03-28-2011, 10:29 AM
[Anyone any views on shinohara v ME code 70 track and turnouts good,bad, indifferent.
Dave[/quote]
Dave,
Having never used Shinohara, but having utilized ME, from my experience I can say that the ME Code 70 was more difficult to work with than say Atlas and Peco. Unlike the Peco that has one fixed and one sliding rail, the ME has basically both rails fixed. I found the easiest way to work with ME is to cut the railroad tie supports that attach tie to tie on the bottom side of the track sections to allow the track to curve. Micro Engineering track can probably kink easily if care is not taken. However, this allows curves to be gentle as apposed to sharp.
The wood grain in the ME is slightly better than Peco and allows for better weathering if you follow Mindheims techinque.
I also went ahead and ballasted with N scale ballast from Arizona Rock and Mineral (CSX Gray) instead of HO scale. Since the rail height above the tie is relatively low, N scale ballast will give you the ability to nearly cover all the visible tie is this is the look you desire. The other way to do this is to remove sections of ties and allowing the ballast to fill in the entire area giving the illusion that all the ties are covered under ballast. The integrity of the track is not compromised if you do this intermittantly down the length of track. I found that large ballast (HO scale) when trying to cover the entire railroad tie, allowed the wheels to ride up on the ballast, but you may have better luck than I.
Larry
Dave[/quote]
Dave,
Having never used Shinohara, but having utilized ME, from my experience I can say that the ME Code 70 was more difficult to work with than say Atlas and Peco. Unlike the Peco that has one fixed and one sliding rail, the ME has basically both rails fixed. I found the easiest way to work with ME is to cut the railroad tie supports that attach tie to tie on the bottom side of the track sections to allow the track to curve. Micro Engineering track can probably kink easily if care is not taken. However, this allows curves to be gentle as apposed to sharp.
The wood grain in the ME is slightly better than Peco and allows for better weathering if you follow Mindheims techinque.
I also went ahead and ballasted with N scale ballast from Arizona Rock and Mineral (CSX Gray) instead of HO scale. Since the rail height above the tie is relatively low, N scale ballast will give you the ability to nearly cover all the visible tie is this is the look you desire. The other way to do this is to remove sections of ties and allowing the ballast to fill in the entire area giving the illusion that all the ties are covered under ballast. The integrity of the track is not compromised if you do this intermittantly down the length of track. I found that large ballast (HO scale) when trying to cover the entire railroad tie, allowed the wheels to ride up on the ballast, but you may have better luck than I.
Larry