I’d love to give you a simple yes or no answer to this question but unfortunately the answer isn’t as clear cut.
If you’re returning to the hobby after a long break you may have some old Triang rolling stock you’d like to polish off and run again.
I have a lot of old trains, wagons, cranes and vans (I’m a bit of Triang collector) and always have at least one OO gauge layout under construction in my loft, shed, spare room or even living room table room if I can get away with it 😉 so this is a subject I’ve got a little experience with.
And thankfully, the majority of my OO gauge Triang stock works work fine on the latest Hornby or Peco track.
The back to back spacing of the wheels as used on OO gauge Tri-ang and Tri-ang Hornby trains is just the same as modern OO gauge track so you won’t have a problem with the width.
But that’s not the whole story.
For rolling stock to run smoothly, it also needs the wheel flange depth to be correct.
The flange is the protruding edge or rim on the circumference of the wheels that keeps stops the wheels fall off the rails and Tri-ang rolling stock often has deeper flanges than is comfortable on the finer profile of modern track. If this is the case, the trains will derail, on points and crossings in particular.
Replacing the wheels on wagons etc is just a matter of popping out the wheel and dropping in replacements from modern rolling stock or buying new ones, Peter’s Spares is a good source.
For locomotives, it’s not so easy.
If your locomotive does derail, probably the safest route is to carefully file down the flanges making sure not to introduce any flats as you go.
Admittedly, this isn’t the most fun past time but with a glass of your favourite tipple to hand and the TV on the flanges can be worked down over a few evenings.
Alternatively, you could sell your old stock, make some money and buy new stock or even a new Hornby starer set.
Good quality Triang and Triang Hornby rolling stock is in demand at the moment so talk to a few collectors (Triang links) or maybe even drop me a line (contact me) as I’m always interested in adding to my collection.
Footnote: This article is about Triang OO gauge trains, I’ve not tried Triang’s TT models on modern such as that from Tilig. If anyone has done this please drop a comment below.
> A final, personal, note: I spend a huge amount of time testing, photographing, writing and researching techniques for these articles and pay for all the running costs of MRE out of my own pocket. If you found this article useful you can support me by making a donation on my fund-raising page. Thanks and happy modelling, Andy.
Andy is a lifelong modeler, writer, and founder of modelrailwayengineer.com. He has been building model railways, dioramas, and miniatures for over 20 years. His passion for model making and railways began when he was a child, building his first layout at the age of seven.
Andy’s particular passion is making scenery and structures in 4mm scale, which he sells commercially. He is particularly interested in modelling the railways of South West England during the late Victorian/early Edwardian era, although he also enjoys making sci-fi and fantasy figures and dioramas. His website has won several awards, and he is a member of MERG (Model Railway Electronics Group) and the 009 Society.
When not making models, Andy lives in Surrey with his wife and teenage son. Other interests include history, science fiction, photography, and programming. Read more about Andy.
I’m 60 & was in to this from 6 to 16 then sold it all except for my first 060 tank engine & the last engine I had, a Br flying scotsman still in it’s box.
Well I’ve always had a good memory & I remember Hornby changing their track from ‘standard 4’ to ‘super 6’. Obviously still oo gauge but the ‘new’ (1973 ish) track rails were thinner, less deep & had more sleepers.
I bought a load & you could buy a small link piece to use old & new track. But !! The wheels on my train engines all hit the plastic as the rims were too big for the new track. Can’t remember if I wrote to Hornby or rang them but they sent me new wheels for all my 3 engines I had at that time, free of charge. Maybe a silly oversight by Hornby back then but can’t fault their service.