about 3' gauge, no?

The broad gauge doesn't have to be futuristic either, although Standard Gauge is a bit wide for the old English broad gauge of 7' - build some historical tinplate maybe?

Interesting that you mention the old Brunel broad gauge, which lasted until 1892 in England. Lionel "Standard gauge" track would be 96" gauge for 1:48 scale. I actually have a bunch of old standard gauge track and have toyed with the idea of kitbashing a freelanced 1:48 broad gauge train to run on it ... 

Prior to, and maybe after, the American Civil War, circa 1865, wasn't there a lot of 5' broad gauge lines running in the south?  Wonder what was the last of those to regauge

or abandon?  There is, of course, that book on Cincinnati, Ohio trolley and interurban

lines and a spaghetti junction intersection photo of three or more different gauges all coming together in crossovers, etc.  (I bet that would be fun to wire in a model)

The Erie RR was 6' gauge away back when. I think there were a few physical scraps over changing it. Somebody wanted to go with 4' 10"  aka "Ohio gauge"

 Yes, and I think someone actually posted a with specific answer to that in another thread awhile back. But I haven't found it again yet.(Southern maybe?)

I think it held out into the 1900's.

RR men scrapping?....I don't believe it!.

I found this by Googling "triple gauge" images: 

Regarding Erie Railroad broad gauge and how long it lasted:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...in_the_United_States

Between 1876 and 1880 most of the 6 ft lines converted to standard gauge, some having been first dual gauged with a third running rail allowing standard gauge trains to share the track, prior to the removal of the 6 ft rails.