drjohn691I went and sold a large supply of realtrax several years ago. I have now decided to use it again but I heard they make it differently and not as well as the original. Did they change the track? If so it is still made well?
In order to catch you up real fast here are the links:
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/144800/1607572.aspx#1607572
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/t/136314.aspx?PageIndex=1
And my advice in January of 2009 to RT still stands:....If you have a personality that can handle high levels of frustration and disappointment, go with Realtrax.
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
Buckeye is correct. Better solder big sections for good connectivity. Biggest problem I have had is switches. They work and suddenly they don't. Buy some extras to install while you repair the ones that give trouble. Also some arching from engines on 072 and 054 switches. I used electrical tape to fix.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
ChiefEagles Buckeye is correct. Better solder big sections for good connectivity. Biggest problem I have had is switches. They work and suddenly they don't. Buy some extras to install while you repair the ones that give trouble. Also some arching from engines on 072 and 054 switches. I used electrical tape to fix.
But Chief, those extra switches cost $70.00 a piece. I can't afford to have six extras.
MTH is using hollow rail now with Realtrax due to higher alloy costs. I never got passed a loop of it because I was not impressed with the joinery. The copper tab system looses continutity too easily when assembling. I've gone with Lionel Fastrack because the tie spacing is more realistic and the curve diameter breakdown works better with double track mainlines. I only have O48 switches but they have been incredibly flawless in operation. MPC blasts through them without a hitch. Noise is a factor but that can be dealt with. As far as tin plated rail verses nickle silver is concerned, I have had a big Fastrack setup outside on the front porch for over two weeks now and weather has not been an issue (the porch has a roof). Kids step on it too. Not a concern.
Screwed down and soldered "underneith", the track is no problem.
Thanks everyone. I decided to use the GarGraves I have. It takes longer to lay the road bed and paint the track but I may as well do it that way...
drjohn691 Thanks everyone. I decided to use the GarGraves I have. It takes longer to lay the road bed and paint the track but I may as well do it that way...
Several years ago, I saw a side by side test of GarGraves and Fastrack. Same piece of rolling stock and same length of track. The GarGraves was very quiet compared to the Fastrack. You might be interested in this roadbed. A buddy of mine uses it with GarGraves and it gave him exceptional results.
3railguyGargraves is probably a better choice of the two as it offers more flexibility and realism. Plus Ross or Gargraves switches are probably better as well.
John, with this in your bio:
Today my love is MPC Lionel. Mainly because they made a lot of neat stuff and I'm a 70's baby boomer who is living out the 70's I am between layouts as I am renovating this home. I do have a temporary grassmat playground. My next layout is on the drawing board and will be a multi-scale toy theme featuring O gauge Fastrack, HO, and N scale Unitrack. Blending it all into a convincing plan with interesting operation has been rather challenging.
I assumed you would be promoting Fastrack for an inside layout, too. Did you switch to Gargraves? If I didn't have so much invested, Gargraves would be on my layout.
My Realtrax has performed flawlessly for the last 9 years, never a problem with connectivity/tabs/etc. It installed easily and has never failed, same with the switches. Having said that I do know for a fact that some folks have not had my same experience, in fact, they have found it very frustrating. I am way past the point of no return, I cannot change trackage at this point as it would cost me a small fortune plus I have no regrets.
If I were starting from scratch today I would choose Gargraves track and Ross switches, but then again, hindsight is always 20/20 :) I really did enjoy the flexibility of Realtrax and the availability of everything I needed at the local hobby shop. I never thought for a moment that when I started that my layout it would get to the size it is today, oh well, it sure has been FUN!
Jon
So many roads, so little time.
Jon....There you go again! You tell about your great layout, but forget to put in the link for everyone to see one of the best layouts in Iowa! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7113039967492295449&pr=goog-sl
Buckeye .... good lord .... he has a fabulous layout ! Unbelievable to say the least .... thanks for that link ... Jon .... looks to me it could outdo lionel's .... amazing ....
Ole Timer Buckeye .... good lord .... he has a fabulous layout ! Unbelievable to say the least .... thanks for that link ... Jon .... looks to me it could outdo lionel's .... amazing ....
Ole Timer.....The more you hang around on the forum, you learn who talks the talk and walks the walk. Jon is one of them that definitely has been there and done that. Of course what does one do in Iowa in January with snow up to your nose and the temperature outside below zero? You build a great layout!!!
January & February can be brutal in Iowa. The first year I retired I spent most of the winter, happily, in the basement building bench work, laying track and wiring. I loved every minute of it, me and the cordless drill and cordless phone with spools of wire under the table! Talk about great therapy for me, no administrators, no parents, no one from the english dept. to tell me how wonderful they were and NO DEADLINES I've said it many times before -- our greatest enjoyment with this layout was building it. Running trains is fun, buying trains is fun but building is the BEST.
Thanks for the comps Buckeye, it means a lot to me.
PS--now when I'm up to my eyeballs in snow and wind chills that cut through I spend my time trying to figure out how the heck to get outta here in FEB.
Jon's layout is fabulous. Now if the truth is known, wifey is the real artist and does a lot of the scenery. Hats off to both.
Buckeye RiveterJohn, with this in your bio: Today my love is MPC Lionel. Mainly because they made a lot of neat stuff and I'm a 70's baby boomer who is living out the 70's I am between layouts as I am renovating this home. I do have a temporary grassmat playground. My next layout is on the drawing board and will be a multi-scale toy theme featuring O gauge Fastrack, HO, and N scale Unitrack. Blending it all into a convincing plan with interesting operation has been rather challenging. I assumed you would be promoting Fastrack for an inside layout, too. Did you switch to Gargraves? If I didn't have so much invested, Gargraves would be on my layout.
I'm not sure what you're getting at but Fastrack totally fits the toy theme I'm after which I stated in my post. Better than Gargraves. However, I feel Gargraves/Ross is better track performance wise. I only advocated Fastrack in my first post because Docjohn brought up Realtrax. I assumed he was looking at pre-fab track.
Chief is right about our layout, my wife is the real artist in the family and took our scenery to a level that still amazes me. I think she even surprised herself but she just had so much fun with it and one thing just led to another. I really do want to do one more layout but I don't know if I have the heart to tear this one apart...............
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