It all depends on how accurate you want to be:
- Accurate? Go with Kato or Micro Engineering On30 track
- Don't care? Go with the easiest-to-use HO track you like.
Just follow normal handling for HO in regard to powering and running the trains, as electrically, it's the exact same thing.
As for locos and such, Bachmann isn't the only vendor for On30, but they're the biggest. AMS and San Juan make some great rolling stock, but be wary of the San Juan stuff as the couplers are way higher than On30 standard for coupler height. On3 stuff has couplers that are higher than On30 does (as On30 uses the HO coupler height). Real narrow-gauge railroads had different coupler heights, too. If you buy anything by AMS/Accucraft or San Juan, they use On3 couplers, which are way larger than the HO style commonly used in On30. I have a few AMS cars and they will couple with my Bachmann rolling stock.
On30 has connectivity issues you might not have with 3-rail. I suggest buying locos with long enough wheelbase and all-wheel pickup so going over turnouts and minor glitches in your track won't affect them running so much.
Also, you'll read a lot about On30 people wanting that gauge so they can run the shortest stuff they can, on the tightest curves. I've read someone asking if they could run on 9" radius! Really, anything tighter than 18", you're going to have problems with anything but the Bachmann rolling stock. I suggest 20 to 24" minimum curves so it's not an issue.
