Can anyone tell me the manufacture of this s-gauge flex track with solid rail? A friend of mine has about 20 new pieces but there is no imprint anywhere showing the mfg. they are 36" long. Note the center triagular webbing that runs the whole length. This track is 'springy' , smooth, and easy to flex. I do not think it is American Models since they normally have their name on the underside. The rail code is identical to AM.
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Probably get a better answer on the S Scale page
I posted this topic on the s-scale forum. OGR now lists the S-scale topics on the 3-rail forum, I guess becuase there are so few S scale posts.
This should be posted in the s scale forum.
What you have is .138 solid NS rail MTH (or earlier SHS) flex track. It is not AM, which uses code 148 rail. Also note the webs on the rail are blackened. Fox Valley Models makes almost identical .138 flex but the rail webs are not blackened. Pictures below. 700’ of this track was used building my S scale layout.
S scale forum has not been replaced.
Gunny
Here is a picture I took some months ago that shows American Models track sitting between two MTH tracks. The difference is easy to see when they are side by side. The AM rails are thicker and taller, the tie spacing is different with no grain embossing on the ties.
Hi Gunny and AmFlyer, I did post this topic on the s-scale forum. I've posted other topics on the s-scale forum, but the heading still shows up on the 3-rail forum in the list on the right side. Not sure why that is.
Thanks AmFlyer for the clarification on the MTH flex track. Seems like AM and Fox are the only suppliers now of s-scale flex.
Hey AmFlyer, will the older AF engines and cars run on the .138 MTH track, or is the rail heights too small for the flanges? How about on the AM .148 track?
Dave, the biggest supplier of S gauge flex is GarGraves. Their track is .220" high, the same as original Gilbert track. The Showcase Line of S gauge items was sold by MTH to Scale Trains. Scale Trains already has two of the freight cars in production, they will also start making the track but no date has been announced. Lionel S gauge FasTrack also uses the same .138 rail, but Lionel only makes sectional track on plastic roadbed, no flex.
Any item ever made in S gauge (or S scale) will run on the .138 rail. Same is true for the AM code 148 rail.
There is S gauge flex track widely available for use with scale only flanges. Code 100 and code 70 are widely available, but no high rail equipment will run on that track.
Here is a comparison of GarGraves flex with MTH flex. Both work great, selection is based on the style of layout to be built.
AmFlyer, thanks much for the detailed information.
Dave
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