I have a question about track....

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B

Burning Metal

New Member
Hello all...I put up a previous post about getting ready to start an N-Scale layout soon...I had mentioned that I have about 30 inches wide by 10 feet long to use, well happily I'll be able to go wider, probably like 4 ft x 10ft now. I had planned on building the layout against a wall so I would have to reach across it and would need to keep the width down. Well now my plan is to build the layout as almost a kind of room divider...a penisula type now. So I'm going about 4ft wide with it which means I'll be able to go with much wider curves...maybe 18 or 20.
As far as the question about track...I'll be buying all of my track, I'm not into handlaying track at all, doesn't interest me, so I'll be buying sectional type track. Who makes the best? Bachmann, Atlas, Kato? I know that with the amount of track I need it'll be expensive but I do want to do this the correct way right from the start. Also, I plan on going DCC...
 
Stay away from the Bachmann and you will be fine... Atlas code 80 and 55 will probably be the easiest to get, followed by Kato Unitrack. If your up for ballasting yourself go with the Atlas, it will look a lot nicer in the end. You can use Atlas' switches, Micro-Engineering or Peco and they should all be fine when you add a DCC system...
 
When you're selecting turnouts, be sure to choose the ones that are labeled as "DCC-friendly" - these have all the necessary gaps already. Avoid the power-routing ones.
 
To add to what's already been said, I'd pass on the sectional track if it was me. I'd go with the Atlas code 55 and do all flex and then the turnouts. I'd do this because every time there is a joint between two pieces of track (any kind of track), thats a place where alignment problems and eletrical issues can creep in. The more you can elimnate those, the fewer future headaches you're likely to have. Using 3ft long sections of track (or shorter cut to fit sections) will result in fewer of these connections then using 6in and 9in setions, plain and simple.
 
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