New to model RR
- Thread starter Bert
- Start date
I am just planning on something simple like a town or city. Should I invest in ez track ? right now I just have the standard track.
Patrick
Alien Attitude.
Greetings and Welcome Bert.
For the first effort, stick with what you have. Buying something that may seem easier is just spending money on something you may not really need. Standard track IMO is easier to landscape around. I do have some EZ track with some kits I purchased long ago. I found I could create the layout I wanted easier when I could control the curve radius. I use a lot of "flex" track.
The foam makes cutting streams into your scenery a little bit easier. It allows you to create depth below grade you can't do on just a plywood table top. You could paint streams, but it may not present the look you like or want.
For the first effort, stick with what you have. Buying something that may seem easier is just spending money on something you may not really need. Standard track IMO is easier to landscape around. I do have some EZ track with some kits I purchased long ago. I found I could create the layout I wanted easier when I could control the curve radius. I use a lot of "flex" track.
The foam makes cutting streams into your scenery a little bit easier. It allows you to create depth below grade you can't do on just a plywood table top. You could paint streams, but it may not present the look you like or want.
Iron Horseman
Well-Known Member
I don't know how to answer that. EZ track is just that, easy to put down. I find it noisy as the sound reverberates in that "hollow" area under the ballast. The other track takes longer to lay if you put it on roadbed (usually cork or foam). If you do it right you could make your roadbed out of the foam layer you originally asked about. Often these days people use latex caulk to lay track rather than nails.
Ooops I am rabbit trailing.... EZ-track is easy to get to a finished layout quick. EZ-track is relatively expensive. EZ-Track doesn't have as many options (different pieces) as the other types of track, but EZ-Track has more options than other pre-balasted brands like Atlas-TruTrack and Lifelike Power-Loc. The odd man out there would be the Kato UniTrack which is probably the best pre-ballasted track on the market. EZ-track used to have issues with their turnouts. I say used to because my information on that is years old. They could have improved them since then. I know they have come out with a few new pieces in that time (like the #5 turnout). Sooo ...
Personally I do not like the pre-ballasted types of track, just because it limits the track arrangements I can make.
