HOe Scale - A Brief History of HOn30

A Brief History of HOn30

In 1965 Bob Hayden and Dave Frary stumbled upon an Associated Hobby Manufacturer’s AHM "Minitrains" HOn2½ (now named HOn30) train set at a Woolworth's department store. It looked like the perfect way to model the Maine 2-foot railroads in HO scale.

The AHM Minitrains line came along just a couple of years after N scale appeared in Europe. Minitrains was North American prototype HO scale, using N gauge track. AHM offered two industrial locomotives, a Plymouth diesel and a Baldwin steam locomotive.

Bob and Dave used the AHM trains to model a HOn2½ 3' x 5' portable model railroad called the Elk River Line. The layout appeared in articles starting in the April 1970 issue of RMC.

Their next HOn2½ layout was called Thatcher's Inlet. It was a 6’ x 30" shelf-type switching layout. It was inspired by the Wiscasset waterfront of the Maine 2-foot railroads. The equipment was based more on available N gauge products than on the AHM Minitrains line - it reflected the growing variety of N gauge equipment and accessories available in the early 1970s.

Next came Dave Frary's 12' x 26' HOn2½ Carrabasset & Dead River Ry (C&DR). It was the first large model railroad to utilize HOn2½. It appeared in the Nov 1979 and Feb 1980 issues of MR.

During the mid 1970's a Japanese company, Sango, made a kit for a 2-6-0 Baldwin engine which showed a great improvement in running ability. This started a growing interest in HOn2-1/2 in Japan. From 1978 to 1982, Joe Works, Sango, and Flying Zoo kits and built-up brass models came on the scene. There was a thriving interest in 2-footers in Japan, using N gauge track. You could put a lot of HO scale operation in a limited space.

In 1974 Bob started his own version of the C&DR. Its first engine was a reworked AHM Minitrains steamer. The first C&DR road diesels, No. 25 and 26, were based on Minitrix N gauge Fairbanks-Morse switchers. Bob's C&DR was featured in MR’s Great Model Railroads 1991 annual.

Both of these layouts are now gone, but HOn30 is still alive and well with a large community of model railroaders enjoying this unique scale and gauge combination around the world.