track opinion


dr.x

New Member
in need of advice again!!! since i've started and have a cheap bachmann train set,,,, and loving every minute of my new hobby,,,, i now want to better myself.
what does everyone think of the atlas true track????
or is there a better track????
 
I've been using Atlas code 83 track [sectional, flex, and turnouts] for the last 7 years and I am generally pleased with it.
 
I've also been using atlas code 83 flex and turnouts, love it for the price you can't beat it!!!
 
To answer your question,

Of all the roadbed=track systems, the Kato Unitrack has the best railjoiner system/sectional connecting hands down. Also , the plastics are very flexible unlike the other brands, and this causes the track system to have a significant higher price. The Line is not complete, however, in HO. Kato in N scale has done a great job, but I am still waiting for them to fill out their HO line better.

Next comes Atlas true-track, which doesn't have the best connectivity system but multiple feeders can compensate. The plastics aren't as brittle (seemingly, I can't prove this) than the Bachmann EZ.

The Bachmann stuff (EZ nickel silver rail version) is good once you put it together and leave it. Of course the electrical and mechanical connection is not that great using the standard rail joiners. If you pull it apart--the plastic connectors are so brittle they will break if not the first time, eventually.
Their line of turnouts are not bad, either. If the plastics weren't so cheap and brittle it wouldn't be a bad purchase.

Those are the 3 I have used. The Life-Like system I have not used.

Regards,

Thomas P. Metzger
MetzgerTrains@aol.com
http://www.qualitymodelrailroads.com
 
The Bachmann nickel-silver EZ track is all I use. Others have said that it doesn't go together well or doesn't sit right. I've found that if it's laid correctly, it's quite smooth and easy to work with. Even my pickiest locomotive (a Proto 2000 PA1 that derails at the drop of a hat) doesn't have a problem with it.
 
jeffrey sometimes i think if i was to do it over i would do the same as u my son likes it and he is always stealing my power to run on his layout
 
Thomas: Sounds like your son needs more power of his own there. I used to have the same problem with my nephew before he moved to Houston. I gave him two of my older layouts and he combined them into one big layout that took up o0ver half of a 20 X 20 room.
 
Track & Roadbed vs. Flex

jeffrey sometimes i think if i was to do it over i would do the same as u my son likes it and he is always stealing my power to run on his layout

Thomas,

You can always hide the EZ track or other system with normal ballasting to the point that you could not tell it from flex. The greatest thing about going with a pre-roadbed system is the turnouts--which, if handlaid, at some point give you problems and headaches.
 



Back
Top