# Bachmann brass track ties similar to?



## steam5 (Jun 22, 2008)

Thinking of getting some Bachmann brass track. The few other bits of track I use to set up a quick loop inside is Aristo Craft Euro ties. These two types may not look similar enough?

What track if any has the same ties and tie spacing as the new bachmann track?
Thanks 
Alan


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## Robby D (Oct 15, 2009)

They are like a cross of US & Euro ties. also the ties are a little longer than all other track. other than that it looks to be really good track.


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## jjwtrainman (Mar 11, 2011)

Bachmann makes Brass track? Huh, I always thought Bachmann track was just steel that rusted away when outside. If I were you i'd go back and double check Bachmann track because I've heard reports that bachmann track does not do well outside. Of course they could have changed their track line to brass because steel wasn't working for them. That or I would just go with Aristo Craft outside, I know that brand works outside. Anyone care to clarify?


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## jjwtrainman (Mar 11, 2011)

Oh wait, I should have read more closely. Yeah in your case being inside Bachmann would work. I have no idea about tie spacing though, I assume that the differance isn't huge, but since I don't know, i can't tell for sure.


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## Andre Anderson (Jan 3, 2008)

JJW, 

Bachmann introduced this year brass track just like Ariosto, Piko and others. Here are the part numbers at Walthers: 160-94651. 160-94652, 160-94653, 160-94654 and 160-94655. It looks like it will sell for about $8.45 a foot.


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## Robby D (Oct 15, 2009)

We are selling the 
3ft straights for $184.89 per box of 12pcs $5.14 per foot 
8 ft curve for $145.89 per box of 16 pcs (full circle)


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## jjwtrainman (Mar 11, 2011)

Well I missed the news on that one didn't I? But i still wouldn't buy at 8.45 a foot. at least the site where I get my track sells Piko for 5.00 a foot. Why did copper have to triple in value? we have 114 elements, and that is the one we had to raise the price on, wow, just [email protected] url(http://www.mylargescale.com/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/CEHtmlEditorProvider/Load.ashx?type=style&file=SyntaxHighlighter.css);@import url(/providers/htmleditorproviders/cehtmleditorprovider/dnngeneral.css);


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Bachman is using brass for rail, did they UV protect the ties???


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Why did copper have to triple in value? we have 114 elements, and that is the one we had to raise the price on 
Maybe if we stopped buying brass track the demand would drop and the price would go down?


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## jjwtrainman (Mar 11, 2011)

Yeah, like we are all going to stop using brass







. Maybe battery power and aluminum rail would be a cheaper option. As far as I know, all you need is a remote control car, rechargeable battery, and enough wire to rewire the locomotive. I guess that might be a better alternative to track [email protected] url(http://www.mylargescale.com/Provide...ad.ashx?type=style&file=SyntaxHighlighter.css);@import url(/providers/htmleditorproviders/cehtmleditorprovider/dnngeneral.css);


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Saw some today at the store. The ties are a little thinner, but longer than LGB's ties. They look good, though. Of more interest was the rail itself. A few things jumped out at me. Any thoughts that they're using the same rail that's in USA's and Aristo's track can be tossed right out the window. The rail is a darker, more brassy color than the yellow-hued rail from Aristo. Much more in line with LGB/Piko rail. How/if it tarnishes outdoors remains to be seen. But of more interest is the shape of the rail. On the outside, it's fine. It looks like any other rail. But the underside of the base of the rail is not flat, but hollowed out just a bit. Not much, an inverted "V" that goes up maybe 1mm or so. I don't know why besides to save on cost and weight. It's not remotely going to have any affect on the strength of the rail, but it just caught me as curious. 

Later, 

K


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## rdamurphy (Jan 3, 2008)

I also saw them at the store, and compared them with AMS narrow gauge code 250 track. The ties seem to be halfway between 1:20.3 and Aristo track ties. My guess is they're the same size as the old steel track ties, although I can't confirm them, and are 1:22.5 scale as opossed to 1:20.3. 

Of course, as we've seen with Bachmannn Large "Scale" and their On30 stuff, scale fidelity isn't that important to Bachmann... 

Robert


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

You can't really judge the "scale" of a narrow gauge tie by its size. Unlike standard gauge, where a tie is a given size (8.5' x 9"), narrow gauge ties were all over the place. The _Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette_ had an article a while back on tie sizes used by the various railroads, and the range of sizes was mind-boggling, even on the same railroad! The largest was in the neighborhood of 7' long x 10" wide, and the smallest was in the 5.5' x 6" wide neighborhood if I recall correctly. Probably the most common was 6.5' x 8", but if one were to refer to that dimension as a "standard," it would be in the same light as "standard" wheel profiles in large scale. (i.e., "looks good on paper, we'll do what we want.") I didn't measure the length of the ties, but I compared them to both LGB and AMS's ties. The AMS ties (their code 250 narrow gauge) scale to 6' 9" long x 10" wide in 1:20.3. LGB's ties scale to 6' x 10". The B'mann ties would be somewhere around 6' 3" to 6' 6". They're narrower than LGB and AMS's ties, but given that both those ties are at the wide end of the spectrum in terms of prototype dimensions, I'd bet that Bachmann's ties are pretty close to a scale 8". That'd put them right in the center of the "bell curve" of narrow gauge tie dimensions. 

I'd actually give Bachmann decent marks in the scale fidelity department, at least with regard to their products since they started doing 1:20.3. You really can't group their legacy "Big Hauler" stuff in with their recent products. The Big Hauler stuff was introduced in the late 80s when scale fidelity wasn't paramount for _any_ manufacturer. They've not introduced anything "new" to that product line in how many years? (Repaints don't count.) Their focus in large scale has been their "Spectrum" stuff, and that stuff is pretty good in the "fidelity" department. The thing with the track and it appearing "wrong" is that we're so used to the aesthetic of LGB's track that anything else looks off kilter, regardless of whether it actually matches a prototype or not. 

Later, 

K


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## rdamurphy (Jan 3, 2008)

I agree. Early narrow gauge ties were pretty standard, but by the end of the narrow gauge - in Colorado at least - everything was second hand from the standard guage. Including ties. Flip it over, cut off the ends - new tie! 

Lots of variation, and some interesting trackage where the ties were replaced with the intention to go standard gauge eventually. 

I kind of get why we use code 250, but I wouldn't mind seeing some track with code 215 or even smaller rail. 

After all, track is a model, too! 

Robert


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