Notice Board.
Meetings. October 26th, 2008
Items or Information Wanted. September 29th, 2008
Questions and Answers. October 4th, 2007
Meetings. October 26th, 2008
Items or Information Wanted. September 29th, 2008
Questions and Answers. October 4th, 2007
In and around Ottawa, Ontario:
Unless otherwise noted meetings are on Fridays and start at 7:30pm. If you are in the vicinity, no prior arrangement is required; just turn up, you will be more than welcome.
2008
The Toronto British Railway Association
They currently meet at the homes of their members. Check the other organisations page for contact
information.
The Platelayers
They meet at the homes of their members. Unless
otherwise noted meetings run from 2pm to 5pm.
Unless otherwise noted meetings are on Saturdays and start at 2pm.
Peco switches Wanted
I am looking for the following types of used Peco Streamline Points/Switches in excellent clean condition:
Parts Wanted
Thanks to everyone who helped me with about half the previous list of replacement parts that I needed for my OO-gauge collection. I am still looking for the following. Can you please let me know if you can sell me the parts, or let me know where I can buy them?
I am looking for the following Hornby goods wagons:
R008 tank wagon, Esso, silver R142 7 plank open wagon, Evans & Bevan, black R118 7 plank open wagon, Emlyn, dark green R203 7 plank coke wagon, Arthur H. Stabler, grey R206 7 plank open wagon, Chase & Hunt, orange-brown R013 Hull & Barnsley van, Fine Fish, pale blue Contact: David Jones, Warren, PA, USA Phone: 814-723-4763
I am looking for a copy of the June 1999 issue of Model Railway Enthusiast (Vol.6, No.6.). If anyone has one that they would be willing to part with then please contact me.
John Thorpe
My email name is THORPEJ and my isp is tc.gc.ca
I am seeking a copy of Steam World, issue number 45 (March 1991).
Peter Johnson, Alberta, Canada.
My email name is peter.johnson. My service provider is shell.com.
As a North Staffordshire Railway enthusiast I am seeking a copy of The Potteries Loop Line by Allan C. Baker, published in 1986 by Trent Valley Publications.
Mike Hughes, British Columbia, Canada
My email name is doreen.mike. My service provider is shaw.ca
I just bought a Lynton and Barnstaple G scale locomotive by Bachmann. I would like to know who makes Southern/Lynton and
Barnstaple rolling stock to go with this engine. Thankyou.
Ken Lane, British Columbia, Canada
My ISP is shaw.ca and my email name is moggies.
In theory, since OO models and HO models share the same track gauge, it should be possible to run any OO equipment on any OO or HO track. However, I understand that in practice this is not necessarily true because of the different flange depth, flange width and back-to-back wheel measurements stock used by the various OO locomotive and rolling stock manufacturers and the different track height and switch dimensions used by the various manufacturers of OO and HO track. Can anyone provide advice about which manufacturers' equipment will and will not run without problems on which manufacturers' track?
Responses:
Dick Beebe wrote: I originally built my layout using Shinohara turnouts, including a very expensive double crossover. A significant number of locomotives and cars from my initial acquired lot of OO equipment failed to negotiate these. The results were either derailments or serious arcing at frogs. I eventually had to replace every turnout with Peco which worked beautifully. Unfortunately, Peco doesn't make a double crossover in OO, only N. Of course Peco also has the advantage of acting like manual turnouts without the need for an external locking throw, due to their internal spring system.
Humphrey Bryson wrote: It is certainly true that the manufacturers of ready-to-run British trains in 00 scale have used a bewildering assortment of wheel and track dimensions approximating H0 gauge, particularly prior to about 1970. If one were to produce a complete cross-reference of all the brands, with compatibility ratings, it would be a wonderful effort but I am afraid it might be a bit beyond most of us individually. However, as long ago as (I think) 1971 it was possible to say that all the major 00 RTR manufacturers bar one were using one of the two H0 gauge standards for their products. So for equipment made in the last 30 years or so, the sets of dimensions have been simplified to 3 choices: NMRA H0, NEM H0, and Hornby. Of course this ignores the specialist firms producing wheels and track in the "true" 00 gauges between 18mm (original EM) and 19mm (rare US 00), but this discussion is really not intended for people working to those finer standards.
What follows is a collection of personal observations. I operate many brands of locos and rolling stock, but I have tried only a few brands of track. Thus, I cannot report on Lima track (for example) because although I have several Lima locos I have no Lima track.
Locos and stock by Airfix (GMR), Palitoy Mainline, Replica, Dapol and Bachmann (U.K.) have NMRA standard (S-4) H0 wheels. (Some early wheels from Airfix and Mainline are undergauged but can be adjusted. Avoid stock having plastic wheels cast in one piece with the axle).
Locos and stock by Lima, Trix and Joueff (and British H0 rarities by Fleischmann and Marklin) have NEM standard H0 wheels, which are similar in many respects to NMRA wheels but have much deeper flanges.
NMRA wheels will operate on NMRA standard track, code 75 and up. NEM wheels will operate on NMRA standard track, code 100 only, and on NEM standard track (I assume!). NMRA standard (S-3) track includes all the popular H0 brands sold in North America for "domestic" model trains, including Atlas, AHM (Casadio) and Shinohara. The Shinohara turnouts have their clearances on the tight side of the standard and require that wheels be adjusted exactly to the standard back-to-back distance of 14.4mm, as Bachmann wheels are. Peco Streamline code 100 almost conforms to NMRA S-3 but its clearances are slack, thus the flangeway gaps around frogs are theoretically a bit too wide. However, I know of several layouts - including mine - where standard H0-gauge equipment runs without trouble on Peco Streamline, so perhaps the theory (of tread widths and flangeways) can be overlooked in this case.
And now Hornby. Hornby wheels and track, and even more so the ancestral Triang and Rovex, have alas never conformed to a standard. This is especially unfortunate because it has led to a perception among N.A. dealers and hobbyists that British 00 trains will not run on H0 track, and require special "British 00 track", which as we have just seen is generally not true. It cannot have been good for British exports, surely. Be that as it may, Hornby locos and stock can safely be used with Hornby track, or probably Peco Setrack which appears to be made to the same dimensions. Some recent Hornby locos can be operated on Peco Streamline, but it is really not a reliable combination. Peco plastic wheels were closer to Hornby dimensions than to the standard: they were used in kit-built stock.
Of the major departed brands, Hornby-Dublo 3-rail was naturally a thing unto itself, the gauge being 5/8 inch rather than 16.5 mm., and Hornby-Dublo 2-rail was similar. Wrenn, who continued part of the Hornby-Dublo range, used wheels of the NEM standard type.
I have tried to simplify things by grouping in terms of standards, but I concede that I have glossed over much of the detail because I do not have the data. (Will Lima stock (NEM) run on Fleischmann track (NEM)? Should do, but I have not tried it.) So I have not really answered Rick's question, but hopefully this is a useful start and others can fill in the gaps.
I think a beginning for the modeller would be to choose one of the 3 main groups for a "standard" and to acquire only stock which belongs in that group, changing the wheels on anything which is deemed "non-standard" as a result of the choice. For example, Bachmann/NMRA or Hornby/Setrack. BRMNA member-dealers may be able to advise on the supply of replacement British wheels, e.g. Romford drivers. Peco Streamline track is quite generally available and may provide the widest degree of compatibility with the two H0 Standard groups.
Humphrey Bryson has updated his previous contribution in view of subsequent events. Since his original comments above were posted, Hornby have upgraded their production standards significantly, and their rolling stock is now provided with wheels which conform to NMRA S-4. Currently (2004) the producers of ready-to-run OO scale models in British outline are Bachmann, Dapol, Heljan and Hornby, and they all use NMRA standard wheels so that recently-produced models will run on standard track, both code 100 and code 75.
to provide the information.
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