just getting into HOn3 & was wondering what are the pros & cons of the different brands of track. Thanks. jerry
There are basically 4 mass (batch) produced lines of track in HOn3.
- Shinohara: code 70 flex track in narrow and dual gauge. Wide variety of turnouts and special track work in both HOn3 and dual gauge (all code 70). Stocking at hobby shops tends to vary widely as popular items sell out before a new batch is produced.
- Micro-Engineering: code 70, 55, and 40 flex track. Code 70 and 55 dual gauge. I have heard (rumor) the code 55 track is out of production for a while due to die issues. I hope I heard wrong. ME old HOn3 turnouts had wood ties and used code 55 rail. Newer production turnouts in the past 4 years or so is code 70 with plastic ties. Only #6 turnouts have been made.
- Peco: just started their HOn3 line of track in the past year. Code 70 flex track and turnouts. Only turnouts advertised to date are #5.
- Blackstone: commissioned Kato (at Kato prices) to make code 70 sectional track with built-in roadbed. Supposed to be much more realistic than standard Kato. Due in stores before Christmas.
It’s very hard to do visual comparisons as I’ve yet to see an LHS with all brands in stock at the same time. And I mostly hand lay in HOn3. When not hand laying, I use ME flex track with Shinohara turnouts due to price and availability when I was buying.
Custom and semi-custom turnouts are available from several reliable suppliers. Cream City and Litco use Fast Tracks specs and templates for their semi-custom turnouts. Railway Engineering builds to your spec. BK makes turnout kits and turnouts using their own methods (NMRA spec).
hope this helps
Fred W
Fred has things basically covered. I will add a few more bits.
The main difference between ME and Shinohara (don’t know about Peco, haven’t seen any yet) is that ME holds curves once you curve it. Shinohara tends to want to spring back toward straight, as the rail is held more loosely, somewhat like Atlas SG track but not quite that loose.
Some people don’t like ME, thinking it’s hard to handle. The trick is to put it on a flat surface and gently push sideways to form it to the curve. I’d rather do this than have the flexy track you have to fight with sometimes as you’re spiking it.
ME track can also be found with weathered rail. I like it and it saves a lot of work. The only thing is you have to scrape it down to bare metal with a knife blade in order to solder to it. Again, I’d rather do that than worry about painting rail, so nearly all my track is ME. YMMV
My turnouts are all Shinohara. Except for the custom trackwork builders, Shinohara is it for RTR dual-gauge switches, which may be a factor depending on your plans.
Then there is the great code debate, 70 or 55. I believe that what Fred noted about code 55 no longer being available from ME is correct. Lots of narrowgaugers like 55 because it is closer to most NG rail. In my case, I went with code 70 because of the dual-gauge (Shinohara’s dual gauge turnouts are code 70) and wanting a bit sturdier rail. Once you have 70 down and ballasted, it’s hard to tell the difference. However, if you plan a lot of closeup pics, then code 55 does look nicer.
Another thing about Shinohara’s dual-gauge turnouts is that their flangeways are supposed to be to SG spec, so cars tend to bump a little going through. That bothers some people. If you want stuff built to tight specs, pick Railway Engineering, as Steve is very fastidious about things like flangeways.
One more option is to use Fast Tracks turnout jigs. If you plan on having more than a dozen turnouts of a particualr size, it&#