tracks

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I AM GOING TO BUILD MY FIRST HO MODEL AND WAS WONDERING IF I CAN MIX TRACKS AS LONG AS THEY ARE ALL HO

2

First, please turn off your CAPS lock, it’s considered shouting on the internet and is also harder to read, thank you.

To answer your question, yes you can mix many of the different brands of track, but not all. You cannot mix the types of track with the built-in roadbed, different brands use different fastening systems.

Track without the integral roadbed can be intermixed, although afew words of caution; Track comes in different codes (height of thr rail itself) and you shouldn’t mix different codes, so stick with all code100 or all code83 (the two most common, (there are more code sizes, but not something you need concern yourself with at this point).

Do yourself a favor and stop by a local hobby shop and pick up a couple of how-to books, one on laying track and one on wiring your layout. They’ll give you the basics on starting a layout.

3

Regular sectional track without built in roadbed can be mixed and matched with ease. Track with built in roadbed is a horse of a different color. Two different brands can be joined if there’s a piece of regular track between them of if you go the extreme route and cut the fastening ends off and fit the rails with rail joiners. I did this years ago to join pieces of Bachmann EZ-Track to pieces of Life-Like Power-Loc track so I know it can be done. The Bachmann EZ-Track can also be easily joined to regular track or flex track. Only thing with that is that the plastic roadbed is slightly higher than the cork or foam roadbed under the regular track would be. Again, voice of experience. I know what it’s like to have to make do with what you can get. Best of luck to you.

4

Can you mix and match any track?

Some yes, some no. You can only use the same kind when using the plastic ballast, such as EZ-Track. Otherwise, you will have to hack it up to get it to meet at the rail heights. A waste of money if you ask me.

For the stuff that is just rails and ties, yes, you can match it up, but not without a fair bit of work in many cases. For one thing ties vary in thickness, and the rail heights sitting on the ties of varying thickness also vary by Code. For example, Code 100 track has rails 100/1000ths of an inch high. Code 83, considered my many to be more typical in scale to modern tracks, is only 83 thou high, and so on. In order to get a level match at the rail head surfaces, you will have to so a lot of shimming with paper or cardstock, or solder the rails and ballast solidly around and under the ties,…etc.

Short answer: best to stick with one code and manufacturer and keep life simple for yourself.

-Crandell

5

I don’t think that anyone has yet mentioned that it is best to stick to one material of rail. Apart from the different rail sizes (called codes as mentioned) there are very slightly different rail profiles and vastly different materials.

The profile variation doesn’t matter too much so long as you are aware of it. Then it doesn’t cause you to go cross-eyed and wonder what is going on.

The different materials do matter. Broadly there are steel rails, treated steel rails (rubbish), brass rails and nickel silver rails. Most people would now only makenew purchases of nickel silver. Some nickel silver rails can be bought ready “weathered”. Opinions on these vary. The only use for steel is as loads for cars. Brass can be used but I personally wouldn’t bother. I’d also relegate brass rail to car loads and lineside details.

Back when I was a kid the only way to get near-to-scale O gauge rail (1:43) was to buy 00 (1:76) rail. Things have progressed beyond our wildest dreams since then.

I would recommend Model Engineering flex track for appearance. Their switches are excellent but large/shallow angle types. I have Walthers and Shinohara switches which are effective but don’t look so good to my eye. Peco are very robust. I have used their UK style flextrac and points with no problems.

I do mix all these makes and don’t see any major problem with getting the butted ends to match the same railhead height. All you do is shim up the lower rail (by adding suitable shim material under the ties) until a straight edge on top shows that the rail tops are level. They will be the same gauge anyway. After a few tries one gets to now how much shim each type needs.

I would not use any kind of set track or anything with a built in base.

6

[:I] OOPS! [:O]

I forgot to say [#welcome][#welcome][#welcome][:D]

One thing that I’m wondering about is that you say “I am going to build my first H0 model…” So after writing all the above I’m wondering if you have years of experience in N, 0, G or Z?

[8D]

7

Thanks for the info.

8

Thanks for you help and info.

9

Thanks for your help.

10

Thanks for your help and the info.

11

Thanks for the info.I built the Mountain Valley ho kit in 2005 and really enjoyed it. Just recently retired and going to start a larger ho from scratch.

12

A single thank you post is all that’s required. You needn’t thank each poster in separate posts.[:)]

13

He wasn’t. He was just really appreciative of that one guy’s advice!

[:D] [(-D] [swg]