dave flint Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 I took a punt on ebay to get some setrack for a trial layout. At bargain price, I've got some Hornby stuff, which fits the bill despite looking tatty. It works fine with Peco stuff and other Hornby setrack from son's Thomas train set, but looks much older and seems to be a different material for the rail. Underneath, it is shown as "Hornby, Made in Austria", and comparable items from (presumably later) train set stuff feel much heavier in the hand, I understand later track is made from Nickel Silver, and this is shown as "Made in China" on the underside. Mine are R605 curves and R600 straights. So, how old is this Austrian track, and what is it made of ? It looks worse than it is, and actually works fine - well, after attention from the track rubber Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 According to the History of Rovex, R600's and 605's both date from 1970-72. It should say Made in Australia not Austria. Do you want to check that? They are part of the Internatonal System 6 track range. Quantities made were 287,000 of the R600 and 226,000 of the R605. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coppercap Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 I've got lots of older Hornby track branded "Austria", but none "Australia". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted June 16, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 16, 2011 I would venture the History of Rovex is wrong, it is definitely Austria!! The R6xx number track stayed in production with steel rail for many years, it was only in the 1990's sometime they went over to nickel silver ones and transferred production to China, adding a fourth digit to the catalogue number in the process (R86xx if I recall) also at the same time the frogs on the points changed from solid plastic to part metal which improved things a lot. Incidentally the factory that made the Hornby track in Austria is still going, making exactly the same sections all be it with nickel silver rail now for Bachmann!! Despite the all plastic frogs I must say back in the day I preferred the Austrian made Hornby points over the China made ones, they just seemed to last longer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave flint Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 Definitely Austria ! Interesting, I thought all pre China Hornby was made in Britain. Did they rebrand a continental manufacturers track ? And the later Hornby stuff in my lads trains set that is "Made in China" still has an R6xx number, no 8 prefix. I can only compare the Chinese Hornby points to Peco setrack. There is more plastic on the frog than the Peco version, and also the movement seems more "worn" and slack despite the same (virtually nil) use. Thanks for the answers, much appreciated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Sorry guys, I'm going to disagree based on the pics of the track. It actually says 'Made in Aust' for Australia not Austria......I would be really surprised if Pat Hammond had made such a fundamental mistake. Again it might be worth checking. It may even say 'Made in Aust & NZ'....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 I know I have Hornby steel track which I bought in Australia that is clearly labelled "Made in Austria". It is possible that at one point in time back in the 1960s / 1970s when there was manufacturing in Australia (I can't remember if the legal entity was Rovex, Lines or Triang originally - I presume Triang) where they might have manufactured track there, but based on the track I purchased in the late 1970s and 1980s it was made in Austria. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium spamcan61 Posted June 16, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 16, 2011 The track available in the UK was definitely made in Austria, not Australia; maybe there was also track made in Australia which has found its way to the UK. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ra2 Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Sorry guys, I'm going to disagree based on the pics of the track. It actually says 'Made in Aust' for Australia not Austria......I would be really surprised if Pat Hammond had made such a fundamental mistake. Again it might be worth checking. It may even say 'Made in Aust & NZ'....... Well this piece of track clearly says Austria. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 I believe it was made by the firm who made track for Roco, some in Austria and some in Czechoslovakia/Hungary for AHM in USA, although there were certainly some Triang Transcontinental stuff made in Australia - and only available there - so anything is possible Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
frobisher Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 The track in question sounds like the stuff from the early to mid 70's to me. There seemed to be an incremental upgrade to the track in the late 70's (whilst still steel, it seemed less "zincy" for want of a better word, plus the point work got a bit finer and went from having the old style boxes for operation to a little lever arrangement). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Western Scottish Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 I think production moved to Austria about 1974. You can mainly tell the difference from earlier tracks because of the slightly thicker sleepers at the end of the track, a design they still use today. I thought the track was made for them by Roco, but I may be wrong. At some stage production must have moved to China but still using the same tooling. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dilbert Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Extract from an email that I received from Pat Hammond about nine months ago on a subject that was related to Bachmann train sets : I seem to remember Dennis Lovette saying that when a set had unique contents, it would be assembled in China, except for the track which was added here. All track is made by Roco in Austria and sent direct to Barwell. You have probably seen the 'R' numbers on the base, as the tooling is that which was previously used to produce Hornby track, before it was retooled in China to be made there. ...dilbert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Thanks guys. That's one heck of a coincidence making in both Austria and Australia. Apologies for doubting you.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave flint Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 I wonder if Hammond's spellchecker did an auto correct, or he has the same dangerous predictive text as my phone has. It is an odd mix up of places. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave flint Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 I also remember a Hornby point on the layout I had whilst a nipper in.the late 70s. It was thrown over by a side mounted slider, the point blades being a one piece casting in a matt grey metal, different from the point's other rails. And it was rubbish ! The rest of the trackwork was peco and worked fine. Never found out why my dad used it ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Flying Pig Posted June 17, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 17, 2011 I think production moved to Austria about 1974. You can mainly tell the difference from earlier tracks because of the slightly thicker sleepers at the end of the track, a design they still use today. Early System 6 had a sort of interlocking half sleeper at each end and the pieces snapped together in a very satisfying way, something like this: It always seemed to me to give a neat and unobtrusive joint and I reckoned the new style with the joint between sleepers was distinctly inferior and of course it looked extremely odd when joined to one of the older pieces. The Austrian track also introduced the points with dreadful single piece swivelling switches that dave flint refers to - designed for derailments in my experience. Again, the earlier ones seemed superior to me, with hinged switches as shown in this photo. I still had to move to Peco when the Mainline Scot came along though as it wouldn't look at a Hornby crossover without taking to the baseboard (no ballast in those days!). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D605Eagle Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I also remember a Hornby point on the layout I had whilst a nipper in.the late 70s. It was thrown over by a side mounted slider, the point blades being a one piece casting in a matt grey metal, different from the point's other rails. And it was rubbish ! The rest of the trackwork was peco and worked fine. Never found out why my dad used it ! Was that not a Triang super 4 piece of track? IIRC you could buy converter pieces for a while for mix and matching super 4 and series 6. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave flint Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 Well, we're going back a few years, but I'm certain that the throwover of the blade was done with a slider, that stuck out of a rectangular black plastic box running along the point for about 1/3 of it;s length. Thanks for posting anyway. Nice to see things have improved since then, even if some bemoan the current offerings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium spamcan61 Posted June 20, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 20, 2011 A quick trip into the garage for a photo, here's a mid 70s vintage Hornby point with the slider and the half sleepers:- Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Henderson Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 A quick trip into the garage for a photo, here's a mid 70s vintage Hornby point with the slider and the half sleepers:- There was also a variation (Austrian made ?) with the slider box having a clear coloured top and the operating levers/rods within coloured red and white Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium spamcan61 Posted June 21, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 21, 2011 There was also a variation (Austrian made ?) with the slider box having a clear coloured top and the operating levers/rods within coloured red and white Yes, I think I've still got a couple of those rattling around somewhere, must've bought 'em about '78 I reckon. EDIT: a quick trawl of Ebay produces the Technicolour version:- http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hornby-Track-R-613-Right-Hand-Point-/120738248550?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item1c1c8f7766 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mike Bellamy Posted June 21, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 21, 2011 IIRC you could buy converter pieces for a while for mix and matching super 4 and series 6. I believe this was originally designed to join Hornby Dublo 2 rail track to Triang Super 4 and then reissued again when they moved to Series 6 - weren't the two rail joiners on the same rail ? - Super 4 being the odd one out and Series 6 matched Hornby Dublo, Peco, Roco etc ? Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium spamcan61 Posted June 21, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 21, 2011 I believe this was originally designed to join Hornby Dublo 2 rail track to Triang Super 4 and then reissued again when they moved to Series 6 - weren't the two rail joiners on the same rail ? - Super 4 being the odd one out and Series 6 matched Hornby Dublo, Peco, Roco etc ? Mike Yep, 1978 price list said R476 converter track and Google took me here, as you say fishplate on same rail both ends:- http://www.vintagemodeltrains.biz/contents/en-uk/d74_super4track.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
multiprinter Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 The converter track was also supplied with the old turntable which kept its series3 size rail, long,long after system 6 was with us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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