Is it dangerous?

[mikec069]

I came into some vintage, vintage me anyway, train stuff.  It looks to me to be maybe 1970's.  Although not stated anywhere, I'm guessing the track that came with the trackside kits is probably code 83.

Some questions:
Is there a way to tell code 83 from code 100?
Is it dangerous to mix the two?  I know Bachmann EZ track is code 100.  The way the kits, thankfully some of them are snap together, are setup, replacing the kit track with EZ track, is just not practical.

I'm running HO scale and DCC.

Oh and the cars all have plastic wheels. That's not going to be fun, or easy to replace. However.....

Thank you all

VidGuy

[ABC]

Is there a way to tell code 83 from code 100?
Is it dangerous to mix the two?  I know Bachmann EZ track is code 100.  The way the kits, thankfully some of them are snap together, are setup, replacing the kit track with EZ track, is just not practical.
Oh and the cars all have plastic wheels. That's not going to be fun, or easy to replace.

Code 100, which is the most common type, has rails that are .100 inches high.  Code 83 has rails that are .083 inches high while code 70 has rails that are .070 inches high.  Code 55 has rails that are .055 inches high, but is typically only used in N scale.  Code 70 is the closest to actual scale size , although it is harder to find than code 83 or code 100. I recommend rolling stock with metal wheels only for code 70 & code 83, as cars with plastic wheels will derail very frequently. All you have to do is measure the height of the rails to determine if it is code 100 or 83. And it is easy to combine snap/flex track with roadbed track, cut the cork roadbed around the connectors under the roadbed track. Also, to combine code 100 with code 83 track you will need to purchase transition pieces that are made to transition from code 100 to code 83. Atlas also makes transition rail joiners, but I do not suggest them because they are very hard to put on with out bending/breaking them if you ever get them on. Check Walthers for transition pieces.

[rogertra]

Code 55 has rails that are .055 inches high, but is typically only used in N scale.

Not quite true.    Many HO "scale" modellers use code 55 rail for little used spurs.

[Jim Banner]

I am going to guess that you do not have neither a ruler marked in tenths and hundredths of inches, nor a micrometer close at hand.  So lets look at what those codes measure on a regular ruler markers in sixteenths and thirty-seconds of an inch. 

Code 100 is a tad over 3/32"
Code 83 is tad under 3/32"
Code 70 is 1/16" for all practical purposes
Code 55 is a tad under 1/16"

So how big is a "tad."  About 1/64 of an inch.

There is no danger to you if you mix types of track.  No track police will come to your door and no track inspector will shut down your railroad if the tracks do not all match.  But there is a danger to your trains if the tops of the rails do not line up properly.  That is the job of transition rail joiners, making sure the rails do line up properly.  The danger to your trains is that they might derail and fall on the floor.  More likely, though, is that mismatched rails will only shake up the cars, which is dangerous enough if it spills the conductor's soup.

One more piece of advice if you run trains with cabooses:  do not ever, at any time, for any reason, put a cattle car full of hogs right in front of the caboose.  The conductor will not appreciate smelling them for the next 100 miles or so.  You don't ever want the conductor mad at you.  He can and will make your life miserable if just once you spoil his lunch by spilling his soup with rough train handling or by coupling a load of hogs right in front of his caboose.  Better to put all the four legged passengers up front, as close behind the locomotive as you can.  Of course, if you already have a conductor making your life miserable ...

Jim

[Doneldon]

You can also flatten one end of a code 100 rail joiner and solder the bottom of your code 83 track to that, using the unflattened end for the code 100 rail.  This is the easiest and cheapest way to join the two, in my opinion.  Just make sure the railheads line up.

          --D

[jward]

if this track is from the 1970s it is probably code 100. in the late 1970s, the only way to have code 83 or code 70 track in HO was to lay your own. commercially available code 83 didn't come out until the mid to late 1980s, and then it was expensive, top of the line stuff. code 83 sectional track at comaprable prices to code 100 didn't come out until atlas released their line in the mid 1990s.

[rogertra]

if this track is from the 1970s it is probably code 100. in the late 1970s, the only way to have code 83 or code 70 track in HO was to lay your own. commercially available code 83 didn't come out until the mid to late 1980s, and then it was expensive, top of the line stuff. code 83 sectional track at comaprable prices to code 100 didn't come out until atlas released their line in the mid 1990s.

The prototype of code 100 is so rare, only used on a minor percentage of ex NYC trackage, as to be condidered "unprototypical".  Code 100 was useful 20 to 30 years ago in the age of large wheel flanges.

These days, if modelling say the 1970s to current and using only quality models, then code 83 should be the rail of choice.  To be brutially frank, code 100 is more like toy train track than scale track.

If modelling the steam era, then code 70 is a good choice.

Code 55 is good for logging roads, very light branches in the steam era and little used industrial track any time from the steam era to the present.