STD Gauge Help Needed

Original standard gauge track was 42" diameter, so that is all you will find if you get vintage track. If you want quality new tubular track, go to http://www.standardgaugetrack.com/

It's made in the US, they make it in various diameters and it is less expensive than the made in China track by MTH, plus it's heavier duty. An added bonus is great people to work with. As for switches, I have stuck to pre war originals and cleaned them up. MTH does make them, but I have heard of too  many issues.

 

Steve

a second recommendation for USA Track.  i use two of their large (84" & 87") diameter curves and they really make both a mechanical and a visual a difference with any Standard gauge train.  you will not be disappointed with the quality.

Traditional style switches come in Std-42 and Std-72 only.

And I agree with the previous posts, go with USA track, it's a superior product.

John.

Any one have a link to their site?

http://www.standardgaugetrack.com/

 

the link that Steve posted above is to USA Track.

tough name to search on producing many links to the US track and field teams.

For switches, if you want newly made, I'd recommend Ross. The MTH switches are really nice looking, especially in black, but they are mechanically inferior. The 72" in particular are junk. I've spent hours getting the three on our museum layout to work properly. I have no personal experience with the 42". Some users are satisfied, some aren't. On the other hand, I have never heard of a significant problem with the Ross Standard Gauge switches. The drawback is that they look like scale switches with tubular track rather than the retro look of the MTH, but they are so superior mechanically that I'll sacrifice coolness for function. (The switches on our museum layout were purchased before the Ross became available.)

 

And, like the others who have posted, I recommend USA Track. I have built two Standard Gauge layouts, one with USA Track and one with Chinese-made Lionel track. The USA Track is much stronger and better made than current production (made in China) MTH/Lionel track. And, Kirk will custom cut straight sections for a nominal charge, a really nice option when you're building a layout and want to minimize track joints and save time by not having to cut 3-foot sections to 32-1/2". USA Track is available in 42", 57", 72", and 87" diameter curves.

 

Current production Lionel Corporation track (marked Lionel) is made in China by MTH and should be avoided. MTH used to buy US-made track on contract so most track marked MTH is OK. I don't know if any of the Chinese track was marked MTH; I haven't seen any personally but they may have switched production before the Lionel Corporation Tinplate operation got started. Some older track that you find on eBay or at train shows is marked USA; this is good quality stuff made by the previous owner of the machinery now used by USA Track.

Steam Guru, SWHiawatha's post fills in the details about what is available in traditional tubular Standard Gauge track.  USA Track is high quality and offers many curve radii.  Older MTH track can be okay, but newer track under that label is very flimsy, the ties and rails deform with very little pressure, pop apart, and can be frustrating to use.  

 

I have also experienced whole batches of MTH track that were defective from the factory:  the crimp tabs on the ties that hold the center rail were crimped right through the insulating pads, causing shorts.  One final thing, the newer MTH track, instead of blued metal ties, has black painted ties, and the paint can sometimes make for funky grounding connections between the two outside rails, which rely on contact with the ties.

 

SWHi is famous around here for calling the MTH reproduction tinplate switches junk.  While I respect his experience, and agree that they have some quirks and occassionally can use some tweaking, I think most of us are okay with the MTH Standard Gauge switches.  I have 56 of these on my layout, mostly 72's but some 42's as well, and I think about 2 of them weren't just fine out of the box.  With the MTH 72 switches, you do have to move a tie on an adjoining straight track, but it is not difficult once you figure out what needs to happen.

 

The new Ross Standard Gauge switches are in a class by themselves.  I now have 7 of them on my layout in rail yards and other places where space is an issue: the big side projection for the switch motor/lantern on the traditional Lionel and MTH switches can really limit you some times.  To my eye, the Ross switches blend in pretty well with the rest of the tinplate and don't call attention to themselves.  They are truly superior devices in every way and are a joy every time you run a train across them.  However, be forwarned that unlike the MTH switches and everything else on a tinplate layout, the Ross switches need DC power to operate.

 

 

Hojack and I have a long-standing and friendly semantic difference about the use of the word "junk" to describe the MTH 72" switches. In any case, I think we can agree that apart from appearance, there isn't much reason to buy MTH switches as long as the Ross are available. The Ross also will work with large gear locomotives; the MTH will not. As Hojack points out, the large footprint of the MTH switches makes it a real challenge to use them to build a yard in a restricted space. I spent a lot of time fiddling around with switch arrangements before I came up with something that worked. I sure wish the Ross switches had been on the market when I was building the yard for that museum layout!

 

I am probably a lot angrier and less forgiving about the problems I've had with the MTH switches because I was using them for a museum project rather than just for myself. If it had just been for my own layout, I'd have been a lot more laid back. At home I can go with the flow and fix things when I get around to it. At the museum I've got a deadline to meet and a board of directors to answer to. Things have to be on time, on budget, and 100% functional. And in a multi-user environment where individual levels of skill, knowledge, and carefulness are, shall we say, uneven, everything has to be idiot-proof. Having to spend hours reworking a brand-new item doesn't help my blood pressure or my disposition. A year or two ago I posted a long account, with photos, of all the things I've had to fix on these switches. I've had some conversations about this with guys from SGMA and they told me about other problems they've had in addition to the ones I've written about. 

 

The Ross switches do require DC, which is extremely unusual in a Standard Gauge environment. However, it's easy enough to provide DC power. Used HO powerpacks are a dime a dozen at train shows, or you can wire up a bridge rectifier to a bus bar and run AC from the transformer to the rectifier. Or if you've got an old DC power supply left over from a radio, laptop, battery charger, or whatever that puts out the proper voltage, you can use that. 

 

I offer one correction - it takes more than just moving a tie to connect a piece of track to the mainline exit side of the switch. As seen in the photos below, you also have to grind off a good size piece of the inside rail to bring it all the way into the switch. (Unless MTH has changed the design, which I doubt.)

  

Here's a photo of a piece of track modified to work with an MTH 72" switch.

 

And here's the completed connection. Notice the step where the inner running rail does not quite reach the edge of the switch base, making it necessary to grind the mating rail to match. Lousy engineering.  As you can see, the rails on the switch are not the same height as regular rail - the base is higher and the rails are lower, giving the same overall height but leading to the problem with that one rail. 

 

And while we're at it, here's my latest adventure with the MTH switch. The blue wires at right center are supposed to connect the center rails to carry power around the gap. The missing section literally vaporized, probably because it was overloaded due to a derailment. MTH is using 26 gauge wire to carry center rail power! I replaced all the power wires with the appropriate size and reinstalled it. Other switches I have taken apart use heavy wire or solid metal bars for this task. 

Great info, just what I needed.
Thanks all !

SG, 

 

For your Standard Gauge "Holiday Display Layout" application, USA Track is the only track you should consider buying.  It's simply the best!

 

As for switches, Ross switches are the way to go for flawless operation.  And one of the easiest solutions to obtaining the DC power you will need to operate the LGB switch motors on Ross switches, is to toss the ugly and bulky toggle switches that Ross provides and instead replace it with a Piko Switch Control Box #35260.  This normally G scale item is specifically designed to operate LGB switch motors and is readily available.  It easy to wire and when paired with Ross Standard Gauge switches will provide you with flawless operation. 

 

For your Standard Gauge application, AC accessory power from your Standard Gauge transformer can be used as the input power to the Piko switch control box.  The box converts it into the exact momentary DC current needed to operate the LGB switch motors on Ross switches.  

 

Furthermore, in your application an important advantage of the Piko switch control box is that it is "surface" mounted whereas the large toggle switch, which Ross provides, is really intended for "subsurface" mounting.  Obviously, subsurface mounting could be difficult to do on a typical floor-mounted  "Holiday Display Layout".  

 

I am a SGMA member and in my application I wanted to mount my switch controls on the top of my SGMA modules, i.e., a surface-mount application.  In this instance the Piko box was clearly the preferable alternative to the Ross toggle. 

 

IMHO, using USA Track, Ross switches, and Piko Switch Control Boxes could easily be the "clean-looking" and "easy-wiring" alternative you're looking for to build your temporary Standard Gauge "Holiday Display Layout".

 

Bob Nelson

 

PS.  For more fun with Standard Gauge trains before and after the holidays, become a SGMA member, build a SGMA module or two, then attend SGMA events and have a blast operating your SG trains on a huge SGMA layout.