What are some good ways to test old Kato Unitrack? I was going through some boxes and found some Kato unitrack (n-scale) that is easily pushing 15-20 years old that I used when I was a kid. I put together a small table layout and discovered the unijoiners and track conductivity was a lot less than I remember.
Now that I'm no longer a kid with money to spend, I was thinking about putting together a small layout on a door, hopefully reusing as much of the unitrack as I can. I know I'll need to replace a lot of the unijoiners. However, to save myself time and money, is there any way to test unitrack to make sure I'm only replacing bad unijoiners short of putting it in a loop and seeing how the trains behave on it?
Thanks!
(Apologies to the moderators if this is a duplicate post. I thought I made one on the same topic on Saturday but the forum seems to have eaten it!)
Hey there, welcome aborad!
Your posts are moderated until you hit 10, but since it's a weekday they may get them moderated through quickly, but be patient when replying.
I am building a 4x8 display layout for our train show here in Urbana at the end of the month. The thread is here:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/281001.aspx
It uses Protraxx, which Kato makes for Blackstone, but in HOn3, otherwise the same as Kato's other offerings under its own brand. Yes, replacing the little plastic-and-railjoiner thing that connects the track sections is an option. Best way to quickly evaluate each section is to connect 2 pieces at a time, then use the Continuity setting on your multimeter to see if the gap conducts properly.
If not, then there are several options. I use CRC 2-26, a plastic-safe lube and conductivity enhancer, applied with a toothpick inside the metal railjoiner. Just takes a little dab. A small amount applied with a cork end to the rails will help everything run better BTW.
If the railjoiners are distorted, use some fine needlenose pliers or gentle pressure applied some other way to straighten.
Third option is to replace 'em with new, but this should be the last resort and most should work better after the first two options are taken.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Cleaning the track and the unijoiners should be sufficient!
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Please stick through the moderation delays and join our conversations.
What Mike said is all great advice. I use HO scale Unitrack, which uses the same Unijoiner as the N scale track, and have very few problems.
Most can be fixes with just a little pressure on the metal part of the joiner to close the gap.
In several years, and a lot of use, I have replaced less than 10 unijoiners.
-Kevin
Living the dream.