Modern Hornby 00 set track

As far as I know, apart from some track available under the LifeLike brand, all modern track is nickel silver. You can mix and match any brands of track as long as: a) the rail is the same code (measured in 1/100ths of an inch, ie code

100 rail is 0.100" high); and b) it's plain track with no plastic ballast base.

You may have some issues with curves, since there is no standard for "1st radius" etc; these vary from one manufacturer to another. Most trainsets come with 18" radius curves, the rest (aimed especially at younger modellers) come with 15" radius curves.

Google is your friend:

and:

This site also has useful information (quite a bit, so allow some time for reading it all):

The main problem with Hornby is that their wheel profiles have changed, so that old stock with old wheels will not run run well on modern track, especially through the points. The cure is to change the wheels.

Caveat: Older Hornby trains are collectors items, so if you want to maintain their value, you should not modify them (such as changing wheels).

Nah, do what James May did, ask the auctioneers to dispose of the box and *play* with the trains :-)

MBQ

As far as I can see the only difference is China and nickel silver for plain track. The points have changed to more Peco like set-track the point motors they supply look very similar to Peco ones.

I also think Peco setrack geometry is the same as Hornby so there should not be any problem using them interchangably.

I've used their semi-flexible track for a helix I built as it easier to lay in curves.

Peco Code 100 OO/HO SetTrack, Hornby and Bachmann curves and turnouts have the same geometry and can be used interchangeably (but not the point motors). See:

For flextrack, I prefer Atlas, as sold in US and Canada. One rail is attached to the sleeper web, which makes uniform sleeper spacing on curves easier to achieve. No mass-produced-in-China track has realistic sleeper spacing for 1:76.

That's OK, it doesn't have realistic gauge either :-)

MBQ