__________________________________________________________________
Mike Kieran
Port Able Railway
I just do what the majority of the voices in my head vote on.
I assume HO, is cost a factor?
The best turnouts I know of are made to order in any rail size by Railway Engineering (http://www.railwayeng.com/). Stephen's prices are competitive with Peco and Walters. You can make equally good turnouts yourself.
For code 83, there are numerous brands of track and turnouts. For code 70, only Shinohara and Micro-Engineering make flex track. Shinohara makes a complete line of code 70 turnouts; ME turnouts are limited to #6s. BK Products of Trout Engineering also has code 70 turnouts and turnout kits. There are also other makers of kits and custom turnouts in any rail size.
Finding ME or Shinohara turnouts in stock at a particular LHS is not necessarily a given. Most of Shinohara's production goes to the Walters code 83 line. The Shinohara code 70 line gets rerun once a year at best, and can be much longer between batches. The same is true for the ME turnouts.
Almost any brand of turnouts and/or track can provide trouble-free operation if you are willing to correct deficiencies coming from out-of-the-box or from installation. Going over the turnout thoroughly with the eyeball, an NMRA gauge, a straight edge, and a finger nail will reveal any likely mechanical problems. Fixing the problems may involve filing, shimming, or trimming.
Others can give you their experiences. I have used very limited numbers of Shinohara code 70, and Atlas code 83 turnouts successfully. But I do thoroughly check my turnouts prior to and after installation - it's part of the installation process for me. The rest of the time, I hand lay my turnouts.
As far as flex track, ME flex is considered to have the most realistic appearance to represent 20th Century prototype track. Atlas flex track has a built in spring in the rails which makes it easier to get a smooth curve. The other brands will hold a curve once "flexed", which helps prevent kinks at rail joints on curves. Again, personal preference. I've used both Atlas and ME flex track successfully.
Fred W
My (HO-Scale) Codes 83 and 70 "best" is Walthers/Shinohara. Keep in mind that that opinion is based upon rather limited experience. On my first HO-Scale home layout thirty years ago I used Atlas Code 100 but on my second layout I went to Shinohara. With the exception of my first N-Scale layout on which I used Atlas Code 80 flextrack all of my other N-Scale experience has been with Micro Engineering Code 55. I have never used HO-Scale Micro Engineering track but were I to return to HO-Scale modeling I would give it serious consideration; based upon what experience I do have were I to return to HO-Scale I would probably go back to Walthers/Shinohara.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
It's largely a matter of personal preference.
All the big brands ME, Shinohara/Walthers, Atlas, Peco are all deficient with reguards to NMRA regs.
The truly best track is made by niche companies, or yourself using Fasttracks jigs (www.handlaidtrack)
However be aware some Walthers kits (ie their turntable) are expecting Walthers Code 83 track.
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
Be aware that while a lot of model RR equipment has wheels made to finer standards in the past, There is still a lot of stuff out there that will have trouble running on code 70 track due to flange depth..
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
Aside from a couple of places (trestle, curved turnouts) I built my entire layout using Atlas Code 83 flextrack. The curved turnouts are Peco and the trestle track was Micro Engineering.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
I use Atlas flextrack and turnouts. The turnouts are insulfrog and quite economical (13.95 at Hobbylinc) and the track has nice detail. If the price is not a factor I’d use Peco turnouts because they have sprung switches.
What makes sprung switches better? I've never worked with them.
I plan on switching to metal wheel sets.
Thanks to everybody's input. It looks like Atlas Code 83 is the route that I'm taking for now.
Mike Kieran What makes sprung switches better? I've never worked with them.
When you use a sharpened skewer in the tiny hole in the center of the throwbar, and attempt to slide the throwbar over to 'the other side', there is initial resistance, then movement, and then a 'glad' sliding over to the other stock rail. I snaps lightly and snugly against its stock rail. This makes picked points highly unlikely. It should, in theory, also make contact better with the stock rail for electrical transmission. However, all points get dirty in time, and the surface between the two rails must periodically be cleaned.
I have never researched this point, but I read here and there that the springs are also meant to provide electrical contact in and of themselves because they are metal and also contact the stock rail. Never checked.
Crandell
Sprung switches are great when used manually because you just push them with a finger and they snap in place. No ground throw needed. If you are into doing switching ops then it's a big plus. Trains passing over don't loosen them up also
Springfield PA
Oh wow. I thought that sprung switches stayed in one position and had to be held to diverge your route. Thanks.
Mike Kieran Oh wow. I thought that sprung switches stayed in one position and had to be held to diverge your route. Thanks.
Well, now... (sorry for the late response, just catching up with my forum reading)
A "spring" switch is spring-loaded to remain in one preferred position but can allow a train coming from the "wrong" direction to pass, by pushing the points over -- at least on the prototype. In our models, HO and smaller, it's a delicate balance between the weight of the model and the stiffness of the spring, whether the off-side passage will cause a derailment or not.
When the other posters talk about a "sprung" switch, they mean that there is a device (usually a spring) which pushes the point rails against the stock rails in either position, so there is no need for an external mechanism to hold the point rails in position. Peco is the most common brand with this characteristic, but the Micro Engineering turnouts also have this feature. The large HO layout that I help build and operate has maybe 60 ME turnouts, with no ground throws or switch machines, and I personally love the operation and looks of the ME turnouts. Of course (at least in HO), you have to be content with them all being #6's.
- Gerhard
,
Mike KieranI'm going to build my first layout soon. It will only be a tabletop layout (4x6) or small shelf switcher (18"x84"). I want code 83 or lower (I would prefer code 70 track). What brand of track do you recommend for trouble free installation and operation? Eventually I'll be running DCC.
Texas Zepher Mike Kieran: I'm going to build my first layout soon. It will only be a tabletop layout (4x6) or small shelf switcher (18"x84"). I want code 83 or lower (I would prefer code 70 track). What brand of track do you recommend for trouble free installation and operation? Eventually I'll be running DCC. No one mentioned the Peco code 75 track. Same geometry as the code 100 set.
Mike Kieran: I'm going to build my first layout soon. It will only be a tabletop layout (4x6) or small shelf switcher (18"x84"). I want code 83 or lower (I would prefer code 70 track). What brand of track do you recommend for trouble free installation and operation? Eventually I'll be running DCC.
No one mentioned the Peco code 75 track. Same geometry as the code 100 set.
You beat me too it!!! :-))
For HO gauge, Peco have code 75/83/100 flex track and turnouts. The code 75 is their finescale range and the turnouts are "sprung" (as described above) and are also "live frog". There is a large range of track available including 3-way, single slip, double slip and standard left/right turnouts. The complex geometry turnouts are similar to a #6. The "medium" turnouts are similar to a #6 and the "large" turnouts are similar to a #8.
I say similar because Peco use a slightly different geometry than compared to a Nth American style turnout. That said, they will still be interoperable with Nth American track. (only the code 83 track is Nth American style)
As the turnouts are sprung, if you do want to remote control them, I suggest that you use their solenoid motors as they are designed to work with a "sprung" turnout. Very easy to install... they clip direct to the turnout. You do need a considerably larger hole in the baseboard, but that is very easy to hide with very thin styrene or thick paper.
Good luck!
Modeling the railways of South Australia in HO scale!
South Australian Railways and the Commonwealth Railways.