Anyone Using Kato Uni-Track? Pics Please!
- Thread starter brooksie
- Start date
Kato unitrack can get expensive if you plan to do a whole railroad kingdom with it. But, so can flex and cork and Peco switches. I just paid 15.00 ea for 2 Peco #6 switches for the yard feeds and the Unitrack #6 switches would have only cost me 18.00 ea. My answer was to do my mainline in Unitrack and my yards and sidings using peco switches and flex. I laid an entire double track mainline on a 14'x28' oval layout with 2 8'x3' islands in less than 4 hours and thats wired as well. Once the design was figured out, construction went fast and smooth. You can't beat running trains on a layout this size in 4 hours from the time you placed the first piece of track. Do that with flex. Unitrack takes doing your homework. I have very little I bought new. A simple post here in the wanted section and I had offers that far exceeded my needs. Unitrack is like DCC. Its not for everyone. For me it is. It allows me the ability to change my mind if I need to. I can't do that with glued down roadbed very easily.
If you can't trust the word of your local hobbyshop dealer, who are you gonna trust? Who cares if they use it?
Night Train
Member
I guess the obvious question is, Why would you be in a hurry to run your trains? What's the big deal with finishing a layout in 4 hours? Are you creating a permanent layout or do you plan to change it around every so often?
There's no denying the fact the flex track allows you many more options in terms of planning exactly what you want. Try laying a decreasing radius curve with anything but flex track. Or try creating a section of mainline track part of which has a large (24"+) radius curve.
But if you're OK with limiting yourself with sectional track, that's cool too. I just think that guys getting into the hobby should be very aware of the greater possibilities out there that exist with flex track.
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Successfully sold my Kato stuff on eBay. I've been picking off some Code 80 Atlas from Fifer. I have my track plan ready for the loco maintenance facility section. It will be 6' x 2' and will tie in with the yard/city section I am planning. I like the simplicity of Kato and it works pretty good, but my layout is going to be a long work in progress and I need to stick with methods that are tried and true for me. Flex track really lets me get the most +19" radius in N scale that I need for my track plan. I still have the Kato Master 2 set for use in running trains while I work on them.
I like having as few rail welds as possible and flex helps there, too.
Atlas may or may not come around with availability, who knows. I have enough to get started. I have the track plan, have refreshed my locos and got the "updates" to my collection. Now I have to clear out the area in the basement, move my office upstairs and start building benchwork. It will take a lot of time as to not shock the "CEO" with a pine empire one evening!
I like having as few rail welds as possible and flex helps there, too.
Atlas may or may not come around with availability, who knows. I have enough to get started. I have the track plan, have refreshed my locos and got the "updates" to my collection. Now I have to clear out the area in the basement, move my office upstairs and start building benchwork. It will take a lot of time as to not shock the "CEO" with a pine empire one evening!
Night Train
Member
Atlas stuff has been becoming available in my area for the last month or so. For a while, I couldn't find a rail-joiner in this state to save my life. Same for left and right #6 switches. Now, things are slowly coming back available.
Sounds like you have a great plan going on there...keep us posted! I too, love the flexibility of flex track in that you can design any layout that you want and not be locked into any certain configuration dictated by the fixed radius of Kato or any other type of fixed track.
