Mixing Brands and style of trains help.

[greasyspoon]

My kids 7 & 8 loved Thomas the Train and like watching the show "I love Toy Trains".  So we decided that we were going to a train layout (4x8 sheet).  Then I remembered my brother and I had trains sets from when we were kids, so I did it out of my parents shop.  I remember my engine not working well and my brothers had lost the body.  I currently have them in a box with some bug spray (Black Widows were in the shop). 

So I went by hobby lobby get some train sets for the Engines and tracks since they were on clearance.  I bought the Digital Commander for 80$ (was 230$)

Now that I look at the tracks are different then my old set and the connectors between the cars are different as well. 
Once they de-bugged I will take pictures.  But the old tracks are just tracks with a little piece of metal that hooks them together on each track.  The new is the E-Z Track.  Is there away to hook them together?  I really want to use the bridge from the old set as that one feature the kids really want.

Also the connectors on my old train are like and angled T  (looks like this -\ ) is there way to swap these out?  I have about 15 cars or so and I want to use them instead of buying new ones.  I have no idea what the old brand is, we got them in 81 or 82. 

Once I unpack them I will take pictures if it will help.  I assume the tracks and connectors were an "standard" type at the time.

Any whelp would be great.

Thanks
Jon

[mabloodhound]

The EZ track uses small metal connectors on the bottom of each rail.   If these will fit on your old rail then you can connect your bridge.

[greasyspoon]

Cool I hope so.  I haven't unboxed the new Set it is still in my truck.  Will unbox it tonight or tomorrow to make sure the train/controller work.

Now if I can convert the car connectors some how I will be set.

Thanks

[bobwrgt]

The newer cars have newer style knuckle couplers. You could buy new Kadee kits to convert the older cars but probably not worth it. Just take one of your newer cars and put an older coupler on one end and leave a new one on the other. Use this car to connect the older cars to the train.  There are loads of the older couplers floating around.

Bob

[greasyspoon]

Are the coupler easy to replace?  Figure it s depends kind of answer.  Where can you get couplers at?

I probably will try 1 and make it an adapter car.

[bobwrgt]

Any good hobby shop in your area should have lots of couplers. They are pretty easy to install. Check under the product section and you can see what a Bachmann EZ mate coupler looks like.

Bob

[jward]

the way i see it you have a coouple of issues here:

track:
compatability between your old track and the ez track should not be a problem, especially if you are using the bridge and trestle set under your old track. to mix the two types of track without using the trestles, try using cork roadbed to bring the height up to that of the ez track.

trains:
you said you have old train sets from the early 1980s, along with a new bachman set. you are going to find some major problems here. your new set is light years ahead of the older train set in terms of quality. it is also dcc, while the older trains are straight dc. it is not advisable to run dc locomotives, especially low quality ones from 30 years ago, on track powered by dcc. you run the possibility of burning up the motor. you can, however, run your new dcc locomotive on dc track.

converting your older cars from the old horn hook type couplers to the current knuckle style couplers will also be a problem. you can't just drop the new coupler in the old mounting and be done with it. the height of the knuckle couplers is critical to their operation. most if not all older train set type cars have coupler mounting boxes connected to the trucks (wheel assemblies) rather than the car itself, and are usually way too low for knuckle couplers. your best, easiest solution here is to buy an inexpensive car kit, such as athearn ofr roundhouse, and use a knuckle coupler on one end and a horn hook on the other. using a couple of these "conversion" cars you can mix your older equipment with your newer stuff.

i have been in the hobby for about 40 years, and have done the conversions of some of these older cars to knuckle couplers, back in the day. we also used alot of conversion cars to use the cars we hadn't converted yet, or had no intention of ever converting......

as for converting your locomotives to run on dcc, there is probably no easy way to do it, and even if there were, the cost of the decoder would be more than what the locomotives are worth.....

good luck and post pics when you get things set up.

[greasyspoon]

jward
Thanks for the Info.  I am pretty sure my old engine is next to dead, and the other one the body will fall off just leaving the motor and wheels.   The set I bought is DCC and I will get another for my other son that is not DCC. I will have them in the same set but on different tracks so burning them out should not be a problem.

I will look for the couplers and make an "adapter" car that can hook the two together.  I know the cars are keep but I like the idea of my kids using my old ones.

Thanks for the info, I will post pictures of the layout but it may be a while.  I will do as I go pictures, I think my kids will like that as well.

[Doneldon]

greezy-

The transitional couplers a fine idea if you just want to run trains.  They aren't such a good option if you want to switch your cars around a lot or without using the big switchman in the sky (you).
                                                                                                                         -- D