Track Code
- Thread starter JoeG
- Start date
ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)
leghome
Maytag "Danged Agitator"
If you use Atlas flex track I have not found a whole lot of difference in their products. I used code 80 on everything on my layout and though not great in appearance it works great. If I had it to do over Atlas code 55 would be track of choice. I have a couple of friends who have used other trackage products and I have helped on their layouts and would rather work with Atlas. The others are for the most part good but my personal preference is still Atlas for realibilty and ease of finding what I need.
I don't know how this translates into N scale since I'm in HO but the general trend is for smaller, more prototypical sized rail. My current layout has code 100 mainline track with code 83 on secondary track but I would go with code 83 on the main and code 70 on the secondary tracks if I was starting a layout today. I think the main issue with N scale is flange size. If you have a lot of older N scale engines and rolling stock with the deeper flanges, code 55 may not work well for you. If your equipment is more modern, I'd certainly lean towards code 55. Smaller rail sizes really do help N scale layouts look a lot more realistic.
pcarrell
Just a guy
Jim has really hit the nail on the head here, but there's more.
In N scale there are indeed many choices of track available.
If you are running older equipment (with larger flanges) your selection will be limited a little. Running DCC will cut the field a little more.
Basically it breaks down like this (or so I understand);
Atlas code 80 - the old standby. It's bullet proof, cheap, easy to find, and DCC friendly. It just doesn't look the greatest (tall rail, oversize ties and tie spacing and so forth). If you don't mind the looks, it is OK. Good ballasting work, painting and weathering the rails can help a lot with the looks.
Atlas code 55 - Looks good, pretty easy to find, decent price, DCC friendly. They offer wye turnouts, # 10 turnouts, curved turnouts, and various crossings. Problem is, older equipment has larger flanges on the wheels and they hit the ties on this track. This may not work for you. If you're buying currently available equipment this will be less of an issue for you, except with Micro-Trains cars. You'll have to get low profile wheelsets for those.
Atlas code 65 track - It's one of those that has the roadbed attached to it, so it has those limitations. Also, there's no flex track that I know of in that code. It's new enough that there aren't many options available yet, but who knows. Atlas made it because they wanted a track / roadbed combo, and they made it code 65 so they could avoid the flange issue while still being somewhat close to a prototype rail height.
Peco code 80 and code 55 - Great stuff, lots of track choices (curved turnouts, Stub turnouts, slip switches, and all kinds of stuff), solid and reliable. The code 55 is really code 80 track with a double flange on the lower portions of the rail and it's just buried in the ties further on the outsides of the ties. It doesn't have any flange issues so you can run older and large flanged equipment without worry. Problems - wide tie spacing (European tie spacing), expensive, tough to find in some areas, and some say it's DCC friendly while others say no. I think proper guaging of the wheels of your loco are quite important with this track, as the spring mecanism on the turnouts can cause shorts if the wrong wheels touch the wrong point rail. The spring in them snaps the points of the turnout closed and holds them to the rails. I've been told one solution is that you must remove the spring and make a new throwbar in order to use DCC with no issues. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong on any of this.
Micro Engineering - Awesome looking track. Problems - turnouts have a spring like the Peco ones so it has those same issues, can be hard to find, very expensive. Great track available in weathered or non-weathered in code 70, 55 & 40. They also offer bridge track or the rails and ties seperately if you want to spike your own. Turnouts are only offered in #6 though.
Kato - easy to use, easy to find. Problems - not much flexability (no flex tack), expensive. This stuff is DCC friendly.
Bachmann EZ Track - about the same as Kato, but has a high track profile and it's not the best constructed stuff in my experience.
Model Power - Don't bother with it as it falls out of gauge easily. Great source of headaches if you're looking for one.
Shinohara - Code 70 turnouts and other code 70 products. I have a code 70 3 way turnout and I've seen a code 70 double crossover (works of art!). I could be wrong, but I think Walthers is selling this track under their own name.
Arnold - Not worth the time or money if you ask me. Expensive and not realistic looking.
BK Enterprises - Makes parts for handlaying track and offers some assembled turnouts (curved, stub, wye, and regular) and crossings. Offers a code 70 #12 turnout and code 55 #12 turnouts. Offers code 40 products. I have no experience with this product so I'll refrain from comment.
Life Like - Much the same story as the Bachmann track.
Roco - Extremely limited selection and not very realistic looking IMHO.
That's all I know of. I looked at almost all of these when beginning construction on my new layout, and personally, I chose to use Atlas code 80 for all my hidden track and Atlas code 55 with some Micro Engineering code 55 bridge track thrown in for good measure on the bridges of the layout. I've since added some Kato turnouts to my hidden staging yard.
Now since Micro Engineering just came out with a DCC friendly version of their HO stuff a little while ago, N scale might be comming soon.
Check out this link for more info as to DCC issues. The main subject is HO scale, but most of it also applies to N as well.
http://www.wiringfordcc.com/
As to how to control those turnouts.......
If you went with the Atlas code 55 like I did, you could use the Caboose Industries ground throws that are power routing. The frogs on the code 55 turnouts have a lug to wire to on the side of the turnout that makes a live frog setup very easy. I chose to bend the lugs 90 degrees to hide them in the roadbed, then wired them and placed them on the layout. Be careful bending those as they can snap off easily.....don't ask me how I know. As for the ground throws, a friend of mine wrote this article and I'm finding that it does a nice job of making those oversize throws look less intrusive. I was going to go with tortises originally, till I saw the projected bill, and that was the end of that. Then I looked at the old rod system, but not only did I not like the looks of those on the front of the layout, but they don't hold the point rails closed tightly. That could lead to derailments. I found this slick little setup by Dan Crowley, but it doesn't power route, so I passed on it. The one that I almost went with, and may still for harder to reach turnouts that can be seen on the layout, is the slide switch method. There are several methods of doing this, from the more visible, to the more subtle, like in the top part of this article. The beauty of those is that they look good and they power route. I would mount those in small cutout boxes in the fascia to keep up a nice clean look.
Just my thoughts................
In N scale there are indeed many choices of track available.
If you are running older equipment (with larger flanges) your selection will be limited a little. Running DCC will cut the field a little more.
Basically it breaks down like this (or so I understand);
Atlas code 80 - the old standby. It's bullet proof, cheap, easy to find, and DCC friendly. It just doesn't look the greatest (tall rail, oversize ties and tie spacing and so forth). If you don't mind the looks, it is OK. Good ballasting work, painting and weathering the rails can help a lot with the looks.
Atlas code 55 - Looks good, pretty easy to find, decent price, DCC friendly. They offer wye turnouts, # 10 turnouts, curved turnouts, and various crossings. Problem is, older equipment has larger flanges on the wheels and they hit the ties on this track. This may not work for you. If you're buying currently available equipment this will be less of an issue for you, except with Micro-Trains cars. You'll have to get low profile wheelsets for those.
Atlas code 65 track - It's one of those that has the roadbed attached to it, so it has those limitations. Also, there's no flex track that I know of in that code. It's new enough that there aren't many options available yet, but who knows. Atlas made it because they wanted a track / roadbed combo, and they made it code 65 so they could avoid the flange issue while still being somewhat close to a prototype rail height.
Peco code 80 and code 55 - Great stuff, lots of track choices (curved turnouts, Stub turnouts, slip switches, and all kinds of stuff), solid and reliable. The code 55 is really code 80 track with a double flange on the lower portions of the rail and it's just buried in the ties further on the outsides of the ties. It doesn't have any flange issues so you can run older and large flanged equipment without worry. Problems - wide tie spacing (European tie spacing), expensive, tough to find in some areas, and some say it's DCC friendly while others say no. I think proper guaging of the wheels of your loco are quite important with this track, as the spring mecanism on the turnouts can cause shorts if the wrong wheels touch the wrong point rail. The spring in them snaps the points of the turnout closed and holds them to the rails. I've been told one solution is that you must remove the spring and make a new throwbar in order to use DCC with no issues. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong on any of this.
Micro Engineering - Awesome looking track. Problems - turnouts have a spring like the Peco ones so it has those same issues, can be hard to find, very expensive. Great track available in weathered or non-weathered in code 70, 55 & 40. They also offer bridge track or the rails and ties seperately if you want to spike your own. Turnouts are only offered in #6 though.
Kato - easy to use, easy to find. Problems - not much flexability (no flex tack), expensive. This stuff is DCC friendly.
Bachmann EZ Track - about the same as Kato, but has a high track profile and it's not the best constructed stuff in my experience.
Model Power - Don't bother with it as it falls out of gauge easily. Great source of headaches if you're looking for one.
Shinohara - Code 70 turnouts and other code 70 products. I have a code 70 3 way turnout and I've seen a code 70 double crossover (works of art!). I could be wrong, but I think Walthers is selling this track under their own name.
Arnold - Not worth the time or money if you ask me. Expensive and not realistic looking.
BK Enterprises - Makes parts for handlaying track and offers some assembled turnouts (curved, stub, wye, and regular) and crossings. Offers a code 70 #12 turnout and code 55 #12 turnouts. Offers code 40 products. I have no experience with this product so I'll refrain from comment.
Life Like - Much the same story as the Bachmann track.
Roco - Extremely limited selection and not very realistic looking IMHO.
That's all I know of. I looked at almost all of these when beginning construction on my new layout, and personally, I chose to use Atlas code 80 for all my hidden track and Atlas code 55 with some Micro Engineering code 55 bridge track thrown in for good measure on the bridges of the layout. I've since added some Kato turnouts to my hidden staging yard.
Now since Micro Engineering just came out with a DCC friendly version of their HO stuff a little while ago, N scale might be comming soon.
Check out this link for more info as to DCC issues. The main subject is HO scale, but most of it also applies to N as well.
http://www.wiringfordcc.com/
As to how to control those turnouts.......
If you went with the Atlas code 55 like I did, you could use the Caboose Industries ground throws that are power routing. The frogs on the code 55 turnouts have a lug to wire to on the side of the turnout that makes a live frog setup very easy. I chose to bend the lugs 90 degrees to hide them in the roadbed, then wired them and placed them on the layout. Be careful bending those as they can snap off easily.....don't ask me how I know. As for the ground throws, a friend of mine wrote this article and I'm finding that it does a nice job of making those oversize throws look less intrusive. I was going to go with tortises originally, till I saw the projected bill, and that was the end of that. Then I looked at the old rod system, but not only did I not like the looks of those on the front of the layout, but they don't hold the point rails closed tightly. That could lead to derailments. I found this slick little setup by Dan Crowley, but it doesn't power route, so I passed on it. The one that I almost went with, and may still for harder to reach turnouts that can be seen on the layout, is the slide switch method. There are several methods of doing this, from the more visible, to the more subtle, like in the top part of this article. The beauty of those is that they look good and they power route. I would mount those in small cutout boxes in the fascia to keep up a nice clean look.
Just my thoughts................
Last edited by a moderator:
vato loco
Just a Foolish Saint!
I'm Using Kato UniTrack......I'm highly impressed, it's a few dollars more and is a tad less flexable. Once you learn how to work around the flexably issue, It's great track! I'm soon going to be in the process of weathering the track.
Here's a couple of sites of how to weather kato track:
http://home.comcast.net/~j.sing/Peavine_Layout_Overview.html
http://www.powersteamguy1790.com/5.html
Click on the link below by my sig. and you can see my layout......
Kato requires a learning curve but once over that this is easy track to work with!
Here's a couple of sites of how to weather kato track:
http://home.comcast.net/~j.sing/Peavine_Layout_Overview.html
http://www.powersteamguy1790.com/5.html
Click on the link below by my sig. and you can see my layout......
Kato requires a learning curve but once over that this is easy track to work with!
vato loco
Just a Foolish Saint!
If it was a choice between Atlas code 80 or Kato Unitrack.............Kato all the way! JMO
If it was a choice between ME code 55 or Atlas Code 55................Atlas. JMO
If it was a choice between Atlas code 55 or Peco 55.....................Atlas JMO
But so far I'm very happy with The Kato!
If it was a choice between ME code 55 or Atlas Code 55................Atlas. JMO
If it was a choice between Atlas code 55 or Peco 55.....................Atlas JMO
But so far I'm very happy with The Kato!
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)