PECO Announces Bullhead Track for OO

[bertiedog]

On being forced to use code 75 flat for things like 3 way, and slips, at least for the foreseeable future, It may help to transition the track change a good foot away from the point, to the flat bottom section, and grade the sleeper spacing (cutting the web) from the bullhead size spacing to the point sleeper spacing in code 75 flatbottom. It should make the look a bit less jarring to the eye.

I will stick to the C&L for the plain points in the meantime.

 

Stephen

[PaulRhB]

but the lack of engineering skills as industry fades away leaves a lot of youngsters without the skill to make it, .

There's no reason they can't learn the skill though

Experimental archaeology deals with learning long lost skills so learning how to make track is rather easier as it's written down in lots of articles.

I know several adults who've learnt modelling skills with no previous similar experience. The only key to human learning is interest to sustain it or in the case of jobs necessity.

The myth of difficulty is the only challenge to overcome if you want to.

Aren't we lucky there's a ready made option, no one looks down on us because we choose not to make our own car or phone

[mogman1969]

Well after reading the umpteen pages of diatribe and baiting I for one am pleased about the look of the track from peco , if the points are as well made as ever happy days !

[Junctionmad]

With the new Peco track now in the shops, we have the bizarre situation that there are now 5 (yes FIVE) makes of code 75 chaired bullhead 00 flexi-track, but not a single matching RTL turnout.

 

In order of introduction:

 

SMP Scaleway  (45 years)

 

C&L thin-base  (30 years)

 

Exactoscale (now C&L thick-base)  (20 years)

 

DCC Concepts  (4 months)

 

Peco  (1 week)

 

Peco and DCC Concepts are welcome to print this post and pin it up in their toolroom.

 

Martin.

Indeed , there must be shedloads of 00 point builders to keep all those suppliers in business

[AndyID]

Well after reading the umpteen pages of diatribe and baiting

 

But what about all the denial (not to mention the pointless editorials)?

[mogman1969]

I'll be quite Frank , there are a bit ... .. . OK a lot of bs talked by so called experts , it happens in a lot in hobbies , I'm fortunate to have built the odd point or two and I know that nothing iv made even approaches the tolerances of a piece of commercial pointwork .

Edited December 16, 2016 by mogman1969

[hayfield]

It's a changing market, a few years ago most MRC members were proud to have built the track, but the lack of engineering skills as industry fades  away leaves a lot of youngsters without the skill to make it, and lots of modellers of older vintage that just want to run trains before they pass away...........Peco's finances probably rule the timing but the points will come, as will DCC, although I wonder where they are being made. I trust not the FE otherwise we will have the same glut and famine of supplies that plagues the hobby at the moment. Once underway Peco do deliver regularly, and from a British factory.

 

 

As I said in an earlier thread some months ago Peco via Railway Modeller made a short announcement about a large investment in to new machinery  to both design and make moulds. This enables them to both speed up the process and build better quality moulds. So the finances are there in both the infrastructure and as we have seen an increase in new products across their range. Also after reading some replies I guess its a bit more difficult/costly in making an automated process with bullhead rail rather than flatbottom.

 

Knowing a little about C&L and reading like others about the life cycle of the moulds, given the amount of track Peco produce they must have similar issue with moulds and have a planned maintenance/replacement system in place, so while the cost of a new design is expensive, it must to some degree be offset by the longer life it will give to existing tools. Then there is the added sales opportunities opened up by the new design(s), again as previously said, its a marketing mans dream of both new sales and getting the companies name in the press. A win win situation for their customers, retailers and themselves,

 

The losers I guess will be the competition. On the other hand will it fuel a new interest in trackwork leading to a greater spend within this part of the hobby, allowing others to fill the voids Peco will not cover (a win win win situation), this could be even more interesting and trackwork is not so much the Cinderella part of the hobby any more (No pantomime jokes please, its not January yet)

 

I guess there has been a lot of head scratching about introducing a new track system, especially as their sales on the existing range still is the market leader in sales. We have seen they have been introducing many new kits in their Will and Ratio ranges and these must have been on the drawing board waiting their turn. I would imagine another reason for the timing of the release is one of the introduction of a completing system with a large sales network, as they have in the past been happy for smaller suppliers offerings available either via shows or mail order.

Edited December 16, 2016 by hayfield

[Free At Last]

Free At Last, on 09 Dec 2016 - 11:42, said:

Not too big a premium over FB.

Peco BH.JPG

There has been a price increase since last week, possibly someone will blame it on Brexit.

[dhjgreen]

There has been a price increase since last week, possibly someone will blame it on Brexit.

Peco BH 2.JPG

In stock now though. Was this an incentive to pre-order?

[teaky]

The undiscounted price of £4.50 now makes it slightly more than SMP (£43 for 10 yards).

[Dungrange]

In stock now though. Was this an incentive to pre-order?

 

That's always a risk with not pre-ordering.  I've seen similar increases in the past where the price rises when something comes into stock.  I assume that is because the RRP or trade price is higher than Hattons originally estimated and whilst they are usually willing to honor the price at which something was pre-ordered, this doesn't apply to those who wait. 

 

I'll probably get a couple of lengths from my local retailer to have a look at and see how it compares with the Exactoscale track I already have.

[bertiedog]

A small pack of track arrived at last, and it all looks very nice indeed. A short sample piece is going to be prepared for a board display of all the British track made since the 1930's, from Hamblings onwards, via several fibre based tracks like Wrenn, the plastic and PC board track and points, Peco, Gem, Farish, set track Dublo and Tri-ang, Formo, and scale parts track from Kings Cross, Hamblings, Eames, SME, W&H, and may others. Also a piece of Mantua fibre track from the US that was marketed pre-war by Hamblings as flexible track. Also there are C&L, SMP, and Exactoscale examples, along with DCC.

 

Frankly the Peco Bullhead looks the best of the whole bunch, it will be ballasted and painted in the morning. Stood by the DCC track, it matches, but the DCC looks a bit "at easy", compared to the Peco " at attention", I think due to the inclined rail on the DCC. The C&L thick looks pretty near identical in appearance.

 

The inner chair jaw being smaller like the 0 gauge version of the bullhead tack, seems to take almost all wheel types, bar some continental pizza cutter flanges.

 

The new joiners are awaited with interest, adding a bit of bolt detail as well as firm alignment.

 

Stephen

[sp1]

A small pack of track arrived at last, and it all looks very nice indeed. A short sample piece is going to be prepared for a board display of all the British track made since the 1930's, from Hamblings onwards, via several fibre based tracks like Wrenn, the plastic and PC board track and points, Peco, Gem, Farish, set track Dublo and Tri-ang, Formo, and scale parts track from Kings Cross, Hamblings, Eames, SME, W&H, and may others. Also a piece of Mantua fibre track from the US that was marketed pre-war by Hamblings as flexible track. Also there are C&L, SMP, and Exactoscale examples, along with DCC.

 

Frankly the Peco Bullhead looks the best of the whole bunch, it will be ballasted and painted in the morning. Stood by the DCC track, it matches, but the DCC looks a bit "at easy", compared to the Peco " at attention", I think due to the inclined rail on the DCC. The C&L thick looks pretty near identical in appearance.

 

The inner chair jaw being smaller like the 0 gauge version of the bullhead tack, seems to take almost all wheel types, bar some continental pizza cutter flanges.

 

The new joiners are awaited with interest, adding a bit of bolt detail as well as firm alignment.

 

Stephen

That's very good to hear - some pictures of your display would be very interesting

[hayfield]

With the new Peco track now in the shops, we have the bizarre situation that there are now 5 (yes FIVE) makes of code 75 chaired bullhead 00 flexi-track, but not a single matching RTL turnout.

 

In order of introduction:

 

SMP Scaleway  (45 years)

 

C&L thin-base  (30 years)

 

Exactoscale (now C&L thick-base)  (20 years)

 

DCC Concepts  (4 months)

 

Peco  (1 week)

 

Peco and DCC Concepts are welcome to print this post and pin it up in their toolroom.

 

Martin.

 

 

Martin

 

My guesses for time scale would have been very wrong if asked the same question, I bought SMP products in the mid to late 70's, no idea of when they started though. I remember buying K&L parts (forerunner of C&L) very early 80's, again no idea when the flexi track became available but the bases of some show K&L rather than C&L.

 

As for Exactoscale track parts I would have guessed early 00's. But all of these are guesses based only on when I became aware/bought products

Edited December 17, 2016 by hayfield

[Colin_McLeod]

I presume Martin has given the correct start dates as opposed to guessing.

[Pacific231G]

It's a changing market, a few years ago most MRC members were proud to have built the track, but the lack of engineering skills as industry fades  away leaves a lot of youngsters without the skill to make it, and lots of modellers of older vintage that just want to run trains before they pass away.........

I'm not at all sure about this. Some modellers may have had skills drawn from industry but John Charman was an RAF officer, I think a pilot. He used CCW bullhead track for Charford. I've not been able to find out much about this track but it seems to have been a chaired component product rather than RTL. Others who definitely built their own track included Philip (P.D.) Hancock an academic librarian, Rev. Peter Denny an Anglican vicar, Rev. Edward Beal a Church of Scotland minister, and John Ahern an insurance broker. None of those professions would be likely to foster engineering skills and they all seem to have acquired their skills in building track and other areas from railway modelling rather than bringing them to it.

 

The great thing about our hobby is the very wide range of skills involved, technical, cerebral and artistic. That's far wider than any trade or profession I can think of.

Edited December 17, 2016 by Pacific231G

[davidw]

For the record having handled one it's very good. Very flexible. Looking forward to the points.

Edited December 17, 2016 by davidw

[Limpley Stoker]

I have some ABC ( Alan Brett Cannon ) track from the mid 70s, fibre sleeper base with holes punched to accept plastic chairs. Mine is to EM gauge but I think OO was available. The rail profile is more flat bottom than bullhead though. I think it predates Ratio's OO and EM track.

[MikeTrice]

Managed to acquire some today. Very difficult to photograph due to the shine on the plastic sleeper moulding so have taken the liberty of spraying a short length with grey primer:

 

 

 

 

Vital statistics are as follows.

 

Sleeper length: 31.6mm

Sleeper width: 3.4mm

Sleeper thickness: 1.68mm

Rail height: 1.93mm

Rail head width: 0.78mm

Rail foot width: 0.79

Overall height (base to top of rail): 3.95mm

Sleeper centres: 9.375mm

 

 

[steve45]

Thanks Mike, a very detailed picture, is the left hand end where you cut it? A bit of a jagged edge - what did you use to cut it?

[MikeTrice]

Yes, Xuron cutters

[steve45]

I've used Xuron on Peco Code 75 FB and had quite clean cuts, did you cut top to bottom or across?

[martin_wynne]

Rail head width: 0.78mm

Rail foot width: 0.79

 

Hi Mike,

 

That's disappointingly underscale - should be 0.92mm. A 15% error, even narrower than SMP rail which is known to be underscale width.

 

It means that if the rail is used for handbuilt track it will be too loose in the track gauges for accurate work. Which is a shame because Peco rail has a reputation for being straight and kink/twist-free (unlike some others).

 

regards,

 

Martin.

[MikeTrice]

I've used Xuron on Peco Code 75 FB and had quite clean cuts, did you cut top to bottom or across?

Top to bottom. I may have had them the wrong way round. Will do another image of the "clean" end.

[Junctionmad]

Hi Mike,

 

That's disappointingly underscale - should be 0.92mm. A 15% error, even narrower than SMP rail which is known to be underscale width.

 

It means that if the rail is used for handbuilt track it will be too loose in the track gauges for accurate work. Which is a shame because Peco rail has a reputation for being straight and kink/twist-free (unlike some others).

 

regards,

 

Martin.

thats very disappointing alright ,