Wolfcreek Upgrades & LGB Marklin

DragonFyreGT Jun 26, 2010

  1. DragonFyreGT

    DragonFyreGT TrainBoard Member

    991
    60
    22
    I closed my monthly thread. Here's the thing: I went to find a piko station today and found out I was going to overpay by 50 bucks. So I decided to buy some track instead. I got used track from an indoor layout. 6 LGB R1 Radius Curves for the outter edge of the layout and 2 2-foot straight tracks. The straight tracks are Piko. This is a new adventure into piko.

    And while my g/f and I were looking for the piko buildings, she found something that I had been searching for, for a long time. LGB Durango & Silverton Coach & Combine. 300 bucks for the set. They were the old ones. But this place "ripped" me off and sold me for the same price, Marklin's re-issue. How do I know? Because the coach and combine weren't North Star and Pinkerton. HOWEVER. In the end, I took it to my friend's layout to break her in behind his mogul. And they run great. The decals and the coloring are just like the originals.

    So why the D&S Set and not the station? Because I wanted D&S Coaches for my Stainz/Tender. I will be finishing the set with Marklin's Durango & Silverton Full Baggage, The original D&S Combine and I will sell the Marklin/LGB Combine, Most likely here or eBay. Camera Battery charging, Pictures this time WILL Be coming. Might be a day because right now a severe thunderstorm is charging towards us and I might be without power.

    I know I was so hellbent and focused on my station, but I'm glad I did the coaches instead because over the last week I've been frazzled with the Wolfcreek Station Project and these coaches are a breathe of fresh air to me. I had to make phase sacrifices for this but I'm okay with it.

    One last note, all the windows and doors are in and we've already saved 300 bucks on the electrical bill ^^
     
  2. EMD trainman

    EMD trainman TrainBoard Member

    1,735
    5
    26
    I never did a mismatch of manufactures track like you did before. I know you have LGB, Aristocraft and now Piko track, but somehow you make it all work together.

    All of my track and switches are ALL Aristocraft and have been for the last 10 years, but when I finally decided to upgrade some curves from 8ft daimeter to 10 ft diameter in areas I knew it would fit I looked back to Aristocraft with sticker shock. For the first time in the history of owning my layout I decided to buy a different manufactures track, I went with USA Trains 10ft diameter curves as they were on a very good show special at the East Coast Large Scale train show. I'm very happy with them so far and will see how they hold up to runnining trains on them over the years.

    As for my house, I also went with new windows and doors years ago and save much money on heat and eletric.
     
  3. DragonFyreGT

    DragonFyreGT TrainBoard Member

    991
    60
    22
    I love LGB Track to death, it holds up very well for me, I was desperate a couple years ago and bought what I could afford rather then saving up for the proper track. Well now that I can afford to build a small layout in the garden, I'm upgrading now. The Aristocraft straight track is staying, the curves are gone. My layout is now running better. A few minor voltage issues but that's because the floor needs to have the vinyl ripped up and leveled again.

    For switches, I'm going with LGB's R3 wide turnout switches. My Aristocraft switch is okay, but the way they did the "switch turn" box, I can't run my locomotive's in reverse where I have it. For now I'll be replacing it with an LGB Switch. The problem is I h ave to wait til August at the train show to do that for way less then this "shady" shop wanted. They were lucky enough to get me to buy track let alone 2 Marklin-LGB Coaches (which I just ran them on the layout with my E-Lok switcher and they performed beautifully at home). The Piko track was tested. It's the same length as my LGB Track. the 2 foot section was exactly 2 feet as per measuring side-by-side with 2 1 foot sections of coupled LGB Track. Great Job Piko! So now LGB or Piko... I have 2 options to play with that work.

    That aristocraft straight sections are now completing my engine shed line. Until I decide on what engine shed to purchase, I'm keeping it as a staging track for my D&S Coaches. And despite being shady, this shop had LGB up the giggy. My g/f had to drag me out of the store to prevent me from spending my entire bank account on it. So much stuff I wanted as a Kid but could never afford. It was like a time capsule for me. I started with LGB and it's still my passion. Even on my 1970-1995 theme, that E-Lok and her work train and my Stainz, Tender and their new coaches and train are special exceptions for me.

    Overall this purchase was a good one, and I'm happy with it. In the meantime I'm going to go back to fine tuning all my LGB Track systems.
     
  4. krs

    krs TrainBoard Member

    129
    0
    10
    So I take it you have the Marklin/LGB combine (LGB 30813).
    I was always wondering, was that made in China or in Hungary?
     
  5. krs

    krs TrainBoard Member

    129
    0
    10
    All the code 332 track from any manufacturer should work together.
    The foot of the rail may be a bit different so you can't necessarily mix and match tie strips, but assembled track should be the same.
    Any track that comes from Germany will actually use the same cross-section rail because there is only one manufacturer in Germany for the rail itself - so LGB, Thiel, FGB, Piko etc. all buy the rail from him.

    I'm thinking of moving to code 250 or even to code 215 rail - I have seen adapters to join code 250 rail to existing code 332 rail, not sure about an adapter for code 215 rail.
     
  6. krs

    krs TrainBoard Member

    129
    0
    10
    With Piko track you have to be careful when it comes to curved track.
    Piko, in thier infinite wisdom, used the LGB R1, R3 and R5 designation for their curved track but only R1 is the same radius as LGB R1.
    Piko R3 has a much smaller radius than LGB R3 and Piko R5 is nowhere close to LGB R5, Piko R5 is just a little bit larger in radius than LGB R3.
    Lots of people got caught when Piko first introduced their track - they ordered Piko R3 and R5 track expecting the radius too be the same as the corresponding LGB track, but it was off "by a mile".

    I have attached a Piko track flyer which gives a nice overview of the Piko track system including all the dimensions.
     

    Attached Files:

  7. DragonFyreGT

    DragonFyreGT TrainBoard Member

    991
    60
    22
    Thanks, KRS, I'm well aware of the piko radius thing. I'm only using LGB R3 Radius. And the combine was made in china. I opened up the roof to add some figures and the door springs fell off and nothing was glued down inside. I had to glue everything down myself. I opened up the coach and the springs stayed in place and I glued everything there down aswell. Insurance to make sure nothing comes loose that I don't want loose.

    Oh and Today I decided to give several laps to my new Durango And Silverton Coaches, but my Stainz and Tender's couplers are broke and need replacing. So I was figuring out what to do and it hit me. At the Illinois Railway museum, 90 percent of the time BN-1 and BN-2 are hooked up to the Lackawanna/CB&Q Heavyweight Coach Train. So what it... and a huge "What If..." What if on my layout, BN2022 was a guest Motive power at a local railroad museum? So I swapped 2022's kadee coupler for an aristocraft loop and hook coupler, hooked up the coaches and then hooked up my long steel BN caboose and had me a museum excursion train! Was pretty fun, and it's still hooked up so pictures tomorrow.

    Finally this goes with the stainz project. Because I purchased these coaches, the station project is being pushed back. other things now need to take priority. But with the stainz, the coaches will receive upgrades at the same time:
    -LGB Western Figures
    -LGB Metal Wheels
    -Kadee Couplers
    -Cargo for the (Future)Baggage & Combine

    And when my Stainz is not operating the coaches, on special occassions, I'll pull out my FA-1. This has been an interesting week. I go for a station, and end up with 2 gems from my past that have been reproduced and I couldn't be happier.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 27, 2010
  8. EMD trainman

    EMD trainman TrainBoard Member

    1,735
    5
    26
    The very reason why I stayed away from LGB track, don't get me wrong, it's great track and lasted forever. I just never understood the the R1, R2 and R3 rating. Now that Piko follows suite and it doesn't come close to LGB ratings it just makes it that much more confusing. At least when I buy a 8ft diameter curve whether it would be from Aristocraft or USA Trains I know what I am getting. USA Trains and Aristocraft have way more radius of curves to choose from also giving you a lot more options for layout configurations.
     
  9. EMD trainman

    EMD trainman TrainBoard Member

    1,735
    5
    26
    I have seen a few people use code 250 track with 1:29 scale ratio trains such as USA TRains and Aristocraft because they say it's more realistic for that scale ratio train. However I like the dependability of code 332 track, with code 250 the risk for derailments go higher. Also be careful if switching to code 215 track, USA Trains have over deep wheel flanges, deeper than they should be for 1:29 scale ratio. Garden Railways Magazine always complains about this when they make a review on many USA Trains product reviews. It could be possible that the inside wheel flange could hit the rail ties on code 215. I also heard that the over deep wheel flanges get caught up in the frog on a code 250 switch. Many people switch thier wheels when switching profiles of track like that. You can find the track manufacturers and wheel manufacturers in my directory.
     
  10. krs

    krs TrainBoard Member

    129
    0
    10
    That is true.
    I have gone to flex track rather than fixed radius curves - tends to be cheaper, fewer rail joiners and you make your curves anything you like including easements.
     
  11. krs

    krs TrainBoard Member

    129
    0
    10
    All very good points!
    A friend of mine uses code 215 rail and I was a bit nervous first time I took my LGB equipment to run there for the reasons trainman mentioned.
    But the track he bought from some Canadian manufacturer years ago is made to accomodate the deeper wheel flanges - they reduced the height of the spikes on the inside of the rail to provide more clearance. And he builds all the turnouts himself.
     
  12. DragonFyreGT

    DragonFyreGT TrainBoard Member

    991
    60
    22
    Okay here's the problem: When the camera fell out of the car, the focusing of the lens got screwed up, it shows up as blurry and cannot even on minimum lens focus take anything decent. Camera's dead. It's cheaper to buy a new one. So hopefully within the month I'll have a working camera and updated photos.

    Also with LGB Track, I will continue to use it since I'm overall happy with it. I know there's other good brands out there but in the end it's what each individual chooses to use. I'm going to investigate USA Trains, Aristocraft and Llagas Creek's wide turnout switches and compare them to LGB's. However, the wide turnout Double Slip switch, as I am aware, Is only made by LGB way back in the day.

    I've made the curves decision, time to focus on switches. Also the Backyard jungle was hacked down. I literally had to use my machette to do it. Weed whacker and the lawnmower wouldn't do it :3
     
  13. krs

    krs TrainBoard Member

    129
    0
    10
    Doesn't Llagas Creek make switches to order?
    Maybe they will make a double slip switch if you need one.

    As to ready made double-slip switches, I don't know anyone in the US who makes one either - there are a very few manufacturers in Europe who sell this in code 332 brass.
    Thiel is one:
    Weichen
     
  14. DragonFyreGT

    DragonFyreGT TrainBoard Member

    991
    60
    22
    Yeah I'm going to contact Llagas creek about the double slip, atm I believe LGB is the only ready made one, and their not exactly cheap.
     

Share This Page