If my locomotives are powered through the track they are running on, can I switch track brands?
Track is track is track. Your train will run on any track in your scale. I have locos made by Athearn, Kato, Life-Like, Bachmann and a few others. They run just fine on whatever HO track I put them on. You can also mix brands of track, Bachmann to Atlas to Kato, etc.
Sure you can, you just have to make sure it doesn’t short circuit unless you do fancy wiring.
Absolultely not! Once a locomotive gets used to following a certain scent of track, you don’t want to throw it “off track” by switching brands. There’s nothing sadder than seeing a poor, confused locomotive just going around in circles…[swg]
Tom
And if you believe that, I’ve got this nice bridge in New York City… It’s a little bit old, so I can give you a discount…[:-^][(-D][(-D][(-D]
Honest answer - as long as the rails are 16.5mm apart and conduct electricity, your locomotive will run. It then becomes a question of how things look. Pretty obviously, well-made flex track made with proper size rail, tie plate detail and scale-size spikeheads will look a lot better than two strips of sheet metal tapped into milled slots in plywood - but your locomotive won’t know the difference unless you tell it.[^]
Back when the Varney Dockside (B&O 0-4-0T since released by several other mfg) was the top of the kit locomotive tree, there was an ad in MR showing the little beast running on a circle of track. The ‘inner rail’ was a silver dollar.[8D]
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
ELECTRICALLY, the motor doesn’t know (or care) what brand of track you are using.
But MECHANICALLY Speaking, wheels have to follow the track__*__.
AESTHETICALLY, some rail looks more ‘real’ (size. color. etc.).
__*__THERIN lies the problem. How well do they ‘match’? All mufacturers do not use the same +/-tolerances, or ties. (Atlas code 83 is code 100 high).
LOL![(-D]
As long as the new track has metal rails and is the same gauge.
huh?
Atlas code 83 is lower in height, and Atlas code 100 is higher in height. This can be of importance if you are running trains with deep flanges on the wheels.