Sectional tracks for HOm or 12 mm gauge

HOm - or rather H0m as it is properly named in Europe - has had a long and somewhat comparable history to HOn3. HOn3 mostly in North America, where the prototype runs on 3' tracks, and HOm in Europe where many major NG systems are meter gauge. In both cases, it's mostly a small dedicated group that models these NG railroads. And thus, seemingly, the need for simple sectional tracks had long been denied. The major player in the non-brass HOm field is Bemo, a German company founded in 1976.( http://www.bemo-modellbahn.de/ apparently only in German.)

They soon issued a collection of sectional HOm track to allow a wider spread of their products. Unfortunately, these sectional tracks have a number of problems when actually used to run trains. I can say more about this in a later post. So I started looking for alternatives. There are a number of other producers of HOm tracks (Peco, Shinohara, Tillig at least), but it's essentially flextrack, turnouts and a double slip crossing. All nice looking, but not suitable for non-permanent layouts. As a consequence, I have been quite happy when I realized that the TT scale tracks made by Tillig can be used as well. They are 12 mm, but the scale is 1:120 instead of 1:87. Thus featuring ties that are too small. But the important point is that Tillig produces a line that has bedding, just like Kato and now Blackstone. And these bedding tracks also use the Kato Unijoiner system as seen in the attached picture. Thus excellent prerequisites for a satisfactory performance. Unlike Bemo, Tillig has a web site in English as well: http://www.tillig.com/index-engl.htm ; and here is the link to their TT bedding tracks: http://www.tillig.com/cgi-bin/tillig.pl?templ=tillig-pl/index.html
It soon becomes clear that the available pieces are rather limited, with only one radius suitable for HOm, and only one type of turnouts that can be used. None of the double slip crossings they have in their non-bedding line. TT scale had been rather popular in Eastern Germany, whereas it was almost unknown in the west till after the collapse of the "Wall". That may be why the bedding tracks are not widespread. Thus, I'm still waiting for my order to be completely filled. I have a few test tracks so far, but not enough to actually run a train. At this point, it's at least enough to have convinced me of the suitability for my purposes. More to follow then.

 

Some comparison Bemo - Tillig

Bemo HOm tracks have a rather wide spacing of the ties. For the Swiss RhB, that fits reasonably well for prototypes of low-use tracks as seen on the last picture. However, for the main lines, the tie spacing is way off. For those, the Tillig TT tracks have a more prototypical appearance. I'm not too pleased with their bright grey color, however. So I'm experimenting with a kind of rusty wash as seen on the two comparative model pictures.

RhB, I should possibly explain, is a major NG railroad in southeastern Switzerland. It is the main railroad in the canton of Grisons (Graubünden, the flag is on the front or side of the red engines in the second picture), providing very good main line service with lots of freight and passenger traffic.

 

I'd say you'd need to concentrate on some of the best, and that's not just NG.
Anyway, some can be found on Youtube. I posted several videos there as well. Here are my own favorites of the RhB:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqfn7g7z-uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IR0jqy7YnE

 

Variations on the prototype

Can't edit my previous posts, so here is a separate addition regarding the RhB prototype tracks. As the attached picture shows, one can find virtually any type of appearance, like the new mainline tracks up front that correspond quite well with the unaltered Tillig bedding tracks. But over all, a more rusty version would be the more common one. And with a non permanent layout, one has to decide on one kind. For a permanent fixed layout, one can of course incorporate a variety just like in "real life".

 

I think your wash is a good idea to darken that track and is almost certainly easier they trying to paint the individual ties. I keep thinking about 12mm gauge in 1:48 and I might have to try some of the Tillig track.

As for trains in Switzerland, it's been 28 years since I been to Switzerland. The only train I got to ride was the cog railway down Mt Pilatus by Lucerne. I just bought the Glacier Express set from Kato so now I have to ride that. Here is Rick Steves' link on railway journeys in Switzerland. http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/switz/swissrailjourn.htm

 

Hi Andy,

Interesting link to the Swiss RR journeys. From a brief glance, I think the descriptions are very accurate. The tours are definitely among the best one can take. I live near Lucerne (and have a fine view of Mt. Pilatus from my home when the weather is decent), and I very much love the steam boat ride he mentions. One day, I actually went to that terminus Fluelen three times because I wanted to ride as many different steamers as possible.

Thanks for your comment regarding the wash. That has definitely been the way to go, both for accuracy when compared to the prototype, but also because it's much faster to do.

 

Noisy tracks!

I now have a large enough set of Tillig bedding tracks to run a train over an oval. What strikes me immediately is the noise this train makes on these tracks. Regular Bemo HOm tracks are whisper quiet in comparison. The same noise phenomenon is well known to me from the old Marklin HO metal tracks when compared to Roco or Atlas bedless tracks. But I had attributed the difference mainly to the fact that the bedding was metal. Here, however, we have some type of plastic just like the track frame on bedless tracks. So it must be that hollow space under the tracks that creates the problem.

I don't have any of the new Protraxx tracks yet, but I wonder whether BS was able to get the noise under control. Seems mandatory if one wants to enjoy a sound equipped engine.

 

I've never noticed either Unitrack or Tomix Finetrack to be particularly noisy. Are you going to mount the Tillig track? If so, maybe some Woodland Scenics foam roadbed would help quiet it.

I'm going to order some Protraxx soon and will listen to see how loud is sounds.

Andy
Tetsu Uma

 

No, I have no plans to put anything underneath. If I find the noise too annoying at some point, I might cover the whole board - not jut the tracks - with a clothlike material. But I prefer not having to do that as I need to be able to actually lie on the front part of the platform. And that might result in tearing the material, unless I use some kind of "carpet".

Here is a shot of the present purely HOm set-up. The outer loop consists of the painted Tillig TT bedding tracks. The inner loop shows the traditional Bemo HOm tracks. The engine in the background is actually touching the roof with its pantho to the point that the roof slightly pushes it downwards. Fortunately, the future outer tracks will all be HOn3 where there are no such panthos. :teeth:
I could, of course, run the trains with the panthos down as one often sees on layouts. But my feeling is, if there are panthos on a running electic loco, at least one must be up, also when there are no actual overhead wires (catenary). There is one exception, and that is dual power; like one of my RhB models, loco 802 pictured in post #2.

 

The probably last pictures of my pure H0m layout, I hope.

Here are two, probably final shots of my small NG layout in pure meter gauge configuaration. I expect the HOn3 tracks to arrive by Saturday.

While I had to wait, I definitely got quite a boost to work on my Bemo rolling stock and engines. Mostly they had been sitting around, or remained in their boxes, without the detailing parts having been added.

Aside from the Tillig TT tracks, I also left one Bemo oval to compare longer term operations. Those tracks come apart every so often, and they needed cleaning much more frequently than the Tillig bedding tracks. As a side benefit, though costly, I got a prototypical Spurpflug, which translates probably as a spreader. The neat thing is that it incorporates very inconspicuous felt pieces that serve as track cleaners. The model can be seen on the Bemo tracks behind a dual-power RhB engine.

The tracks and trains under the NG platform are HO, with a mix of North American and European trains. A recently acquired On30 train uses those tracks as well. The reason for that additional NG scale is that I fell in love with the 2-6-6-2 engine Bachmann has come out with some time ago.

 

Here is one taken from the internet. There are different prototypes, and Bemo has apparently issued several of them. They come out in the limited Metal Collection series, thus making small numbers feasible, though at the corresponding costs for the customers. The advantage, however, is that these small pieces provide quite a bit of weight for the cleaning action. If I am correct, the prototypes of these spreaders would be used up front, but I can't push my model without having it derail very soon. There is not enough weight on the two wheels, it is essentially concentrated on the cleaning center. I have not tried it with the non-cleaning center piece that comes with it as well. I guess that would allow pushing it. But my main excuse for buying this attractive but expensive piece (over $300) is to get the rails cleaned.

 

Here is another one of these models, also taken from the internet.

 

Finally, here are two prototype pictures, also found in the internet. Note the differences in the longitudinal frame, among others.