Can I combine Hornby with old Fleischmann? (novice)

[gibbsyns3]

I am new to model trains. I have been gifted a huge amount of old Fleishmann trains, wagons, track and scenery. 

I cannot get it to work, and do not know if it is the transformer, trains or something else I have done wrong, but as I intend to gift it on to my son I thought it might be best all round to buy a hornby set as a working starting point, and then use whatever of the fleishmann does work to extend the layout. 

From everything I have seen I understand the track will be compatible - is that correct?

What I do not know is whether the current Hornby power is compatible with this old set that looks like it is all from the 60s. 

Any advice gratefully received. 

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[Chrissaf]

The Fleischmann has a very high probability of being HO scale (3.5mm to the foot). Hornby will be 00 scale (4mm to the foot). Both HO & 00 use track that is 16.5mm wide, so should theoretically connect together providing the Fleischmann is Code 100 track rails. The photographs seem to show that the track joiners are very similar to Hornby.

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DC Analogue control power for two rail layouts is pretty much universal across different brands.

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The main issue is the HO vs 00 scale. The HO rolling stock will look physically smaller when stood next to a piece of Hornby 00 rolling stock and the rolling stock couplings are very unlikely to be compatible.

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In general, most would advise to standardise on one scale or the other and not mix them on the same layout.

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[96RAF]

Check the label on the Fleischmanncontroller to see that it is 240V AC in and 12V DC out. It may be xxV AC out in which case the locos and controller will not be cross compatible with normal 12V DC kit.

[The Doc]

I have several old Fleischmann locos and rolling stock that run fine on modern track.  However, the locos may draw more current than the basic Hornby controller, causing it to cut out, so a more powerful controller (still 12V, but capable of supplying a bigger current) is probably a good idea.  I use a Gaugemaster controller which is fine for the old locos.  

The Fleischmann track can be connected directly to Hornby but has different geometry (e.g. the curved points are very different, shorter, different radius etc.) so you may find it tricky to include certain items into the standard Hornby oval that comes with train sets.  But looking at your photos you could probably build quite a large layout, so you should be able to incorporate the track somehow.  It might be worth getting a piece of flexitrack (which you can cut to any length) and some fishplates (rail joiners) so that if two tracks don't quite line up you can make your own piece of track to join them.