I'm considering re-laying a significant portion of my layout. Is there such a thing as OO track rather than HO?
Adrian
I'm considering re-laying a significant portion of my layout. Is there such a thing as OO track rather than HO?
Adrian
Try SMP (Scale Model Products) OO-scale flexi-track, possibly still available from the Train Shop in Warwick. The track is fine, but you'll have to build youre own pointwork although there are/were kits available.
John.
But be aware that it's more fragile than Hornby/Peco flexitrack; the rail tends to tear out of the sleeper web at the slightest provocation. It comes from SMP in long boxes of 10; check them all in the shop to make sure they haven't sustained any damage/kinking (been there, spent ages threading the rail back onto the chairs after dekinking it...)
R.
If you can get it, and don't want anything finer in scale than Code
100 rail, the old Farish track was built to OO rather than HO dimensions. It does crop up on the S/H market sometimes, but bear in mind most of the later stuff used live frogs on points and crossings, which will make the electrics quite complex (speaking from experience here - one of my old layouts had a couple of Liveway diamond crossings).David E. Belcher
SMP Scaleway. You have to build your own turnouts though - they do provide kits though for 3ft radius left or right where you slide the rail into a plastic base; it's not difficult - the only part that is any real work was filing and soldering the frog. The only thing I didn't like was the tie bar which was a piece of green fibreglass with a couple of riveted holes AFAIR.
Of course it's best part of 20 years since I did this, but I think they're still in business.
The end result looked way better than Peco Streamline.
C&L do OO flexible track. See
Exactoscale
Marcway
HTH Simon.
Be careful that you don't have any older Lima wheels, as they will run on the 'chairs' rather than the rails of SMP code 75.
"Simon Harding" wrote
...
Their September 2003 RM advertisement offers 00 points matching SMP track, suitable for Hornby, Lima, Bachman and finescale, from £13.00 per point.
Adrian,
There's also C&L Flexible track in 16.5mm gauge
Jim.
With regards to sleeper spacing, I have the following observations (because at the moment I'm undertaking the daily commute into Manchester along the Crewe-Manchester line.)
Sleeper Spacing: Variable - couldn't give you exact figures but I estimate that on a stretch of track say 4m long, the sleeper spacing varied between
0.2 to 0.5m. The sleepers were also not purpendicular to the rails in quite a few cases, looking rather like my flexitrack in n-gauge when its been reshaped too many times : )Sleeper design (concrete sleepers) There are at least 4 different designs of concrete sleeper used on this line - sometimes different designs on parallel track. I noticed that two of the sleeper designs are very flat - one has "Tarmac" cast into it. The profile of these is more like the wooden sleeper flexitrack. The other two types have increased differences in height between the top of the centre of the sleeper and the top of the outside edge (under the rail of the sleeper).
The point of all this is that maybe the commercially available track is quite similar to some of the track I see in use on the Crewe Manchester line?
Mike
You can get SMP Scaleway type J OO flexitrack via Shawplan
IMHO well painted / weathered / ballasted C&L or SMP OO track looks infinitely better in most cases than Peco Code 75 Streamline (though one of my favourite layouts 'Penguin Crossing' uses Streamline to great effect) . EM looks even better still but does attract a cost when you own alot of stock and have to consider rewheeling etc. I would move to EM tomorrow if it was more popular than it is in the RM club to which I belong and with the modellers that I know. (Please note these are my views which I do not wish to impose on others or be of offence to others - each to their own!).
I would recommend that you invest in a pair of Xurcon track cutters and a decent file to produce the right taper for the frogs and switch rail. Also as already mentioned in this thread, this stuff is fragile - be careful when handling / cutting / soldering.
I have also used the ready built points manufactured by Marcway which are again also still available (they sell 2 RH and 2 LH points for just over £44 IIRC). These are based on Copperclad sleepers and if used with C&L or Scaleway flexitrack, the flexitrack should be bought up to the same rail height as the points using thin cardboard or plasticard shims.
From experience I would also add that SMP / Marceway / C&L points are not self latching, and I would not recommend using solenoid type point motors with soldered pointwork - I have found solder to be intolerant in the long run to the harsh action of Peco / Seep / H&M point machines. Better to use manual self latching point operation (e.g slide switches to operate switch rails and change frog polarity) or more refined point motors such as Tortoise / Lemanco / Fulgarex. Also watch wheel standards - Lima 'steamroller' wheels are sometimes not happy on 'finescale' track. I ensure that all locos / stock are fitted with suitable 'finescale' wheels for reliable operation!
Hope the above helps.
Cheers
Chris M
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