On3, On30, Sn3, and narrow gauge modeling in general...
I was on a narrow gauge kick back around the late 1990s early 2000s: 1890s in Sn3.
First obstacle: Engines.
At the time, Railmaster was making some mighty fine locomotive kits in Sn3. Why, there you go, I'll use Railmaster kits! Opening the box of my first RM loco kit greeted my eyes with a project that looked a bit daunting: Bags and bags of white metal castings, brass wire, brass details, brass bits, etc. 40-50 hours later (spread over several weeks) I STILL didn't have a completed engine (painted/etc). Railmaster kits could produce beautiful models, but wow... what a chore. Here's a pic that illustrates my progress of my first such kit:
By the time the above state was reached with my first kit, I had two or three other RM kits on the shelf. I was eventually going to need six locos. (At 50-60 hours per kit, that's something like 300-360 hours of building right there!)
Then there was the rolling stock issue. ALL rolling stock items for Sn3 were aimed at 20th century narrow gauge. SO, I had to basically scratch build bodies and use MDC "Old Timer" rolling stock frames.
Here's a couple examples:
As with the loco(s), none of the rolling stock ever made it to the paint booth. By this time I was attempting to be build an interim small room layout to at least began to enjoy some of the fruits of my labor as I waited for the funds to be saved for a dedicated out building. (Said out building to have been 24' x 24' at the time.) Here's a pic of a portion of that layout effort:
Yes, I was going for a "funky fantastic" approach. (Those profile pieces were to be painted as rock formations and were removable via velcro. The one on the left covers an electrical cabinet, the one on the right a window.)
Somewhere through this stage, I began to realize that without really trying, I had chosen a medium that was all about BUILDING and wasn't well suited at getting to the point of OPERATING in a timely fashion. I took a cold, hard look at what I was attempting, and the end result was that my theme and medium was way too work intensive and I no longer enjoyed it. Time for a change.
And boy did I change. I went from the craftsman building and the mountains of Colorado to trying to cram a 3-rail Kansas City switching layout in this same room on the same (reworked) bench work with many time saving ideas incorporated.
With that theme I actually got the layout to the operational state:
The reasons for its demise has been documented here at OGR, so I will not go into it again.
Following the decision that 3-rail would not fill the bill for my tastes, I took one more look at narrow gauge. This time On30.
I purchased a BLI C class loco, and a sampling of Bachmann rolling stock. I immediately saw that I would NOT be satisfied using HO track. However, there wasn't a Micro Engineering option at that time, so it would have been back to hand laying track, as I did for many of my previous layouts. I really didn't want to hand lay track on another layout. (I was using Sn3 flex track when in Sn3.)
Next issues was the coupler height. What a fustercluck that is.
Apparently On30 equipment uses the standard HO coupler height, which is not even close (too low) to the height that it should be to represent 3' narrow gauge. ALL On30 equipment suffered from this, and if I wanted it to look closer to "right", I would have to go to great lengths to correct each and every piece. Then there was the "too narrow" look of the gauge. (Even using hand laid w/wider ties, which I laid a few feet so I could see it in reality as opposed to pictures.) When finished hand laying a section, the track gauge looked "okay" at a glance from 3'-4' viewing distances... but really noticeable once you started operating the equipment. (Way too much body overhang which emphasized the too-narrow gauge.)
SO, my On30 experiment was an expensive, but fortunately very short lived, failure.
Now, I fully realize that On30 fills the bill for many, many modelers, and that's fine.
BUT, there is quite a bit of compromise for those that would prefer to better capture the look of 3' gauge railroading.
Recap:
So is On3 dead?
I don't know. But seeing as the question the OP asked also had to do with On2: I don't think On3 will EVER be replaced by On2, (I suspect the OP meant On30) which is far more obscure as a modeling gauge than the desire to model 3' narrow gauge.
I do know that when I view photos of an On3 layout from typical camera distances (close up), and then see photos of On30 layouts, the difference is usually pretty obvious: Gauge and coupler height.
Thus, for the modeler that's fine with simply wanting to capture a portion of the 3' narrow gauge "feel", then likely On30 hunky-dorie. For those modelers that are more fastidious in their desire to model 3' narrow gauge, they will choose On3. I know I would if it came to that.
Wow. Typed another novelette, I did.
Ah well, finished my last cup of coffee, now it's time to shove back from the keyboard and go do some hands-on work in other realms. Life is good.
Bottom line: Enjoy your hobby, however you want to enjoy it!
Andre
