I will retire soon and will spend some of my time building a new and hopefully improved model railroad. I have lots of Lionel tubular track; however, I would like to be able to use more realistic curves and switch arrangements. Therefore, I am going to purchase new track and switches. I have read many articles about track and switches from Lionel, Atlas, MTH, Ross and Gargraves. Which type of track is the quietest and which type is most realistic?
Lionel fastrack and MTH real track is the nosiest because of the plastic roadbed and the hollowness under it.
I like Gargraves/Ross for realism looking you have to ballast thou but Gargraves 35" flex track helps make more realistic curves and all. I also like O-72 - O-100 switches for more real looking switches.
I haven't started building my layout yet but have been playing around with track and switches for the design I want.
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
i'll second the opinion on Gargraves track with Ross switches. just note that although Gargraves is a flexible track, it is NOT flex-track. there have been many references written on how to form curves with GG and i suggest you read all you can about it and practice before you start on the permanent layout. with time and patience, however, you can achieve a fantastic result.
you might find some comments regarding GG being a hollow rail vs. other solid rail products and if you plan on running heavy consists 8 hours/day 5 days a week, it may become a problem, but for the general hours of use on a home layout it will last decades.
If its realism AND good operation you want, I really like the Atlas-O 21st Century Track System. I've heard really good things about it, and really bad things about MTH "Scale" RealTrax. Me? I'm still running O-31 tubular!
Here are a couple of reviews...
http://www.atlaso.com/reviews/CTTtrack.html
http://www.atlaso.com/reviews/OGtrack.html
Jon
Buckeye Riveter Dog, unfortunately you are not alone. I run all my switches on track power but, and this is a big "but", I have 16 volts full time with TMCC. When I am running in conventional mode, my switches do not work very well, if at all at the lower voltage. My main concern is if you have adequate circuit breakers to shut down everything before your switches are fried. I derail at 16 volts and 300 amps and sparks go everywhere, but my system shuts down in the blink of an eye thanks to the wonderful advice of Roy McClellan, ace electrical engineer and all around good guy. Buckeye Riveter We have been discussing MTH Real Track Switches on this forum for over six years. Here is what I posted many years ago as the Chief and I were starting to find out about an MTH problem. Buckeye Riveter Fox14120The switches i liked were MTH Real Track switches. Like i said a minor thing only all these years i've had the two No 042 switches and always liked the red\green lanturn's. Checked the price on Real Track and it costs a little less any quirks to working with Real Track over Fast Track? I know Real Track uses Lock On but don't know what the bottom of a piece of Real Track looks like wondering of i could still soder the wires under the track instead of all the Lock On's? Before you fall in love with RealTrax Switches read this: Buckeye Riveter Chief....I hope you are paying attention because you need to see how I solved my problem with the MTH O-72 Realtrax Switches. Oh!! What's that? You say the Chief is off goofing off fishing at the lake? Anyway, here goes. A little history about the MTH Realtrax Switch Problem: The Chief and I installed a bunch of MTH Realtrax Switches on our layout. I have 12 MTH Switches and the Chief has a few more. When I started my layout, Fastrack by Lionel had not been born. About half way through the building of the second phase of my layout, I started to notice that the newer track did not fit as well as the old. The Chief was seeing the same thing as he connected his Realtrax. (Incidentally, someone in the last month provided a history about the manufacturing changes of Realtrax....THANK YOU!) The Chief and I really became upset when the new O-72 Realtrax Switches started not to work. The Chief had switches that the switch motors were DOA. I opened a box of a supposedly new switch and discovered it had been reconditioned. Then I started seeing derailments at two brand new O-72 switches. Two out of my six O-72s would derail certain types of locomotives including BEEPS, Post-war, and Williams. After watching a small new Lionel Steamer ride over the frog and derail, I said something has to be wrong with that switch and not the engine. Here is the MTH O-72 switch that was derailing random locomotives. Look at the gap between the back of the wheel flange and the guard rail. The car is an MTH tank car. Needless to say when I measured the gap between the guard rail and the main rail on an O-72 switch, it was the same as on the O-42 switches by MTH. Logic says that on a straight section of track, the gap between the guard rail and the main rail would be the smallest. On sharper turns, the gap should be the widest. To check to see if the gap width between the guard rail and the main rail was too large and causing the opposite wheel to ride over the frog, I put three (3) layers of 7 mil electrical tape on the guard rail, as shown below: The tape effectively, reduced the space between the guard rail and the main rail. After several hours of running various types of locomotives and rolling stock through the switch at different speeds, not one derailment occurred. I sent the locmotives through the switch in reverse, too, with loads and without loads. BINGO!! After a trip to the LHS, where I purchased .020 x .188 styrene strips, I added one to the face of the guard rail as shown below. After several hours of hard running, not one locomotive on the Baltimore, Ohio and Wabash Railroad has had any problems negotiating this switch. Now you know, Chiefie!!! I would not recommend MTH RealTrax. If you do a search of this forum, you will find discussions and comments for the last six years about the problems the Chief and many others have had with RealTrax.
Dog, unfortunately you are not alone. I run all my switches on track power but, and this is a big "but", I have 16 volts full time with TMCC. When I am running in conventional mode, my switches do not work very well, if at all at the lower voltage.
My main concern is if you have adequate circuit breakers to shut down everything before your switches are fried. I derail at 16 volts and 300 amps and sparks go everywhere, but my system shuts down in the blink of an eye thanks to the wonderful advice of Roy McClellan, ace electrical engineer and all around good guy.
Buckeye Riveter We have been discussing MTH Real Track Switches on this forum for over six years. Here is what I posted many years ago as the Chief and I were starting to find out about an MTH problem. Buckeye Riveter Fox14120The switches i liked were MTH Real Track switches. Like i said a minor thing only all these years i've had the two No 042 switches and always liked the red\green lanturn's. Checked the price on Real Track and it costs a little less any quirks to working with Real Track over Fast Track? I know Real Track uses Lock On but don't know what the bottom of a piece of Real Track looks like wondering of i could still soder the wires under the track instead of all the Lock On's? Before you fall in love with RealTrax Switches read this: Buckeye Riveter Chief....I hope you are paying attention because you need to see how I solved my problem with the MTH O-72 Realtrax Switches. Oh!! What's that? You say the Chief is off goofing off fishing at the lake? Anyway, here goes. A little history about the MTH Realtrax Switch Problem: The Chief and I installed a bunch of MTH Realtrax Switches on our layout. I have 12 MTH Switches and the Chief has a few more. When I started my layout, Fastrack by Lionel had not been born. About half way through the building of the second phase of my layout, I started to notice that the newer track did not fit as well as the old. The Chief was seeing the same thing as he connected his Realtrax. (Incidentally, someone in the last month provided a history about the manufacturing changes of Realtrax....THANK YOU!) The Chief and I really became upset when the new O-72 Realtrax Switches started not to work. The Chief had switches that the switch motors were DOA. I opened a box of a supposedly new switch and discovered it had been reconditioned. Then I started seeing derailments at two brand new O-72 switches. Two out of my six O-72s would derail certain types of locomotives including BEEPS, Post-war, and Williams. After watching a small new Lionel Steamer ride over the frog and derail, I said something has to be wrong with that switch and not the engine. Here is the MTH O-72 switch that was derailing random locomotives. Look at the gap between the back of the wheel flange and the guard rail. The car is an MTH tank car. Needless to say when I measured the gap between the guard rail and the main rail on an O-72 switch, it was the same as on the O-42 switches by MTH. Logic says that on a straight section of track, the gap between the guard rail and the main rail would be the smallest. On sharper turns, the gap should be the widest. To check to see if the gap width between the guard rail and the main rail was too large and causing the opposite wheel to ride over the frog, I put three (3) layers of 7 mil electrical tape on the guard rail, as shown below: The tape effectively, reduced the space between the guard rail and the main rail. After several hours of running various types of locomotives and rolling stock through the switch at different speeds, not one derailment occurred. I sent the locmotives through the switch in reverse, too, with loads and without loads. BINGO!! After a trip to the LHS, where I purchased .020 x .188 styrene strips, I added one to the face of the guard rail as shown below. After several hours of hard running, not one locomotive on the Baltimore, Ohio and Wabash Railroad has had any problems negotiating this switch. Now you know, Chiefie!!! I would not recommend MTH RealTrax. If you do a search of this forum, you will find discussions and comments for the last six years about the problems the Chief and many others have had with RealTrax.
We have been discussing MTH Real Track Switches on this forum for over six years. Here is what I posted many years ago as the Chief and I were starting to find out about an MTH problem.
Buckeye Riveter Fox14120The switches i liked were MTH Real Track switches. Like i said a minor thing only all these years i've had the two No 042 switches and always liked the red\green lanturn's. Checked the price on Real Track and it costs a little less any quirks to working with Real Track over Fast Track? I know Real Track uses Lock On but don't know what the bottom of a piece of Real Track looks like wondering of i could still soder the wires under the track instead of all the Lock On's? Before you fall in love with RealTrax Switches read this: Buckeye Riveter Chief....I hope you are paying attention because you need to see how I solved my problem with the MTH O-72 Realtrax Switches. Oh!! What's that? You say the Chief is off goofing off fishing at the lake? Anyway, here goes. A little history about the MTH Realtrax Switch Problem: The Chief and I installed a bunch of MTH Realtrax Switches on our layout. I have 12 MTH Switches and the Chief has a few more. When I started my layout, Fastrack by Lionel had not been born. About half way through the building of the second phase of my layout, I started to notice that the newer track did not fit as well as the old. The Chief was seeing the same thing as he connected his Realtrax. (Incidentally, someone in the last month provided a history about the manufacturing changes of Realtrax....THANK YOU!) The Chief and I really became upset when the new O-72 Realtrax Switches started not to work. The Chief had switches that the switch motors were DOA. I opened a box of a supposedly new switch and discovered it had been reconditioned. Then I started seeing derailments at two brand new O-72 switches. Two out of my six O-72s would derail certain types of locomotives including BEEPS, Post-war, and Williams. After watching a small new Lionel Steamer ride over the frog and derail, I said something has to be wrong with that switch and not the engine. Here is the MTH O-72 switch that was derailing random locomotives. Look at the gap between the back of the wheel flange and the guard rail. The car is an MTH tank car. Needless to say when I measured the gap between the guard rail and the main rail on an O-72 switch, it was the same as on the O-42 switches by MTH. Logic says that on a straight section of track, the gap between the guard rail and the main rail would be the smallest. On sharper turns, the gap should be the widest. To check to see if the gap width between the guard rail and the main rail was too large and causing the opposite wheel to ride over the frog, I put three (3) layers of 7 mil electrical tape on the guard rail, as shown below: The tape effectively, reduced the space between the guard rail and the main rail. After several hours of running various types of locomotives and rolling stock through the switch at different speeds, not one derailment occurred. I sent the locmotives through the switch in reverse, too, with loads and without loads. BINGO!! After a trip to the LHS, where I purchased .020 x .188 styrene strips, I added one to the face of the guard rail as shown below. After several hours of hard running, not one locomotive on the Baltimore, Ohio and Wabash Railroad has had any problems negotiating this switch. Now you know, Chiefie!!! I would not recommend MTH RealTrax. If you do a search of this forum, you will find discussions and comments for the last six years about the problems the Chief and many others have had with RealTrax.
Fox14120The switches i liked were MTH Real Track switches. Like i said a minor thing only all these years i've had the two No 042 switches and always liked the red\green lanturn's. Checked the price on Real Track and it costs a little less any quirks to working with Real Track over Fast Track? I know Real Track uses Lock On but don't know what the bottom of a piece of Real Track looks like wondering of i could still soder the wires under the track instead of all the Lock On's?
Before you fall in love with RealTrax Switches read this:
Buckeye Riveter Chief....I hope you are paying attention because you need to see how I solved my problem with the MTH O-72 Realtrax Switches. Oh!! What's that? You say the Chief is off goofing off fishing at the lake? Anyway, here goes. A little history about the MTH Realtrax Switch Problem: The Chief and I installed a bunch of MTH Realtrax Switches on our layout. I have 12 MTH Switches and the Chief has a few more. When I started my layout, Fastrack by Lionel had not been born. About half way through the building of the second phase of my layout, I started to notice that the newer track did not fit as well as the old. The Chief was seeing the same thing as he connected his Realtrax. (Incidentally, someone in the last month provided a history about the manufacturing changes of Realtrax....THANK YOU!) The Chief and I really became upset when the new O-72 Realtrax Switches started not to work. The Chief had switches that the switch motors were DOA. I opened a box of a supposedly new switch and discovered it had been reconditioned. Then I started seeing derailments at two brand new O-72 switches. Two out of my six O-72s would derail certain types of locomotives including BEEPS, Post-war, and Williams. After watching a small new Lionel Steamer ride over the frog and derail, I said something has to be wrong with that switch and not the engine. Here is the MTH O-72 switch that was derailing random locomotives. Look at the gap between the back of the wheel flange and the guard rail. The car is an MTH tank car. Needless to say when I measured the gap between the guard rail and the main rail on an O-72 switch, it was the same as on the O-42 switches by MTH. Logic says that on a straight section of track, the gap between the guard rail and the main rail would be the smallest. On sharper turns, the gap should be the widest. To check to see if the gap width between the guard rail and the main rail was too large and causing the opposite wheel to ride over the frog, I put three (3) layers of 7 mil electrical tape on the guard rail, as shown below: The tape effectively, reduced the space between the guard rail and the main rail. After several hours of running various types of locomotives and rolling stock through the switch at different speeds, not one derailment occurred. I sent the locmotives through the switch in reverse, too, with loads and without loads. BINGO!! After a trip to the LHS, where I purchased .020 x .188 styrene strips, I added one to the face of the guard rail as shown below. After several hours of hard running, not one locomotive on the Baltimore, Ohio and Wabash Railroad has had any problems negotiating this switch. Now you know, Chiefie!!!
Chief....I hope you are paying attention because you need to see how I solved my problem with the MTH O-72 Realtrax Switches. Oh!! What's that? You say the Chief is off goofing off fishing at the lake? Anyway, here goes.
A little history about the MTH Realtrax Switch Problem:
The Chief and I installed a bunch of MTH Realtrax Switches on our layout. I have 12 MTH Switches and the Chief has a few more. When I started my layout, Fastrack by Lionel had not been born. About half way through the building of the second phase of my layout, I started to notice that the newer track did not fit as well as the old. The Chief was seeing the same thing as he connected his Realtrax. (Incidentally, someone in the last month provided a history about the manufacturing changes of Realtrax....THANK YOU!)
The Chief and I really became upset when the new O-72 Realtrax Switches started not to work. The Chief had switches that the switch motors were DOA. I opened a box of a supposedly new switch and discovered it had been reconditioned. Then I started seeing derailments at two brand new O-72 switches. Two out of my six O-72s would derail certain types of locomotives including BEEPS, Post-war, and Williams. After watching a small new Lionel Steamer ride over the frog and derail, I said something has to be wrong with that switch and not the engine.
Here is the MTH O-72 switch that was derailing random locomotives. Look at the gap between the back of the wheel flange and the guard rail. The car is an MTH tank car.
Needless to say when I measured the gap between the guard rail and the main rail on an O-72 switch, it was the same as on the O-42 switches by MTH. Logic says that on a straight section of track, the gap between the guard rail and the main rail would be the smallest. On sharper turns, the gap should be the widest.
To check to see if the gap width between the guard rail and the main rail was too large and causing the opposite wheel to ride over the frog, I put three (3) layers of 7 mil electrical tape on the guard rail, as shown below:
I would not recommend MTH RealTrax. If you do a search of this forum, you will find discussions and comments for the last six years about the problems the Chief and many others have had 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
Depending on how much tubular track you have, you might just want to keep it and use additional black or brown ties to make it appear more realistic. No question the gargraves track is beautiful, and the newer track systems with roadbed built in are also quite nice, but for me I had so many traditional O gauge switches, and so much accompanying track, that switching would have been quite costly. And then what do you do with all that unused track? Can sell it I guess, but you won't get much for used track. Or just store it? That's a waste of the track and a waste of space. Moreover, at risk of stating the obvious the tubular O track looks more realistic (1) when you use additional ties; and (2) when you run the wider radius turns. But again, for me, it was a dollars and cents issue -- for a few bucks I simply add the additional wood ties and I am very pleased.
We do have a loop of Lionel fastrack that we use for the Christmas, under-the-tree layout. The built in roadbed protects our Persian carpet from any grease or oil from the trains. The snap-together roadbed is also handy for a temporary layout, better than the traditional push-together O gauge track.
A vote for Gargraves/Ross.........
What has worked for me is the Ross switches, Ross curved, and Gargraves straight (Flex Track).
To me the selection of available switches from Ross was obvious. And they are not that pricey comparatively. Additionally Ross is fantastic for standing behind their product. I have had mine for six years without any problems. (27 switches on my layout.)
I had a bunch of Gargraves track and as it is so compatible with Ross that too was a non-decision. I havn't had much luck with forming Gargraves, and therefore went with the pre-formed curves from Ross.
I have built to large layouts for other people and used ALL Ross in those applications. Even used the Ross roadbed pieces, very very satisfied!!! The biggest downside is the availability, especially on the West Coast.
Good luck, and enjoy!
Don
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