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Best New HO Sectional Track?

2K views 26 replies 9 participants last post by  X2slotbob 
#1 ·
The question has been asked in a number of ways.

New racemasters afx type track seems to have excessive (and difficult for novices to overcome) fitment "issues".

Tyco, of course, is long since out of bidness.

So, it would seem that Autoworld afx track --which will interface with tomy and rm afx track--is the new default recommendation (?).

Agree/disagree/thoughts?
 
#2 ·
I am not a big fan of set type sectional HO track. Tomy AFX track was the gold standard for years because of the variety of the sections and the good electrical connections. One thing that bothered some people is that there can be gaps between the sections when you have more than two lanes. The lane spacing is also a little close for many of the newer cars. I have seen the complaints about new AFX track. You should not have to fuss around with all of those joints, so Auto World track might be a better bet. Since Auto World does not have the variety of sections that AFX does you might want to go for a hybrid track. In another thread I noted that Auto World sells AFX sections on their website.
Other makes of HO track may have their advantages, like a slightly wider lane spacing, but those are no longer being made and have become more difficult to find.
I liked the '60's vintage Atlas track.
 
#4 ·
Apart from Racemasters and AW no one else manufactures HO sectional track, or at least that's what I know. Maybe HO slot cars work on some 1/43 tracks?

I found this video, it may work.



The first problem with this is the distance between rails, maybe that can be fixed using copper tape. The second problem others have mentioned is the slot width.
 
#7 ·
Ed Bianchi (HORacePro North America) sells Slide Guides that allow HO cars to run on 1/43rd and 1/32nd tracks.
There was still a Model Motoring site as of a few weeks ago, but it is not responding today. I got the impression that the remaining inventory was being sold off on eBay.
 
#8 ·
There was still a Model Motoring site as of a few weeks ago, but it is not responding today. I got the impression that the remaining inventory was being sold off on eBay.
Sad really, they made/make nice bodies. And the thunderplus chassis was not bad other than the Armature problems. They shoulda sold bare chassis/topplate sets to build on like Wizzard does the Wizjet,coulda been a good thing.
 
#9 ·
I have never seen a Thunder Plus chassis. The single Model Motoring car that I bought used a NOS Aurora chassis. The Thunder Plus chassis is a legal substitute for an Aurora Thunderjet chassis under HOCOC rules. I was aware of the problems that Model Motoring had with the armatures when they first came out with their own chassis.
 
#10 ·
I needed additional track pieces so I peeked and saw a complete (sans cars) Tomy Super International set for $107. It is just like what I used to have 20 years ago.

When it arrived and I checked the fit. The joints are crisp and smooth out of the box.

Unfortunately, some of the track ends were busted in transit since inside the box the items were loose. The wall warts acting like wrecking balls. I should have thought of this and asked the seller to pack the warts outside the box. I know they were busted in transit since those pieces are in the box.

I now remember some of my original Tomy tracks having a broken end, so the plastic must be a bit more brittle than AW & RM. So I don't think it's a plastic age situation.
 

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#12 ·
Unfortunately, some of the track ends were busted in transit since inside the box the items were loose
I'm often frustrated by how poor of a job some ebay sellers do with packing items I think some folks just don't understand how roughly shipping companies treat packages. But at the same time I've gotten a few items where it was clear that the person just did not care at all. It's no good.
 
#13 ·
One 9" 90 degree turn was badly broken but I ended up using that as a donor for the others. Oddly it was 9" 45 degree turn pieces that were broken badly. Maybe they were together in transit? One of the terminal tracks needed repairs but I suspect that is due to the length?

At room temperature, wasn't easy to break off chunks from the donor, so I suspect winter temperatures played a part. The box arrived "tall" so I can only imagine how many times it was tossed and sloshed. I checked the seller feedback and poor packing was mentioned. So I left neutral feedback stating the same.

The Tomy box was placed inside another box with only a little bit of crumbled up paper. Not enough to stop the Tomy box from sliding around. And zero paper inside the Tomy box.

I'm attempting gluing the broken pieces with modeling glue. I will see if it holds.
 
#22 ·
Get this... eBay sent me this note. But seller did nothing. I actually want to update the feedback to negative feedback. What a creep to expect me to switch it to positive?! I sent a message asking the seller what he did to "resolve" the issue.

Reason: The seller was able to resolve a problem you had with this transaction.​
Message from seller: Issue resolved. Update neutral feedback to positive or remove entirely.​
 
#14 ·
Plastic track sections are made of ABS, which is a type of styrene. Regular model cement is toluene with some styrene dissolved in it. The two surfaces to be joined must be in close contact when you glue them together or the joint will be weak. If there might be gaps between the pieces something like JB Weld might work better.
 
#15 ·
Fortunately ABS is one of the most glue-able plastics. I've tried to glue some of my kid's toys that I think are made from PP or PC maybe (something in the class of low surface energy plastics). It never works.

For ABS I've been using both Plastruct Plastic Weld and Bondeen. Bondeen seems to be intended for Styrene and works well on Aurora bodies, for example when adding new screw posts. The Plastic Weld is for ABS. I recently used it to repair an old Atari case.

In both cases you are basically just melting the plastic and the flowing the two pieces together. With some pressure you can see the plastic squish out of the joint.

Another one I tried on some motorcycle parts recently was Oatey ABS Cement. The SDS shows this is ~35% ABS plastic dissolved in a solvent. It's really messy and hard to apply in small amounts, but It does a good job with gap filling.
 
#16 ·
Freezing outside, so I glued them in front of a space heater in the garage. Then I let them sit on an old heating pad over night out in the garage. I test fit the pieces together and they join better than new RM track.

One rail has a spot of rust that is 1cm long. Perhaps I should use penetrating oil on that? It's a 12 inch curve, if it was a common piece, I'd simply toss it.
 
#17 ·
Freezing outside, so I glued them in front of a space heater in the garage. Then I let them sit on an old heating pad over night out in the garage. I test fit the pieces together and they join better than new RM track.

One rail has a spot of rust that is 1cm long. Perhaps I should use penetrating oil on that? It's a 12 inch curve, if it was a common piece, I'd simply toss it.
320 sanding sponge
 
#19 · (Edited)
I would only recommend the procedure below for track that you have decided to toss as is is too far gone to use.

You can use "Ospho" or similar. It is phosphoric acid and can be found in automotive paint supply places and some hardware stores. It is VERY, VERY caustic and toxic (oh, boy!).

You only need a moistened paper towel to go over the rails. Wait 24 hours, then lightly sand.

Now treat with CRC 2-26. See what ya got. The trash can will still be right there if needed.

This stuff you can use to treat bare automotive sheet metal, rusty bike frames, etc. It is something I keep around.

ps--Either wear gloves or (as is my custom) use your fingers to hold the paper towel or rag. Note the burning sensation. The burning will increase approximately at an arithmetic race until you wash it off with water. Blisters and/or skin loss is also common. One would think I would have learned by now, but ya know, my fingers aren't burning before I use the stuff...
 
#21 ·
The one track that had 1 cm of light rust on the joint, I used CRC 2-26 and 1000 grit sandpaper and it looks great now.


By the way, my brother bought track clips for his AFX RM track. We installed about a hundred of them and it really stiffened and smoothed the track! Zero need to trim tabs. They actually went on quickly. We snapped apart big sections and flipped over to push them on. Then we only had a few to do underneath blindly.
 
#25 ·
I've had similar issues, but not very often. The last one was around November. I ordered something, the seller sent the wrong item (it didn't match the description). What I got I was totally useless to me. I sent the seller a message but didn't respond for a couple of days, so I initiated a return. Usually the sellers just do a refund or send you the a good item, by this one asked to return the item, insistently. The item was low value, I explained the shipping cost was higher than the item itself, so the seller just answered that it was my problem. Return window ended and eBay marker the case as closed. But the seller got the feedback he deserver and I warned other people about it in the appropriate forums.
 
#27 ·
Unfortunately, the "don't give a flyin' flapjack" attitude is everywhere.

Customer service? Politeness? The dadblammed thing that they may or may not have--and don't care about one way or the other?

I liked it better before it was all so much better.

But as long as I spiritually stay on the straight and narrow, including forgiving the clowns in the various clownshows, it will be all right.

(of much less importance, I have to literally stay on the curves, too :)).
 
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