Interesting track comparison 👍🏽 I totally agree that if cost is not a problem then my first choice is definitely LGB followed closely by Piko and they go together 100% I also have some Train line ( German company ) on my layout but mostly LGB/ Piko which can be further secured by using the plastic ties/ links sold by LGB and Piko which is the best solution for an indoor layout where drilling into the floor is out of the question .
The current PIKO track is the same rail as LGB a few yrears ago I purchsed aquantity of the rail in tubes (Flex Track) from PIKO to build a Garden RR at an Alzhimers Facility. The tubes of 5" railcame in the same tubes as LGB and in fact had the LGB sticker on them along with the Piko sticker along side and over the LGB, The Piko tie strips are the same material as the LGB
I believe that Peco, like its entire Scale line, is Nickel/Silver. Definitely more durable, easier to keep clean, and "theoretically" cheaper to buy. I'm trying to get back into G Scale... I was up to the late 80's, when Brass wasn't considered a precious metal - and Track cost LESS than 20% of what it costs today!
LGB does cost a lot, however if you can find some second hand, this could be a good way to save a bit of money. In terms of the Peco track, as you have said, it seems to be easier to clean and is probably as durable. Aristocraft track is good to keep clean, but it depends on what you have at the moment. The Peko track is a much smaller profile, therefore you will need a converter to convert it to make it fit. The Aristocraft track will slot into the LGB, however the trail joiners with Aristocraft are slightly different. The other consideration is points... but we could go on and on. :-)
Great video.. 95% of my layout is LGB track I have some aristocraft 5' straight track but not much Also I come to find out from one of my club members that aristocraft brass Curve track is no good it wears out on the inside after several years and needs to be replaced... so I'm happy with the LGB.. No Signs of wear yet 😎👍
There are so many choices in "G" gauge track. LGB and most other brands are code 332 brass. The track "code" is the height of the rail in decimal inches. Peco from what I can tell is excellent track. And is code 250. So not as tall. Peco is quite popular in England as that is where it is made. PIKO, is a relative new comer the the game. Nor sure of the status of LGB at this point. But PIKO track is the same specification as LGB track. There are 2 other players in the track game. One is Sunset Valley. The other is Llagas Creek. They mack code 250 Aluminum rail and truck. And are actually cheaper than LGB by quite a bit. And as good or better quality. The other player was Aristocraft. But they went out of business a few years ago. I think Bachmann has taken over some of their line
@@dylan400d it really doesn't transfer power as well. That is true. But. It is very wise to consider battery power or live steam outside. Brass track or nickel silver track are probably the best conductors of electricity. But outside you will spend ALOT! Of time keeping the rail heads clean to transfer the power to your train's. Brass is especially bad. It was bad indoors. What do think it's like outdoors??
So to clarify. LGB track is best compatible with Bachman and will run trains from both brands right? BTW I was told that you should not connect steel and brass tracks together as the power causes corrosion. Is this true?
LGB is compatible, but I would not mix brass and steel. Bachmann do brass track as too, however the steel track you usually see in the cheaper Bachman starter kits with rust if left outside. My advice, is to stick with LGB track. I have some track which is older than me, trains still run beautiful over it and when it does get a little grubby, you can clean it very quickly and easily. You can use rail joiners to link all track together, however there is one really good feature with the Bachman brass track in that the rail joiners have little screws allowing you to screw the track together, however, this does cause another problem, heat expansion. I left my track out for around 10 years through various winters and summers. The LGB track would expand slightly in the summer and contract in the winter.
@@dylan400dI use USA Track now exclusively. No issues. However, many model railroaders in G size layouts using the fishplates that bolt to the rails make one small error, they should leave a small gap when joining the rails together, I leave about a 3\16" gap, or smaller, when used outside. However, if you use the small gap method, you will also need to solder jumper wires across the gaps to keep power flowing. Unnecessary if you use battery power. On my indoor layout, no gap is needed to worry about the heat/cold expansion/contraction issue, since there is no direct sun heating up the tracks, or very cold weather to create these problems on an indoor layout. I used to do AristoCraft track, but once they went out of business, I went with USA Track and am very happy with it.
Hi Dylon , just come across your channel. I'm more of a 1/35TH Scale Military , 1/48TH Wingy Thingy Models , Sci Fi ( Any , but Star Wars if Poss). Can I ask where you are from in " God's Country " .....
Another besides these include USA Trains (In the US at least) which is very similar to LGB. I do not know anything about PIKO, but nice information on another brand, PECO
We don't get a lot of USA train stuff over here. :( The local shop I used to use has since closed, however, he did have a few things there, but due to the exchange rate, it made the trains more expensive to import. Saying that - everything is expensive at the moment.
Overall a good video much needed for newbies. But, too little detail about Piko people have been buying their products like me and quality is a hit and miss.
The Piko stuff is great, but it's always the same, you get what you pay for. Sometimes the LGB stuff is more expensive, but then again, it might last longer. Years ago I had some Bachmann track which was rated for outdoor use. It lasted less than 6 months before I had severe problems with it, needless to say, i've tended to always look for LGB when purchasing track.However, I haven't had a problem with Piko.
Okay I am ready to dust off my G scale and setup in a room above my garage (28 ft. x 27 ft.). I have some odds and ends of track, LGB and Aristro-Craft (now out of business). As far as I know LGB and Aristro-Craft are compatible but neither are compatible directly to Piko. I want to setup a much larger setup with a dozen turnouts needed and more track, the decision is to go LGB or Piko. Comments?
It depends on price in your local area. The dealer I used to use is no longer around. Sometimes he was able to get second hand track which needed a bit to a clean but otherwise comes up really well.
My combo rail of choice was/is Aristo' & LGB ! I would also take the slippery' joiners off all the LGB, and replace with Aristo' joiners (that I acquired extras of in the early yrs. of availability). Also pre-install/join, add a mm of bielectric grease (at the time from LGB) to the joiner lip, so when joined would spread covering some more of the bottom surface for longer connectivity ! Trouble-free for at least 18 yrs. (other than one transformer incident), ..... but recently have had a railway (global)power-outage ...still to sched' maintenance :-l "G-gauge may not RULE, but it GROWS on Ya !! " djc'99
@@CentralCanada Thanks. I am now on my next project, a 100' x 50' exterior garden layout. I have also switched my engines over to battery, so conductivity is no longer an issue. In fact I have not decided to use brass or aluminum rail.
You forgot to mention the ties /sleepers. The size and spacing of them differ for tacks meant for narrow gauge also there are different rail heights and sizes , lastly different materials of rails, aluminum/ ni steel and different qualities of brass. Just an observation, otherwise very good informative video.
Depends on what SCALE you're running. You can run anywhere from 1:32 scale (standard gauge) to 1:20.3 scale (narrow gauge). Most of this stuff is 332 code track, 250 or 215 looks MUCH better because it's smaller in dimension. Companies like Llagas Creek and Microengineering make this kind of rail and track.
Can you suggest any g scale rolling stock suppliers in the uk. I struggle to find any supplier with a decent range of stock to purchase from. Thank you.
This has been a bit of a problem over the last few years for me too. A supplier I used for many years has decided to call it a day in recent years which is always a shame. Last Christmas I contacted Scottish Garden Railway and dealt with Sandy. He was excellent. He runs a small shop with a number of second hand items for sale, although he did state that he could get hold of new rolling stock if needed. Others include GRSUK and Kent Garden Railway, they seem to have a lot stocked on their website. Second hand wise, keep an eye on Scottish Garden Railway and eBay for the odd bits and bobs, however eBay's prices have risen over the years.
That depends on where you buy it from, I try to buy as much second hand as possible. I also find that this does last well, plus you get less problems with trains running smoother over G scale.
I've had over a decade of garden running the LGB track appears to hold up better than Aristo and Piko. Never had Peco. The Lgb ties are stronger than Piko. The Lgb rail joiners easier to deal with for mods than Aristo. Never used Bachmann Its more expensive than Lgb. Only had the tin plate Bachmann stuff years ago.
Agreed! I did like the Aristo track as it had the ability to be screwed together, a really nice touch, however, if you live in a warm climate, you can have issues with the track buckling due to heat expansion.
What about the piko, you forgot about it completely, and what about uv stability, not much of a review. Didn't even mention the codes of the rails discussed. Nah, poor show.
Interesting track comparison 👍🏽 I totally agree that if cost is not a problem then my first choice is definitely LGB followed closely by Piko and they go together 100% I also have some Train line ( German company ) on my layout but mostly LGB/ Piko which can be further secured by using the plastic ties/ links sold by LGB and Piko which is the best solution for an indoor layout where drilling into the floor is out of the question .
It seems there's lots of little brands who are creating track. However, I do love LGB products.
The current PIKO track is the same rail as LGB a few yrears ago I purchsed aquantity of the rail in tubes (Flex Track) from PIKO to build a Garden RR at an Alzhimers Facility. The tubes of 5" railcame in the same tubes as LGB and in fact had the LGB sticker on them along with the Piko sticker along side and over the LGB, The Piko tie strips are the same material as the LGB
Wow! That's a neat train Mr Lewis!
awesome review. i was looking for this!
Glad I could help!
I believe that Peco, like its entire Scale line, is Nickel/Silver. Definitely more durable, easier to keep clean, and "theoretically" cheaper to buy.
I'm trying to get back into G Scale... I was up to the late 80's, when Brass wasn't considered a precious metal - and Track cost LESS than 20% of what it costs today!
LGB does cost a lot, however if you can find some second hand, this could be a good way to save a bit of money. In terms of the Peco track, as you have said, it seems to be easier to clean and is probably as durable. Aristocraft track is good to keep clean, but it depends on what you have at the moment. The Peko track is a much smaller profile, therefore you will need a converter to convert it to make it fit. The Aristocraft track will slot into the LGB, however the trail joiners with Aristocraft are slightly different. The other consideration is points... but we could go on and on. :-)
Nive explaining video. I'm staying at the LGB ones
😉😂
Me too.!
Great video.. 95% of my layout is LGB track I have some aristocraft 5' straight track but not much Also I come to find out from one of my club members that aristocraft brass Curve track is no good it wears out on the inside after several years and needs to be replaced... so I'm happy with the LGB.. No Signs of wear yet 😎👍
LGB stuff is built to last, its excellent.
There are so many choices in "G" gauge track. LGB and most other brands are code 332 brass. The track "code" is the height of the rail in decimal inches.
Peco from what I can tell is excellent track. And is code 250. So not as tall.
Peco is quite popular in England as that is where it is made.
PIKO, is a relative new comer the the game.
Nor sure of the status of LGB at this point. But PIKO track is the same specification as LGB track.
There are 2 other players in the track game.
One is Sunset Valley.
The other is Llagas Creek.
They mack code 250 Aluminum rail and truck. And are actually cheaper than LGB by quite a bit. And as good or better quality.
The other player was Aristocraft. But they went out of business a few years ago. I think Bachmann has taken over some of their line
Thank you for that. I have heard that Aluminium track doesn't transfer power as well. Not sure how much truth is in that though.
@@dylan400d it really doesn't transfer power as well. That is true.
But. It is very wise to consider battery power or live steam outside. Brass track or nickel silver track are probably the best conductors of electricity.
But outside you will spend ALOT! Of time keeping the rail heads clean to transfer the power to your train's. Brass is especially bad. It was bad indoors. What do think it's like outdoors??
So to clarify.
LGB track is best compatible with Bachman and will run trains from both brands right?
BTW I was told that you should not connect steel and brass tracks together as the power causes corrosion. Is this true?
LGB is compatible, but I would not mix brass and steel. Bachmann do brass track as too, however the steel track you usually see in the cheaper Bachman starter kits with rust if left outside. My advice, is to stick with LGB track. I have some track which is older than me, trains still run beautiful over it and when it does get a little grubby, you can clean it very quickly and easily. You can use rail joiners to link all track together, however there is one really good feature with the Bachman brass track in that the rail joiners have little screws allowing you to screw the track together, however, this does cause another problem, heat expansion. I left my track out for around 10 years through various winters and summers. The LGB track would expand slightly in the summer and contract in the winter.
@@dylan400dI use USA Track now exclusively. No issues.
However, many model railroaders in G size layouts using the fishplates that bolt to the rails make one small error, they should leave a small gap when joining the rails together, I leave about a 3\16" gap, or smaller, when used outside.
However, if you use the small gap method, you will also need to solder jumper wires across the gaps to keep power flowing. Unnecessary if you use battery power.
On my indoor layout, no gap is needed to worry about the heat/cold expansion/contraction issue, since there is no direct sun heating up the tracks, or very cold weather to create these problems on an indoor layout.
I used to do AristoCraft track, but once they went out of business, I went with USA Track and am very happy with it.
Hi Dylon , just come across your channel. I'm more of a 1/35TH Scale Military , 1/48TH Wingy Thingy Models , Sci Fi ( Any , but Star Wars if Poss). Can I ask where you are from in " God's Country " .....
Hi Steve, thank you for the comment. I'm from Swansea.
Another besides these include USA Trains (In the US at least) which is very similar to LGB. I do not know anything about PIKO, but nice information on another brand, PECO
We don't get a lot of USA train stuff over here. :( The local shop I used to use has since closed, however, he did have a few things there, but due to the exchange rate, it made the trains more expensive to import. Saying that - everything is expensive at the moment.
Overall a good video much needed for newbies. But, too little detail about Piko people have been buying their products like me and quality is a hit and miss.
The Piko stuff is great, but it's always the same, you get what you pay for. Sometimes the LGB stuff is more expensive, but then again, it might last longer. Years ago I had some Bachmann track which was rated for outdoor use. It lasted less than 6 months before I had severe problems with it, needless to say, i've tended to always look for LGB when purchasing track.However, I haven't had a problem with Piko.
Just in case, don't confuse Peco with PIKO. (Sound the same, but are VERY different!) Peco is a U.K. company, PIKO is made in Germany.
Brilliant video.
Many thanks!
You didn't mention if they are all virgin brass like LGB or use mixed.
Most are mixed to keep costs down. Good point though!
Okay I am ready to dust off my G scale and setup in a room above my garage (28 ft. x 27 ft.). I have some odds and ends of track, LGB and Aristro-Craft (now out of business). As far as I know LGB and Aristro-Craft are compatible but neither are compatible directly to Piko. I want to setup a much larger setup with a dozen turnouts needed and more track, the decision is to go LGB or Piko. Comments?
It depends on price in your local area. The dealer I used to use is no longer around. Sometimes he was able to get second hand track which needed a bit to a clean but otherwise comes up really well.
My combo rail of choice was/is Aristo' & LGB !
I would also take the slippery' joiners off all the LGB, and replace with Aristo' joiners (that I acquired extras of in the early yrs. of availability).
Also pre-install/join, add a mm of bielectric grease (at the time from LGB) to the joiner lip, so when joined would spread covering some more of the bottom surface for longer connectivity !
Trouble-free for at least 18 yrs. (other than one transformer incident), ..... but recently have had a railway (global)power-outage ...still to sched' maintenance :-l
"G-gauge may not RULE, but it GROWS on Ya !! " djc'99
@@CentralCanada Thanks. I am now on my next project, a 100' x 50' exterior garden layout. I have also switched my engines over to battery, so conductivity is no longer an issue. In fact I have not decided to use brass or aluminum rail.
You forgot to mention the ties /sleepers. The size and spacing of them differ for tacks meant for narrow gauge also there are different rail heights and sizes , lastly different materials of rails, aluminum/ ni steel and different qualities of brass.
Just an observation, otherwise very good informative video.
And what about Sunset Valley
Which track is closest to scale size?
G scale / 45mm
Depends on what SCALE you're running. You can run anywhere from 1:32 scale (standard gauge) to 1:20.3 scale (narrow gauge). Most of this stuff is 332 code track, 250 or 215 looks MUCH better because it's smaller in dimension. Companies like Llagas Creek and Microengineering make this kind of rail and track.
Can you suggest any g scale rolling stock suppliers in the uk. I struggle to find any supplier with a decent range of stock to purchase from. Thank you.
This has been a bit of a problem over the last few years for me too. A supplier I used for many years has decided to call it a day in recent years which is always a shame. Last Christmas I contacted Scottish Garden Railway and dealt with Sandy. He was excellent. He runs a small shop with a number of second hand items for sale, although he did state that he could get hold of new rolling stock if needed. Others include GRSUK and Kent Garden Railway, they seem to have a lot stocked on their website. Second hand wise, keep an eye on Scottish Garden Railway and eBay for the odd bits and bobs, however eBay's prices have risen over the years.
I if was to get a piko stater set and I I want to put LGB track down can I just pick LGB track on it will it run steal
Yes it should be ok.
Is "Bok" man. As in Yohan Sebastian Bach
so piko is not compatible with lgb or bachmann?
Piko will work, PEKO is a slightly differnet size and will need an adaptor.
@@dylan400d wtf is peko. You really need to research your topic before leading people astray on youtube mr aboe!
@@donnamarie3617 It was a typo, Peco is another brand.
G scale track can get expensive even for a circle can cost as much ad an HO starter set
That depends on where you buy it from, I try to buy as much second hand as possible. I also find that this does last well, plus you get less problems with trains running smoother over G scale.
I've had over a decade of garden running the LGB track appears to hold up better than Aristo and Piko. Never had Peco. The Lgb ties are stronger than Piko. The Lgb rail joiners easier to deal with for mods than Aristo. Never used Bachmann Its more expensive than Lgb. Only had the tin plate Bachmann stuff years ago.
Agreed! I did like the Aristo track as it had the ability to be screwed together, a really nice touch, however, if you live in a warm climate, you can have issues with the track buckling due to heat expansion.
Code 250 not code 332
There is no G scale. There is G gauge track, however.
Cheers.
Yep !! 8-)
"G-gauge may not RULE, but it GROWS on Ya !! " djc'99
What about the piko, you forgot about it completely, and what about uv stability, not much of a review. Didn't even mention the codes of the rails discussed. Nah, poor show.