HO Track

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I’ve been given some silver code-83 flex-track, and I’m about to start building a new layout using my code-100 flex-track. Any advice on mating the 2 would be great!

2

Atlas makes an transition rail jointer that joints code 100 and 83.
Atlas p/n 551.

Jerry

3

One of the oldest tricks in the hobby is to mate dis-similar rail sizes by soldering the smaller rail on top of a flattened rail joiner of the larger size. Here’s how:

  1. Cut your code 100 rails square and slide rail joiners halfway onto each rail.

  2. Use flat-nose pliers to flatten the open half of each rail joiner.

  3. Solder the joiners to the rails, and tin the tops of the flattened halves of the joiners with solder as well.

  4. Cut the code 83 rails square and tin the bottom of each rail with solder.

  5. Solder the code 83 rails to the flattened rail joiners one at a time, using pliers to hold the smaller rail in alignment with the larger while you heat it. (You may want to test fit the joint and file the top of the flattened rail joiner or the bottom of the mating rail a little bit before soldering.)

  6. Clean up the joints and file the tops and gauge sides of the rails smooth.

You can do this in a lot less time than it takes to describe it.

Good luck,

Andy

Andy Sperandeo
MODEL RAILROADER Magazine

4

Now you tell me. I just bought several Walthers Code 100 to Code 83 transition tracks. Walthers Catalog # 948-897. On the other hand, it took me less than a minute to install them.

5

In point 5, Andy didn’t mention that you should match up the inside edges of the rail so that it’s smooth.
You can get the railjoiner to the right height by using a short scrap of rail and squeezing that onto the top of the railjoiner until the railtops match.
I do mine off the layout, using a spare bit of rail.
– David

6

Recently I replaced all my code 100 cheapy Bachmann track with better looking code 83 but I kept all my Peco and Shinohara code 100 switches. I tried the flattened tie plate trick without success. I found that the code 83 track sat fractionally higher than the code 100, requiring filing for a smooth transition.

I removed all these attempts and inserted new tie plates between the code 100 and 83 track. I used a piece of spare printed circuit board to support the first tie of the code 83 rail and soldered the tie plate between the code 100 and 83 rails.

There is still a difference in rail height between the code 100 and 83 but not as much as when setting the code 83 on top of the flattened tie plate. You still have to file for a smooth transition.

Here’s a trick I learned: take a #2 pencil and darken the top of the code 83 rail for about a 1/2". Stop filing the code 100/83 transition when the pencil graphite is gone.