Peco O Gauge Set Track

[ossygobbin]

so, has anybody contacted peco yet about these points ?

[dajt]

Back onto topic, an acquaintance of mine has bought a number of these set track points, and to date has had no issues with derailing, but having seen the gauge variances, I'll have to take a decent Starrett vernier gauge down to the club and do some measuring up.

 

Given the differences between the two points in the example shown I'd say a school ruler is sufficient to check whether all the points are the same. You might upset the Starrett and it'll never work properly again.

[Northroader]

so, has anybody contacted peco yet about these points ?

Peco have been making and selling Setrack points in OO and N for a long time, so they are popular. I think you just need to be aware they’re not the ideal solution for every situation. I don’t have any experience of the dimensional problems that are being reported by other folks.

Edit:just to add to what I’ve said, setrack is made to be used as a package with segmented track to form a “table top” Railway, so if you take the points on their own, the geometry might not be to what you want. Peco do make paper templates of their pointwork, so it would be worthwhile to get these and check what you’re doing before committing to the expense of purchasing the points.

Edited January 22, 2018 by Northroader

[Andrew Young]

so, has anybody contacted peco yet about these points ?

I know of two people who have contacted Peco about issues with the points, hopefully they will comment on here when they have suitable answers. Though don’t think their points were out of gauge.

 

Andrew

Edited January 22, 2018 by Andrew Young

[tim@dy]

I bought 4 Setrack points before Christmas and 3 had defective tie bars,but they were not out of gauge.I contacted the PECO Technical Advice Bureau who asked me to return the defective points and they said that they would replace them as soon as possible.Within a week 3 replacement points arrived in the post.

If anyone has a problem with these points I strongly recommend them to contact PECO through their Technical Advice Bureau either by phone,01297 21542 or by e-mail:info@pecobeer.co.uk

 

Usual disclaimer.

 

Tim

[Nearholmer]

Folks

 

Have the QC problems been resolved, and are these points on the market?

 

Kevin

[south_tyne]

On 22/07/2018 at 16:49, Nearholmer said:

Folks

 

Have the QC problems been resolved, and are these points on the market?

 

Kevin

 

Also interested in whether this issue has been resolved? Have many people used the setrack points and, if so, are you happy with the performance?

 

David

[MarcD]

I bought some last year for a micro layout not fitted them yet.

 

Marc

[NeilHB]

All the previously reported issues seem to have gone away now. 

 

@tim@dy and I have used rather a number of them on Duddon Bridge, and they all (touch wood) seem to be clear of the issues.

[south_tyne]

4 hours ago, NeilHB said:

All the previously reported issues seem to have gone away now. 

 

@tim@dy and I have used rather a number of them on Duddon Bridge, and they all (touch wood) seem to be clear of the issues.

 

Thanks Neil that's great news. I am going to order a couple for my new project so was interested to hear how others had got on. 

[marc smith]

19 hours ago, NeilHB said:

All the previously reported issues seem to have gone away now. 

 

@tim@dy and I have used rather a number of them on Duddon Bridge, and they all (touch wood) seem to be clear of the issues.

 

Thanks for letting us know. Hopefully, the factors discussed were just teething issues.
I'm sure the points will be useful to those if us who like Micro layouts, or perhaps those who wish to save space in a fiddle yard.

[Nile]

Thanks to Dapol, Ixion and Minerva I have a growing collection of small O gauge locos and wagons. What I haven't got is room for a permanent layout to run them on, this is where this new set track could be of use. My initial examination of the points showed that the geometry of them owed more to the likes of Brio or Lego than the real thing. But I came up with a cunning plan to modify them to make them more useful.

I made four cuts to shorten the point.

 

 

The result is a much smaller item.

 

 

For a bit of context, here it is next to a Peco large OO point.

 

 

I also made cuts to a piece of curved set track so that it matched the shortened point. The result is shown below. The 'six foot' spacing has been roughly halved to a scale nine feet, a more useable size.

 

The size of a crossover is also greatly reduced, and looks a lot better.

 

 

There is potential for further trimming to achieve a closer track spacing if desired.

Edited June 16, 2022 by Nile

[Nearholmer]

Yes, I still can’t quite understand why Peco don’t make and sell these as a ‘cut down’ plus a filler curve and straight to achieve match with the set track curve and straight. In short, the bits you chopped it into. It would be so much more versatile.

 

Maybe it’s just a matter of production cost.

 

As modified, it has almost the same geometry as the points that I use in ‘coarse-0’, which are good for compact layouts.

 

A ‘Y’, with each leg at the same radius as the setback point would be another space-saver. I’ve used the coarse equivalent, and they are very compact.

Edited June 6, 2019 by Nearholmer

[ossygobbin]

i am using these points cut down like you have done.

see 

8 x 2 light railway somewhere down south west

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/143724-8-x-2-light-railway-somewhere-down-south-west/

 

[south_tyne]

5 hours ago, Nile said:

Thanks to Dapol, Ixion and Minerva I have a growing collection of small O gauge locos and wagons. What I haven't got is room for a permanent layout to run them on, this is where this new set track could be of use. My initial examination of the points showed that the geometry of them owed more to the likes of Brio or Lego than the real thing. But I came up with a cunning plan to modify them to make them more useful.

I made four cuts to shorten the point.

 

The result is a much smaller item.

 

For a bit of context, here it is next to a Peco large OO point.

 

I also made cuts to a piece of curved set track so that it matched the shortened point. The result is shown below. The 'six foot' spacing has been roughly halved to a scale nine feet, a more useable size.

 

The size of a crossover is also greatly reduced, and looks a lot better.

 

There is potential for further trimming to achieve a closer track spacing if desired.

 

Thanks for posting that explanation and the photos Nile, it's really useful. I am going to follow the same approach for my little layout when I get it underway. I also cannot understand why Peco didn't just produce them like that in the first place. 

 

Cheers,

David

[PaulRhB]

7 hours ago, south_tyne said:

 

Thanks for posting that explanation and the photos Nile, it's really useful. I am going to follow the same approach for my little layout when I get it underway. I also cannot understand why Peco didn't just produce them like that in the first place. 

Simply because it's less tooling to produce it as one unit to match the curve. They were probably just thinking anyone wanting the shorter version will chop it off to suit . . . .

 

[friscopete]

I think the clue lies in the words Set Track.

[Nile]

The off-cuts don't go to waste, they are just big enough to fit a buffer stop on.

 

Edited June 16, 2022 by Nile

[south_tyne]

6 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

Simply because it's less tooling to produce it as one unit to match the curve. They were probably just thinking anyone wanting the shorter version will chop it off to suit . . . .

 

 

I see. Not that I mind chopping a bit off mind and, as Nile shows below, the offcuts can be utilised elsewhere! 

[Jack]

On 06/06/2019 at 19:25, Nile said:

The size of a crossover is also greatly reduced, and looks a lot better.

 

There is potential for further trimming to achieve a closer track spacing if desired.

 

Beware!!!  I have done this on Gough's Yard in order to replace the 48" Marcway's with something a lot more reasonable looking.  In order to get the Peco setrack points in I had to remove 5 sleepers from the curve as Nile as has done above.

 

Unfortunately in testing this with a Dapol Jinty the system kept shorting.  After much investigation it turns out the Jinty's back-to-backs are a smidgen out.  As it goes through the crossover the rear set of wheels end up touching the straight closure rail as there is very little clearance.  Being unifrog this is a different polarity to the track around it.

 

Be aware that in order to maintain the tight radius the tolerances are quite tight.  Also, I'm guessing Peco haven't tested their points with 5 sleepers worth of curved removed!!

 

Next job is to go through the whole of the stock box checking the back-to-backs ...

 

... however, I must say the layout is looking a lot better with these in place.

[MarcD]

We can get a terirrer around them but  my midland 1F tanks don't go round. 

Marc

[ossygobbin]

following jacks comments i have just run a few locos on my layout with all set track points.

Dapol jinty no go

Dapol 57xx no go

Dapol terrier no problem

ixion fowler no problem

ixion hudswell clarke no problem

Heljan railbus no chance

kit built 57xx with flangless ctr wheels ok

beattie well tank no problem

kit built 13xx pannier no problem

14xx o-4-2 no go

gwr 2-4-0 tank no go

[Nile]

I've not had any problems running a Minerva Manning Wardle or Dapol 08 through my modified points. Not tried anything bigger/longer.

[Jack]

I've had now had a try with a Minerva 57xx Pannier and that was fine, as was my Sang Cheng Terrier.  Both would quite happily push a Dapol 6-wheel milk tank through OK.  the milk tank also doesn't seem to cause shorts.

 

I think the problem occurs if the wheel base is long and the back-to-backs are out.  The Minerva 57xx B2Bs are spot on and it ran through like a dream.

 

Having now relaid the track this isn't just a problem at crossovers as I first thought.

Edited July 30, 2019 by Jack

[ossygobbin]

58 minutes ago, Jack said:

I've had now had a try with a Minerva 57xx Pannier and that was fine, as was my Sang Cheng Terrier.  Both would quite happily push a Dapol 6-wheel milk tank through OK.  the milk tank also doesn't seem to cause shorts.

 

I think the problem occurs if the wheel base is long and the back-to-backs are out.  The Minerva 57xx B2Bs are spot on and it ran through like a dream.

 

Having now relaid the track this isn't just a problem at crossovers as I first thought.

my Dapol 57xx kept jumping off the track or going down the wrong road at the points