[diane hopkinson]

Hi,
my 10 year old son has been given some lima track from the early 1980's which after a clean up works brillantly. He already has the hornby track pack A set. We want to know if the lima track he has has a hornby equivalent so we can use it to expand his track set to the full E track. Obviously its all 00 gauge but not sure if the lengths and curvatures are the same.
Hope this all makes sense!!

 

[zmil]

Hi Di and Paul

Welcome to the forum

The Lima track you have is probably code 100 - the size of the rail height is 100/1000th of an inch
As far as I know (some one will correct me if I'm wrong) the Hornby track is the same.

However Radii and Track lengths are probably different , So experiment with combining the two
there is nothing wrong with deviating from the Hornby track plan.

Utilize the track and space you have

Just be mindful of the track connections so there is no stress on the joiners .
You could have a oval of Hornby track with Lima points on opposite sides , on the straights. Linking to the Lima track
Utilizing which ever radius track is bigger on the out sides

Experiment -have fun

There are plenty of interesting track plans for small layouts available , it does not have to be an oval
It can be kidney shaped - Makes a more interesting view - trains are not running parallel to the edge of the base board

The Important thing is to enjoy the Hobby

There is always plenty of guidance on this Forum if you get stuck for ideas or have any queries

Hope you find this helpful

Regards Zmil

 

[diane hopkinson]

Hi,
thanks for the reply. I suspected this might be the case and seeing as we have alot of lima track it would be silly to waste it. Initially we were goint to stick to the layout on the trackmat as we are abit new to all this!! What i think i will do is use it as a basic layout but deviate with the lima track and experiment abit,
no doubt my son will be on here asking for help aswell so see you again soon,
best wishes, Diane and paul

 

[zmil]

Hi Di and Paul

There is a track planing program available , which has Lima and Hornby track in its Library

It is free to down load and use and you , or your son , can experiment with it

Its call AnyRail Web Site

Its quite easy to use and will give you a chance to be creative

Regards Zmil

 

[butler-henderson]

Just be careful with the curves - a lot of currently available locos are not be used on curves less than the Hornby/Peco 2nd radius (438mm) - Limas curves are 360mm and 431mm radius - the latter are probably okay but the former are sharper than the Hornby/peco 1st radius (371mm). The radii should be marked on the underside of the track = might be its diameter (720 and 862).