HO scale ... Peco, Piko, Roco, Tiling, ... what track to use?

[Dennis HO]

Hi there folks,

 

Since we're planning on building a new layout (currently in track design phase), we want to look closer into the track we should use. We were thinking about using the Peco Code 75 track for the visible track (because it looks nice and very prototypical), and probably the Peco Code 100 setrack (because of the ease of use) for the fiddle yards. 

 

Looking at the current amount of choice in available track (Hornby, Peco, Peco Setrack, Roco, Piko, Tiling, Weinert, ...) doesn't make choosing the right track any easier. So, here is our question: what track to use, and ... why ?? ... What track do you use, and why did you went for that track type? 

 

This topic has probably been discussed here before, if so, sorry for that.

 

Grts

 

Dennis

[zarniwhoop]

Hi Dennis,

 

track (even HO, which is uncommon in Britain) has undoubtedly been discussed. But I suspect the requirements for good-looking British / 'mercan / European track will be different, as will the practicalities (running qualities, operation of points).

 

For a European layout, you might get better responses in the Overseas Modelling section if nobody responds here (few people have time to read all the sections of this forum!).

 

Some of the brands you listed are very hard to get in Britain, and/or very expensive. I've seen occasional Weinert narrow-gauge, but even before recent changes they were impossibly expensive over here. I've seen Tillig HOe (looked ok, Tillig would be useful for mixed gauge), I have a little Roco HOe plain settrack (nice tight curves for roundy-round Austro-German), but beyond those brands everything in GB is mostly Peco - I've heard that Peco is based on 'modern' German track but I have no real idea about the differences and changes in standard-gauge European tracks over the last 50+ years.

 

ĸen

[Andymsa]

4 hours ago, Dennis HO said:

Hi there folks,

 

Since we're planning on building a new layout (currently in track design phase), we want to look closer into the track we should use. We were thinking about using the Peco Code 75 track for the visible track (because it looks nice and very prototypical), and probably the Peco Code 100 setrack (because of the ease of use) for the fiddle yards. 

 

Looking at the current amount of choice in available track (Hornby, Peco, Peco Setrack, Roco, Piko, Tiling, Weinert, ...) doesn't make choosing the right track any easier. So, here is our question: what track to use, and ... why ?? ... What track do you use, and why did you went for that track type? 

 

This topic has probably been discussed here before, if so, sorry for that.

 

Grts

 

Dennis

I use PECO code 100, Roco code 83, tillig Code 83. The PECO track and points are used in the hidden sections. For viewable sections all points are tillig, but these points are very fragile and not as robust as PECO but there look is more prototypical for European layouts as there geometry is different to PECO, also they are slightly flexible so aligning complex point work is much easier. The plain track is a mixture of tillig and Roco, conrete sleeper track is Roco all wooden sleeper track is tillig as the sleepers are more prototypical, also tillig track is blackened. Roco points are ok and I do use them in the hidden sections but they lack visual appeal for me. As for availability obviously PECO is the easiest to get hold off but gaugemaster are importers for Roco but if your local retailer has an account you may get it cheaper from your local retailer. Golden valley and I think model masters sell tillig but at a price, modellbahn  lippe sell tillig and Roco at a much better price but obviously you may be put of with possible duties charged but my last 4 purchases have been vat free as it was below the threshold to trigger it. Code 75 track may be problematic but some who uses it with European stock my be able to advise on this.

[Andy Hayter]

Firstly you need to look at the stock you plan to run on layout.  Older stock has very large flanges and that may just lead you to a code 100 track - which incidentally is what I use but as much for historic reasons* than because I believe it to be the best.  Jouef (before Hornby) and Lima were notorious for very large flanges but some older stock from other manufacturers was almost as bad.

 

* I have used it for 40 years from a time when it was undoubtedly the best track around.  Consequently at the end of each project I have quite a bit if track left over, so the obvious choice is to buy more of the same for the next project.  With weathering of the track sides and sleepers and careful ballasting it can be made to look a lot finer than it is.  It also means I can run those old Jouef models.

 

So assuming your stock is all finer flanges, the next question is what are you trying to represent.  If bull-head track (double champignon) then PECO is your choice.  Similarly if bi-block again AFAIK PECO is the only supplier.  Concrete sleepers give you a wider choice of supplier and wooden sleepers can be obtained from them all.  At the detail level, all of them tend to be rather Germanic in their design.  For really authentic looking track, then PECO points perhaps have the least realistic sleeper arrangements.   I doubt that many would notice it though and if you are looking at that level of detail then probably building your own track is probably the best solution.

 

I agree that Tillig makes the finest looking track and also that it is a little too easy to distort or break.  The distortion works two ways.  Of course you can distort it so that it is unusable but if you wanted to put a gentle curve into a point then this track will allow you to do it where the others will not.

 

One final point for helping you make a choice; do consider what track you can purchase locally and easily.  If you find you need an extra point or two more lengths of plain track, it can be very frustrating if you have to wait 2 weeks for it to be delivered from the other side of Europe - and probably expensive for the postage.

 

 

[Jenny Emily]

DCCconcepts also stock Tillig track. We do have a reasonable amount in stock having had a delivery earlier this week with another delivery expected soon. 
 

https://www.dccconcepts.com/product-category/track-and-track-making-parts/tillig-elite-track-and-pointwork/

[Andymsa]

2 hours ago, Jenny Emily said:

DCCconcepts also stock Tillig track. We do have a reasonable amount in stock having had a delivery earlier this week with another delivery expected soon. 
 

https://www.dccconcepts.com/product-category/track-and-track-making-parts/tillig-elite-track-and-pointwork/

very handy having another stockist.

[Andy Hayter]

Good to know Jenny, but Dennis is in Belgium so a bit of a long way to go to get that extra set of points.  

[Jenny Emily]

On 05/06/2021 at 09:44, Andy Hayter said:

Good to know Jenny, but Dennis is in Belgium so a bit of a long way to go to get that extra set of points.  

Depends on how much people are looking to buy. Up to I think 2kg and within certain size constraints overseas postage is £10. Unlike quite a few other retailers, DCCconcepts have actual physical stock on shelves for immediate despatch with a huge order inbound to us from Tillig in Germany. Most lines are planned to be an in stock item, not ‘order on request’ like many others do. 

[Andymsa]

58 minutes ago, Jenny Emily said:

Depends on how much people are looking to buy. Up to I think 2kg and within certain size constraints overseas postage is £10. Unlike quite a few other retailers, DCCconcepts have actual physical stock on shelves for immediate despatch with a huge order inbound to us from Tillig in Germany. Most lines are planned to be an in stock item, not ‘order on request’ like many others do. 

how is the tillig track packaged when it sent by what ever shipping method. I ask because the points are so fragile, in fact it gots to such a state that I personally pick them up because out of 30 points ordered once, 15 were damaged because the tie bars had snapped away from the rails. This was mainly do to poor packaging from the manufacturer which they have improved now but it still makes me nervous buying them mail order. And even when I pick them up I occasionally find damaged ones at the retailer.

[Jenny Emily]

They are well packaged using scrunched up packing paper and foam. As a company we send a huge amount of products globally so as you can imagine it is in our interest to package goods so they don’t get damaged in transit, because we also don’t want the agro of having to sort out stuff damaged en route. 

[Il Grifone]

It depends what you are trying to represent and what is expected to run on it.

 

My US models run on Peco code 100, the Italian (Rivarossi mainly - 1:80 scale) on Peco code 100 rail fitted with Dublo 2 rail sleepers*, and the British 00 on Formoway**.

A planned Danish layout (mainly Lima - see an earlier post re wheels) will use Streamline as well.

 

Most commercial track has a surfeit of sleepers, so they have been reset to the correct spacing (tedious but worthwhile IMHO).

 

The choice of code 100 is dictated by stocks of track and flange depth of the rolling stock, but starting again I would probably adopt code 75.

 

* Dublo 2 rail track is fragile so broken track to provide sleepers is cheap (aka Grifone friendly).

** Ancient, but I have stocks of the stuff (about to run out!)

Edited June 6, 2021 by Il Grifone

[Dennis HO]

On 05/06/2021 at 00:42, Andy Hayter said:

Firstly you need to look at the stock you plan to run on layout.

Hey Andy, we will be running all new rolling stock on our layout, so I presume we'll be fine with the code 75, or we might go for the code 83 for being slightly more robust.

 

As for the brand to use, there are indeed several arguments to use, one of them is availability, but most important is the overall look of it on the layout. We are building a European style layout. At first we were looking at Peco Code 75 track, but we might concider using the Tillig Elite, because it looks more prototypical for European track.

 

On 05/06/2021 at 00:42, Andy Hayter said:

I agree that Tillig makes the finest looking track and also that it is a little too easy to distort or break.  The distortion works two ways.  Of course you can distort it so that it is unusable but if you wanted to put a gentle curve into a point then this track will allow you to do it where the others will not.

True, the Tillig Elite looks really good, but is kinda fragile. But I presume handling it with care, it would be fine.

 

A few things that kinda bothers me is the different angles of their points, and the lack of matching crossings and slips (single / double). But maybe the points are forgiving enough to get the angles match up with the crossings (or we might use Peco Code 83 for the crossings and slips. One other thing is the difference in the parallel track spacing you get, when putting two point head-to-head ... but I guess a small grinder or cutting tool, the angled part of the points is easy to make it the correct length to get the correct track spacing. 

 

The Weinert track also looks truly amazing, but prices are way too high for a big layout, unfortunatly. 

 

Still, plenty to think about before we can actually start building. Must say, the design phase is already fun, so the further we get, the bigger the fun ... 

 

Grts

 

Dennis

Edited June 7, 2021 by Dennis HO

[Dennis HO]

On 05/06/2021 at 10:44, Andy Hayter said:

Good to know Jenny, but Dennis is in Belgium so a bit of a long way to go to get that extra set of points. 

True, we live in Belgium, so probably most of the track will be ordered online (or overseas), but that is not really an issue. We might get a few extra points as spare to avoid those longer waiting times 

[Republic of Ruislip]

I believe that Golden Valley Hobbies are the UK distributor for Tillig. I purchased mine through Pennine Models in Haworth and although Stuart didn't have all I needed in stock he got the balance in just a few days. Two years later the layout is no further forward, but the point-work looks superb and hopefully track laying will commence soon.

[SamThomas]

14 hours ago, Republic of Ruislip said:

I believe that Golden Valley Hobbies are the UK distributor for Tillig.

AFAIK they are officially the UK distributor for Tillig - you can order direct from them at RRP or through one of their stockists & maybe get some discount. (Similar to how the rest of the official trade works).

Edited June 8, 2021 by SamThomas
Typo's.

[GWRtrainman]

I like Tillig and got mine from Golden Valley Hobbies - plus I tried the rather nice Styrofoam pre shaped underlay - made the whole layout a very quick, yet realistic build.

I started off with their track planning folder to work out what I needed.

I through the slight flexibility of the track was amazing - imaging creating a curved point from a straight one - albeit only a tiny curve without breaking it, but still rather handy!

https://www.goldenvalleyhobbies.com/track/track-1/9620-tillig-planning-folder-h0

[Dennis HO]

On 07/06/2021 at 21:58, GWRtrainman said:

https://www.goldenvalleyhobbies.com/track/track-1/9620-tillig-planning-folder-h0

Have also seen this in a few online shops ... but, what is actually inside that package? Someone got a preview of what we can expect ?

 

On 07/06/2021 at 21:58, GWRtrainman said:

I through the slight flexibility of the track was amazing

That slight flex in the pointwork is the second reason we're getting Tillig Elite track for our new layout. First reason is overall look and being prototypical for European layouts.

 

Grts

 

Dennis