[Guest]

Hello all,

well i moved to USA 6 years ago and now have a kid ets ets ....and was thinking about setting up my old set from when i was a kid (~20-25 years ago). the set has been sitting in my dads loft for about 15 years.
my plan is for hime to send out engines and coaches, some of the station accesories etc but not the track.
The original set up was approx 6 ft X 4 ft

what track would be the equivilent to use in USA?

 

[Gwent rail]

Hi there and welcome to the forum.
As I understand it, the most popular track in the USA is HO gauge, which has a width between the rails of 16.5mm.
Your UK stock sounds like OO gauge and as luck would have it, also has wheels which measure 16.5mm wide.
The main problem you would have with the newer track types is not the width, but the depth of the wheel flanges. For this reason, I would go for "Code 100" track as opposed to a finer standard (code 75 or 85).
I think Peco ( a UK company ) code 100 track is available in the USA, but no doubt one or more of our USA members will reply with more information.
Best of luck.

 

[Gary]

You may find that older British outline models may not run on American track without modification due to the NMRA standards that have been adopted in the USA. I'm thinking of points and diamond crossings more so than rail depth as the frogs and check rails might be too tight.

You will normally be safe if you use British Code 100 track. Are there any American members who can shed more light on this?

Happy modelling
Gary

 

[pedromorgan]

Athearn stock has had decent wheels since the dawn of time.

It whoul be fine on code 75 or 100.

In the us there is an interesting comprimise in code 83. its a good inbetween rail. it whould be readily available from most hoby shops on your side of the pond.

The problem is more with the depth of the flange than the width. i only have 1 loco that has problems with flange width and its a toy fromt he 60's. some wheels have the pizza cutter flanges that ride on the chairs.

Certain lima models and many continental models have this problem.

Peter

 

[Dennis David]

Since track is cheap try a few pieces and see how they work before you splurge. Code 83 is very popular. Walthers sell it so you can buy it everywhere. Atlas makes Code 100 track and you can get that every where as well. Buy two lengths of flex track and one switch of each. Get a piece of plywood and use the flextrack to create your tightest curve as well as a typical point. Get the smallest number of point that you will be using on your layout. Hook up a transformer and test out your rolling stock. Once you ensure the running quality then buy the rest of the track.