UC Track for collection
 

I am starting to collect track sections of various vehicles and am seeking one piece of UC track that looks good but really can be useless or finished its life span. If anyone has a sample they could spare to add to my collection I will be at Acquino for a hand off.

Many thanks in advance.

Hi James

Is it just Canadian or Commonwealth style track you are collecting? Just WW2?

John

Hello John
I had no idea there was a difference between Canadian/Commonwealth track, I am mostly collecting cast WWII dead track. Condition is not overly important.

I'll bring a Carrier track pad to Oshawa Aquino event in early June. Identical to a standard Carrier track pad except made for the wider wheel used on the Windsor Carrier... Brian

Excellent, and many thanks Brian, I had no idea the tracks section where different between Windsor and Universal Carriers. I shall look you up in June.

I too was unaware of a difference - Thank you Brian. How about the T16 tracks? Are they different again or will Universal Carrier track work?

Jack

The track links manufactured for North American production universal carriers are made by a number of different companies, made using different alloys. Nigel Watson covers this rather well in his ‘Universal Carriers, Volume 1’.

While the most common track link profile has a flat surface where it contacts the ground, the less common common link is “spudded” profile, with three truncated cones on the portion that contacts the ground. Initially spudded track was issued to the Russian contract universal carriers. However, the MK-I* UC in the Ditsong Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa is equipped with spudded track. (Have a look at the track damage to the floor in their display room.)

There are reports of a third track type, with a bar on the track surface, to be installed every ninth link. While I have seen multiple examples of U.C. track links with one or two ‘bars’ on the surface, I cannot say if that is a factory production or not. It appears to have been a common workshop modification in post-war civilian use, perhaps for winter conditions?

The first 500 Windsor universal carriers (first model) were produced using standard size universal carrier bogie wheels and track. The following 4505 Windsor carriers (second model) had wider bogie wheels, which required wider spaced track horns. The other dimensions of these track links are unchanged.

Ask David Dunlop ....

Brian, I suspect you could sell your Windsor track links to the Australians or here in N.Z. as the Australian pattern carriers and the Vickers MkVIB light tanks can all run your track. I say "can" because there is likely a pin difference.
The Australian track has a smaller hole in one end, and a plain shorter pin is located by a lead plug. Everything else would work.
There is an annular groove in the hole that the lead plug swages into. The small hole in the other end allows removal of the pin with a punch.

Jack.

According to the T16 Manual I have, the T16 track is not interchangeable with the Universal Carrier track links. Not sure wherein the differences come about.

David

No, it's not, because the guide horns are about 1 inch further apart, to accommodate the wider bogie wheel and rubber.

T16 track is a little narrower than UC track. Pins from T16 track are too short to use on UC track by about 3/16".

“According to the T16 Manual I have, the T16 track is not interchangeable with the Universal Carrier track links. Not sure wherein the differences come about.”

“No, it's not, because the guide horns are about 1 inch further apart, to accommodate the wider bogie wheel and rubber.”

“T16 track is a little narrower than UC track. Pins from T16 track are too short to use on UC track by about 3/16".”


Gentlemen... I respectfully suggest you are unwittingly on the wrong track . . .

Michael, see BCA's post #4.

It is my understanding that the T-16s in Swiss service had the track pins (and pads) narrowed slightly. Since those were primarily the carriers returned to the US, and the pins are still sold by an American dealer, a lot of people have assumed the pins are narrower on a T-16. It is my belief they are the same. I recently did some interchange at the museum between an ex-Cdn T16 and a UC carrier on things like bogie wheels, track etc. While there are some differences on the wheel bearing setups, there seemed to be decent interchangeability.

Further to Micheal's and Rob's posts above, I think they are on the right "track". The pins I had were probably from a lot of Swiss track and spare pins, making the length unusable on UC track.

Anyone one have a section of UC track to go along with my piece of Windsor track that I can pick up at Aquino Day, worn/unusable is totally fine.

Thanks in advance.

Many thanks extended to Brian for the very nice section of Windsor Carrier track for my collect, and he being ever the gentleman he is Brian even walked it over to my display on the grounds.

Thank you BCA

Here's a section of Brit / Can U.C. track laid into Aust. LP2a track.