I was surprised, too. They weren't the lowest price I found but close and there would have been minimal extra shipping. Oh well, maybe they'll get a resupply.
I hope so. I got to try the preproduction track at TrainFest last year and I can't wait to get my hands on some. Andy Tetsu Uma
Good thing, then, that I had preordered three starter sets plus some extra straights. So I should be supplied till the next new pieces come out. Just need to wait till November though. I hope the present shortage does not mean a shortsighted order by BS, but instead signifies an overwhelming success. Blackstone would definitely deserve it for their pioneering efforts. But as long as curves and straights are still available separately, it should be easy enough to get started without a starter set anyway. The price difference is rather small. One problem to be solved is to connect power to the tracks. I wonder whether Kato power joiners will fit, either N or HO scale?
Since the rail is Code 70, I'm guessing N scale. They would be a direct fit or something very close to it. The place by Baltimore still had curves (a lot) and straights (some), they just sold out of the starter sets. Andy Tetsu Uma
Kato UniTrack uses the same railjoiners for their HO and N scale lines, and these railjoiners also fit the TT scale Bedding Track from Tillig, which is made under license from Kato. I would expect the Blackstone HOn3 track to also use these railjoiners as well, even if the rail is code 70 rather than the typical Kato code 80. Kato sells terminal railjoiners with wires soldered to the standard UniJoiners, and I would expect these to work with the HOn3 track as well. My own experience with these in N scale was less than satisfactory, and I had 4 or 5 sets that I had purchased in different hobbyshops that suffered from poor solder joints between the wire and the railjoiner, which meant I had to take them apart and re-solder them. Hopefully, by now, that person on the assembly line has improved their soldering technique. After that experience though, I switched to using the 62mm terminal track section which has a built-in plug & socket under the roadbed to make the connection. I hope the Blackstone HOn3 track has better turnouts than the Tillig TT Bedding Track has. They may be made under license from Kato, maybe even in the same factory in China that Kato uses, but they are no where near the same quality as Kato's N scale turnouts. As far as the the ties on the Tillig TT Bedding Track not matching the look of narrow gauge track for use with Bemo, I don't think the Blackstone HOn3 is any better in this regard, because the ties are too perfectly spaced and the roadbed is too uniform to imitate anything narrow gauge. However, if Blackstone can match the operational quality of Kato's N and HO UniTrack, especially with the promised turnouts, the "too perfect" appearance of the ties and roadbed should be something that is able to be overlooked by the many HOn3 modelers who don't want to hand lay their track. Bill in FtL
Thanks Bill, interesting news! As for the terminals, Tillig has rail joiners where one can connect one's own wires. The attached pictures are from a seller in the internet, thus not my own pictures. But they show the system. Just introduce the blank part of the wire into the metal clamp, close it with some pliers, and one has a very solid connection. If interested, here is the link: http://www.ebay.ch/itm/400476637985?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 The fellow ships worldwide. And here is a second seller who also ships worldwide: http://www.ebay.ch/itm/Tillig-83951...dellbau_Modelleisenbahnen&hash=item3a621f09ec Regarding the ties, I have discussed that a bit in my thread on H0m tracks: http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?152649-Sectional-tracks-for-HOm-or-12-mm-gauge Maybe one will have to give the BS tracks a similar wash as shown in post #2 of that thread. What's your complaint about the Tillig turnouts? I have had some problems, but think they are directly related to my not very prudent painting method.
So my Protraxx starter set arrived and now I have some answers. The Unijoiners in Protraxx are the same as in Unitrack and in fact use the same rail joiners. For power, the starter set comes with a set of terminal Unijoiners with the Kato connector cut off but there is no Unijoiner puller like in the Kato K1 set. (I don't think one terminal connection is enough so I will be adding other terminal Unijoiners when I set it up.) The tie spacing looks pretty good, a little too perfect, but that's to be expected. Hard to believe the gauge is only 1.5mm more than N gauge because it is physically so much bigger than Unitrack and the rail is slightly smaller. I will try to get some pictures posted. Andy Tetsu Uma
Here is a picture of some of my Tillig power unijoiners in various positions. Thus the nature of these practical power joiners can be seen more clearly, I hope. Looks like one can easily use these for Blackstone's track. Still need to wait for mine till late November, so I can't try myself at this point. (Sorry for the color cast, it should all be less reddish.)
That may hold for North America, and thus apply to Blackstone tracks. But as I have shown in the HOm thread, modern Swiss NG does have the perfect road bed and tie spacing.
I've personnally never had any problems with Kato terminal Unijoiners and we'll see if I have any using them with with Protraxx. I checked and the Protraxx and Tomix Fine Track are made in China but all my Unitrack is marked "Japan."
The Tillig TT Bedding Track turnouts looked to be a little lightly constructed in the area of the points and throwbar. I haven't had the chance to use my TT table-top modules yet due to a lack of US style motive power, but that will soon be remedied through the courtesy of SAZModel dot com. However, another modeler who is also building TT models has had problems with the Tillig points breaking away from the turnouts. That being said, I do like the idea that the plastic frog looks like a separately molded casting that could be replaced with a metal one to allow a powered frog (now if only someone would produce such a metal casting). I should have said Blackstone rather than Kato when I referenced the Chinese production, although these days, many Japanese companies also have production facilities in China too. Bill in FtL
First quick comparison Blackstone vs Tillig I have finally received my Blackstone sectional tracks as my son brought them over to Switzerland. I have posted three comparative pictures of these tracks with my Tillig H0m tracks, one version painted by me the way I use them now. First, it is obvious that they use the same size unijoiners from Kato. However, looking at the rest, it seems clear that they don't come from the same manufacturer. In fact, Blackstone's new tracks - while coming with a wider bedding - make a more flimsy impression when handled. They are thinner and a bit more flexible. But there is also a bit more play at the joints. Thus over all, Tillig's tracks make a more stable track bed. Though I don't think it matters for my purposes. It might, however, for a layout on a soft carpet. The last picture also shows the differences in track width, HOn3 being 10.8 mm, whereas H0m is 12 mm. From this general impression, I'm curious, and also a bit worried, about the stability of the Blackstone turnouts. Particularly when even Tillig's product seems to be a bit on the flimsy side as Bill mentioned. Though my own impression about the Tillig turnouts is more favorable regarding stability. My issue with them is more that the plastic center frogs are interrupting the continuous power flow too much.
