Tracks

The best coarseness of ballast for N Gauge would be the fine or very fine ballast. This gives a better scale representation for the N gauge layout. If you were to use medium or coarse ballast, this would look out of proportion to everything else...

It is very tempting to use pins or nails to stick the track down but this may not be the best approach. Pins are difficult to fix in place without distorting the sleepers and points. They are also near impossible to hide, meaning your layout does...

For O gauge the best ballast would have to be coarse as this has much larger stone chips than fine or medium grade ballast and would be more in keeping with the scale of your layout. Keep in mind that O gauge is 1/43 scale in the UK and 1/48...

It is not possible to run standard OO gauge trains on narrow gauge track as OO gauge needs to run on 16.5 mm track and OO9 narrow gauge runs on 9mm track, which is the same as N gauge track. OO9 stands for, as the name suggests, OO scale and 9mm....

All Peco track is compatible with Hornby track. You can mix and match as much as you want. It means you can use Peco Settrack and Streamline points with your Hornby set. There is a misconception that different brands will not work together. This...

There is no problem mixing flexible and set track together you could even mix different manufacturers as well. They are all compatible with the same thickness rails and the same distance between rails so they will fit together. You may find that...

It is difficult to say whether Peco or Hornby is better as it depends which criterion you are looking at. Peco sleepers are brown while Hornby are black. Which one is best is a matter of personal preference. If you want code 75 or electrofrogs,...

This will very much depend on what space you have available. The best starting point would be to get a starter set. You will then have everything you need to create a model railway, with controller, track, and train plus accessories. This is good...

A ballast spreader is a plastic box about two inches square. On the base, there are two grooves that sit on the rails. Inside the spreader there is a slanted piece of plastic with three slots in the base, one in the centre and one either side and...

All Hornby track is compatible with Peco track. There is a misconception that different brands will not work together. This is not the case as all track for OO scale has 16.5mm spacing between the track. There is a small difference in colour of...

It is not essential to use an underlay for your layout, but it is definitely a good idea as the underlay will help to suppress the noise of your trains when running around the layout. The underlay absorbs vibrations of the train running so you...

Traditionally gravel ballast has been the forerunner for track beds in railway modelling and gives your layout an authentic look, and is still used as the main form of ballasting today. Ground cork ballast is relatively new in comparison but...