What is the differnce between the differnet tracks
Welcome to the Forums. [#welcome]
There is the Mainline, Passing Sidings, Industrial Sidings, and Yards & Loco Facilities. Some Railroads have Branch lines also.
Is this what you mean?
Welcome to the forums.
I would suggest you get a book on starting in model railroading. It will answer a lot of your questions on scales and the advantages and disadvantages of each. You will also learn about basic benchwork, wiring and scenery building.
Our host has several good books available. You may be able to find them at a local library, your local hobby shop or you can order them directly by going to the SHOP area on the black line above.
You will find it beneficial, but not necesary to choose an era and location for your planned railroad. I have a friend that buys what he likes the looks of and runs it (steam engines pulling modern auto racks). There are other folks that model a specific period of time, some, right down to a specific date.
There are other things you will have to decide as you go along, but do some reading, come back with more questions and we’ll have you up and running trains in no time.
Have fun,
Richard
Yes, puhleeeeese spend some time reading, thinking, asking a lot more questions, etc, before you offer a single dollar to a retailer.
If you mean the different ‘codes’ of track, the rail heights are in scale, supposedly, and the higher the code number, the higher in thousandths of an inch the actual metal rail is atop the ties. Code 100 would scale out at about 165 pounds per yard of rail in the real world, much too large for virtually all applications now or in the past. The Pennsylvania Railroad and a couple of others used 155 pound rail on their lines with the heaviest traffic, but much of modern rail is in the 120-130 pound range. That comes closer to Code 83. Code 70 rail, 70/1000" thick really, is near 90 pound rail which is found on secondary tracks mostly.
Did you mean gauge? O gauge, HO, N, S, T, Z, OO, and so on?
Crandell
cmiller
Welcome to the forums!!
I will also recommend that you do some (a lot ) of reading before spending much money on track or otherwise. As has already been mentioned Kalmbach Publishing, who host these forums, have some excellent books written specifically for newcomers to the hobby. If you go to the black bar above and select ‘SHOP’, you will see a listing for books.
There is also a search engine on the right side of this page that will allow you to search previous threads for posts related to your questions.
With regard to your question regarding track, perhaps you could be a bit more specific about what you are trying to compare. Are you asking about various manufacturers, rail codes, prototype definitions…etc. etc. There are lots of possible interpretations to your question.
If you are asking about which size track you should use, assuming HO scale, I would recommend Code 83. It is a more realistic size than the Code 100 stuff that was popular a few years ago. I foolishly invested a lot of money in Code 100 turnouts and flex track when I first got into the hobby and, although there is really nothing wrong with Code 100, the Code 83 looks better. You may pay a bit more for the Code 83. Your choice.
Final note: don’t be afraid to ask questions, and if somebody criticizes you for asking a question that has been asked many times before, ignore them!
Dave
Hi C – (got a first name or nick name people can use when answering you?)
Welcome to the forums.
Model trains are in different scales. The two most popular scales are H0 scale (1:87.1) and N scale (1:160). Meaning that a car that in real life is 40 feet (40 x 12 = 480 inches) long will be about 5.5 inches (480 / 87.1) long in H0 scale and about 3 inches long (480 / 160) in N scale.
The scale also affects the gauge (the distance between the rails).
Standard gauge is the most common gauge 4 feet 8 1/2" - or about 56.5" between the rails. In H0 scale this is about 0.64" (or about 16.5 mm) between the rails, in N scale it is about 0.35" (9 mm) between the rails.
There are also various narrow gauges - like 3 feet between the rails, or 30" (2.5 feet) between the rails, giving rise to other distances between the rails in H0 scale and N scale.
Another aspect of rails is rail height. Rails come in various heights, depending in how heavy trains would run on the tracks. In model railroading, rail height is given as “code”. Which is to say a fraction of an inch. Code 100 rail is .100" high. In H0 scale, .100" is a representation of rail that is 8.7" high in real life.
Popular rail heights for H0 scale is code 100 (which is a bit oversize for most applications), code 83 (which is pretty good for normal mainlines) and code 70 (which can be used to represent lighter rail.
Popular rail heights for N scale is code 80 and code 55, with code 55 becoming the most popular.
Yet another aspect is whether the tracks comes in short curved and straight sections (known as “sectional tracks”
Welcome, Mr. / Mrs. / Ms. / Miss Miller!
While I’m sure you know exactly what you meant by that, I for one flunked Mind Reading 101 in college, so I’m having a little difficulty catching up. Perhaps you could give us some more detail and we will do our best to answer.
In the meantime, some good suggestions above. Any halfway decent introductory book on the subject will tell you about different prototype tracks, as well as the various scales, gauges, codes, etc. of track in our hobby. There are even some pdf files / web pages out there that will get you started on the basics.
Going to a train show is also a great way to see all the products available, as well as meet people with similar interests, see some amazing layouts, and chat with some fellow modellers. If you express an interest in someone’s layout, you’re likely to be bored to tears before they stop talking about it. I remember once, in the first months after returning to the hobby, I asked someone how she made the cat tails in the lake on her layout. Half an hour later, I knew how she’s made every piece of scenery on the layout! Just be aware that the busier the show, the less exhibitors will feel like spending lots of time talking to you.
You can also try asking the employees at a local hobby shop (LHS). Just be a little cautious, because they probably want to sell what they have, and you may get the “sales” answer rather than the “informational” one.
Again, welcome. We hope to hear more from you.