Nn3

[Elvinley]

Not N gauge, but N scale so hopefully allowed on this forum!

I've just accidentally got into Nn3. I bought a box car on ebay which I thought was N and it turned out to be Nn3. It is so ridiculously cute I think I may be tempted to include a narrow gauge line on my forthcoming US N layout.

The wagon is an MTL box car. Anyone here working in this scale and knows what is available?

[EtchedPixels]

Not N gauge, but N scale so hopefully allowed on this forum!

I've just accidentally got into Nn3. I bought a box car on ebay which I thought was N and it turned out to be Nn3. It is so ridiculously cute I think I may be tempted to include a narrow gauge line on my forthcoming US N layout.

The wagon is an MTL box car. Anyone here working in this scale and knows what is available?

There are a few US bits. Best place to look for that is ZscaleMonster.com. Basically box cars, tank cars, flats, gondola, caboose. Where it gets trickier is locomotives. MTL did an incredibly beautiful NN3 American kettle but those go for insane amounts of money second hand. Usefully they also do bogies. The other big source is the republic locomotive works, which supplies a fairly enormous range of US outline NN3 stuff.

On the UK side Peco have a four wheel van, four wheel open and loco kits for Glyn Valley tramway style loco and a very cute little saddle tank. BH Enterprises do a rather chunky NN3 shunter (which can be made into a nice model). Ntastic carry a fair range of these bits although right now their shop seems to have turned into a plain sky coloured background in Firefox! He also stocks wheels and the like plus was getting some 3D printed NN3 stock done. There is also a bogie coach body from Kestrel although with the Gaugemaster takeover I don't know what happened to it.

I've done a few etched chassis and bogie floors designed for scratch building plus some little wagons (a four wheel flat and a little coal wagon). I also scratch built a Ffestiniog Ashbury style four wheel  coach.

There are also smaller supplies - Lok14, N-tram, etc. N-Tram make the most beautiful models, but they start at about £400 for anything motorised so I can't comment further!

Olaf does a truely tiny four wheel drive unit intended for a Z scale shunter but popular with NN3 hacking. See http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170733398511?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

All the bits are there to do fun stuff. One of the big problems is sizes. The Peco stuff reflects a sort of larger UK narrow gauge, the BHE shunter is a larger industrial loading gauge and the US bits are different again. But lots of options.

Track is perhaps the most tricky area. The Märklin pointwork isn't really up to tiny four wheel locos and the sources of NN3 commercial track are pretty limited. The 2mm SA does gauges and sleepers for making your own, and many NN3 modellers use Wright Turnouts which are electrofrog turnouts. Track laying, levelness, cleanliness is *everything*

[zwilnik]

Does Nn3 use z-gauge track (with sleepers tweeked I'd assume)? or is it specialist stuff?

[Elvinley]

Thanks for all the useful info Etched Pixels. I will investigate further.

[EtchedPixels]

Does Nn3 use z-gauge track (with sleepers tweeked I'd assume)? or is it specialist stuff?

Most people use Z gauge track (eg the Peco flex) however it's all quite chunky (code 55 or worse) so quite a few people lay their own plain track with more interesting sleeper spacings and the like and either code 30 or code 40 rail. Making your own plain track with a jig isn't too scary, points are a whole other matter I find !

[bluedepot]

what British or European lines could you model in Nn3? What gauge is it supposed to be?

How would you model metre gauge in N?

Cheers

Tim

[polo2k]

I have been doing some scratch building in Nn3 today so Ill be watching this closely. for my motive power, I have heavily modified a Kato Bo-Bo chassis into a 4wheel motorised bogie, I will be adding an axle for balance later.

I have just recieved my Nn3 axles from N tastic. they are very reasonably priced, and can do pin point pickup for one rail which halves the work to get the power off the track.

Mine will only be about 24" long and serve as a shuttle for the standard gauge, but its one of the fitst things im building as I want to figure out the unloader and hopper.

[BernardTPM]

what British or European lines could you model in Nn3? What gauge is it supposed to be?

In 1:160 scale 6.5mm works out to 1040mm/41", just over metre gauge and very close to 3' 6" 'Cape Gauge' (42"). In British 1:148 it's 962mm/38", so between 3ft and metre gauges, both of which were used for some industrial lines in the UK.

[EtchedPixels]

what British or European lines could you model in Nn3? What gauge is it supposed to be?

How would you model metre gauge in N?

NN3 is generally used for 3'-3'6 gauge and for metre gauge. T gauge track can be used for 15" (its nearer 18") and Zm track is about right for 2'-2'6 gauge in N. Zm mechanisms are hard to get however.

3' - 3'6 turned up in a lot of places including of course the Birmingham trams if you fancy dremelling a few Oxford diecast trams. In my case it's being used for the little line over the top of my Cornish branch line representing the (mythical) surviving section of the CMR which was such a gauge. It might also do for the Padarn although its a bit narrow for 4'. Incidentally the Padarn and the Glasgow clockwork orange are about the only railway you can correctly model in OO gauge/4mm

The majority of UK narrow gauge is smaller but there were several that were not including the East Cornwall Mineral Railway, Camborne & Redruth, Great Orme, Herne Bay Pier and the Southwold. The Ratty was also originally 3'. There are some others too. A lot of the pure industrial ones were also in the Cornwall/Devon end of the country - including the Torrington & Marland which was 3'.

Probably the biggest networks that would suit Zm are on various UK islands - the Isle of Man - the Manx Electric, Foxdale, Snaefell and IoMSR, and also the Jersey railway. Outside of just the UK Ireland had lot of (often quite bizarre) 3' gauge or so railway lines.

Myself I'd always fancy some African NN3 - Kenyan Railways for example but thats a bit of a large project !

[Elvinley]

It seems strange that MTL do so much US rolling stock and yet it is almost impossible to get locos.

[bluedepot]

cheers for replies bernard and etched

"if you fancy dremelling a few Oxford diecast trams"

any instructions of doing this?

has anyone got links to pics or videos of nn3 layouts or models?

cheers


tim

[Oldman]

Don't even go there about Zm - you will have to hand build every single piece of track, I paid around £50 for ready made coaches - Aspen don't seem to do the track any more.
I have converted one of these to Nn3
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-150-N-scale-HONG-KONG-Tram-Po-Sum-Medicine-/120819706281?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item1c216a69a9
Looks the same but now has a Marklin railbus chassis to power it.

Z gauge stuff is expensive any way especially if you only want locos for the chassis.

Join the Nn3 Yahoo group for more ideas.

[polo2k]

I have just updated pics of my Nn3 in progress on the YVR, click the txt in my sig for info, I think the post in on page 3/4