Look at the Train Box thread. All Realtrax. The switches can be a @~^* and are not the best in the world. When working, they are great. Buy a couple of extras to have to put in when one goes bad. Do not glue scenery to them or you will certainly have to pull them out. I soldered the sections together. I some places, I soldered jumpers on the underside to insure connectivity.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
Joel Yes I don't really care for the look of the fast track which is another reason I picked the realtrax. The Fast track has over sized un needed road bed. I know it blows only having one hobby store there. There are several places on line that have great prices on all sorts of track systems. www.modeltrainstuff.com and www.wholesaletrains.com are just a couple. I agree that a modular layout is the way to go as I spent my share of time over 24 years moving in the military too. I won't be moving anytime soon but I am still going with the modular model as changes can easily be made. Here is a tip for thos MTH switches make sure there is never any metal on your rails especially screws that can shimmy loose from a locomotive or car, these will surely fry the switches. Through other forums people say that the less you move these the better.
Kev
Can't stop working on the railroad!
Hello Rtraincollector,
That is a good idea and similar to what I was already thinking. The layout I am working on constructing is 6' x 9' and I was going to make it in 3 x 6 sections. Being how I will move every 3 yrs (approx) I think I would just be fooling myself if I think the movers won't miss handle it and break the sections. That is why I wanted easy to disassemble layouts. I am also trying to figure out how to make "lids" to put over the sections to protect them during transport. I have also considered renting a U-Haul trailer to prevent the having to true movers with fragile stuff.
Thanks for the suggestion
Joel
Hello RRaddict,
Well I only have one hobby shop here in El Paso and they specialize in RC. On a second note their consumer service leaves a lot to be desired as they know they are the only one in town. It is still under warranty so I have sent them back and will have to live with the $800 in realtrax I have. I guess I'll have to start looking at the other brands of track. I do have FastTrax but I don't like the look as much.
Thanks for the response
Ever think of building it say on 2' x 8' pieces as modular and then you could go with many different items atlas,gargraves, Lionel Tubular, K-Line super K track that snaps together
Just another idea thrown into the ring
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
If these are new from a store I as many here would suggest taking them back for a refund a long with any other Realtrax items. These are plagued with nothing but problems. I made the mistake of trading my Fast Track in for MTH Realtrax and I regretting it 100%. I was lucky enough to be able to sell it and go back to Fast Track and even this I would do differently. I would check in to Atlas 21st century track system or Gargraves but as far as Gargraves goes I don't know if its assemble and diessemble friendly or not. There is also the old reliable Lionel tubular track which is very easy to take down and put up. I would definitely suggest changing track systems if you can if not others may be able to help you get tose things working properly but I never could. This is just my 2 cents of course that worth about a penny.
I am a new O gauge modeler. I am in the Army and move alot. So I have decided that mounted rails (realtrax or fasttrax) would be the way to go as I would have to dismantle any layouts every couple years when I change stations. SO to get to the point I decided to go with Realtrax. I recently bought eleven O31 switches (6 left and 5 right) and I am having loads of problems. It seems that they either derail the locomotive or the electronic burn out. I am currently sending back 4 of 5 R SW because of this. Of the remaining seven I have had to file the rails on 4 or 5 of them as it appears being a millimeter off derails my locomotive. As being how I don't have a hobby shop by me and mail order everything my layout has spent more time being fixed then used. Is the described problems common? Have I just gotten a bad batch of switches? Or are MTH reatrax an inferior product?
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