First off hello everyone , my name is Dave . I am new to this forum but not model railroading . I am currently planning a new N scale layout . I've been out of the hobby for a while and planning a new layout with some Kato unitrack I've had stored away .
The other day I stopped by the LHS and saw some of the Atlas c55 track and on a whim bought a pack of 10" curves . Well after comparing it to the unitrack I now want to build my layout with the Atlas c55 .
I noticed how thin the Atlas c55 ties are and I am wondering how hard it is to get good ballast covering with out "overdoing it " given how thin the ties are on the Atlas c55 . I've searched but have not been able to find pictures of ballasted c55 N scale track .
I've been reading posts for a few weeks and this seem to be an active and informative forum .
Thanks -Dave
A word to the wise -- take some of your locomotives and rolling stock and make sure they can all run on code 55 rail without the wheels bumping over every crosstie. A club member built a layout using Atlas code 55 track and now he's going to have to tear it all out and start over because a lot of his older engines and rolling stock can't run on it.
Thanks for the heads up cacole , because for this forum (and others ) I am aware of the wheel problem with c55 . All my locos except for one are good to go c55 . As for the rolling stock I am all ready planning to convert to Fox Valley metal wheel sets . Love the sound of the cilck-clack of metal on metal .
Hi Dave,
I have done my entire layout (9 x 10 x 10 around the walls) with the Atlas c55 and have had success but not without much effort to ensure my track work was near perfect as the margin for error is very slim. In my opinion nothing looks more prototypical than the Atlas c55.
I currently have 6 Kato locos (6 axle and 4 axle) and all do fine on the c55 although I have heard there are some locos that don't do well on c55. I have converted all of my rolling stock to the metal wheelsets as well and things have gone quite smoothly.
My previous layout was all Unitrack so I have been where you are and I am so glad I made the switch. Flextrack opened a whole new world of possibilities!
I use standard ballasting techniques, spoon on (always better to have too little than too much) 50/50 alc-water then 50/50 glue-water applied with a pipette.
The key is to just take your time and do small sections at a time.
I can email you pics of the c55 ballasted if you like, just let me know.
Good luck and keep us posted!
RG