EZ track is not

[SpaceMouse]

Tom,

The ballasting will happen before the structures go back--along with repainting the ground colors.

[TrainFreak409]

While I am satisfied with my EZ Track, I wouldn't use it on a layout. It's great for setting up on carpet and tables, especially when you need to quickly assemble or take down something. But on a layout, I would go with flex track. It's cheaper and has the obvious flexable advantage. Not using it for a layout is just my opinion though, you can do great stuff with EZ Track, and is convienent in cases where flex track isn't.

EZ Track turnouts? I'l agree, they leave a lot to be desired. I don't have many locomotives that will actually handle the diverging route. They derail the majority of the time, so I can only use a few when the switches are set for the diverging point.

[twhite]

As to making the EZ track look more prototypical, painting and ballasting it just like any other track will make it look just fine. I've still got EZ track on the Yuba Summit portion of my railroad, and the only way you could tell that it wasn't Sinohara would be to get down there with a magnifying glass, and in that case you'd lose your balance and fall through the mountain, anyway, LOL!
Tom [:P]

Yuba Pass--the track is Bachmann 35.5" radius EZ track. Works fine.

[jeffers_mz]

I ran into a similar issue here, but not for the same reason. In the soft volcanic a***hat makes up the mountains in the area I'm modelling, the watercourses cut mostly deep, V shaped valleys with the walls running 35 to 45 degrees in slope, right down to a 10 to 20 foot cliff over the final drop into the box canyon tight on both sides of the stream.

Habitable areas are few and far between, and normally happen when a landslide or slump chokes off a creek, damming it up, and causing a large area to silt up flat. Eventually the creek finds a way through to the downstream face, the lake drains, and a wide, gradually sloping valley floor remains, imposed within the original deep V shaped valley. This is where towns usually end up.

I needed a way to keep the gentle slope down to the creek, and still be flat enough for a town. Foam obviously wasn't the answer, I don't have a saw long enough to make a flat slope like that, and couldn't hold a planar cut if I did.

I settled for a series of gradual topo lines represented by layers of plywood. Each step is the heigth of a piece of luan, about 5/16ths inch. After two of those spaced maybe 6 to 12 inches apart, the next rise is a piece of 3/4 plywood. If need be, the series could repeat until the whole area had a gradual slope to it. It shouldn't be too hard to fill in the stairstep edges with lightweight spackling compound, feathered out for the gradual slope.

In your case Chip, reality really offers two prototype choices. Either the track grade is engineered to drop down to station grade, or else the station is raised to match the track. Without firsthand knowlege of railroad practice, only construction experience to go on, I suspect that the latter option is much more frequent than the former. The fill excavated for the station's foundations is probably used to backfill around the exterior of the foundation, creating a low angle drainage swale down to nominal grade. For long platforms, I suspect additional fill has to be bought and trucked in, since the area generally is too large for foundation fill from the station to raise the larger area to finished grade. Again, plywood topo outlines will do the trick.

Something rarely discussed is that although railroad roadbeds are generally higher than the surrounding area, mainly for drainage reasons, the area on either side of the ballast is usually lower than the surrounding grade, to form a pair of drainage ditches. If your plywood, or other non roadbed grade shim material stops a little short of the edge of the ballast area, creating these ditches with a little drywall mud should be pretty simple too.

[howmus]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cwclark

...sometimes those "better products" aren't always cracked up to what they make them out to be...chuck

To interpret - "better products" (easier to use, fast, RTR, etc) means "more profitable". LOL[}:)]

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by fearincognito

just a comment is that i thought of using eztrack but am going to go with cork because of realizing that extrack wouldnt be fastend down good enouph for my likings looks like if i bumped it a little when it was glued down it would break loose, anyways didnt like the idea

It stays down just fine with caulking. Even better if you put foam all around it and drywall it in place.

[icmr]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cwclark

I saw that in size of the ez track when it first came out...that's why i stuck with flex track on cork roadbed...sometimes those "better products" aren't always cracked up to what they make them out to be...chuck

[#ditto]



Victor

Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]

[Anonymous]

just a comment is that i thought of using eztrack but am going to go with cork because of realizing that extrack wouldnt be fastend down good enouph for my likings looks like if i bumped it a little when it was glued down it would break loose, anyways didnt like the idea

[SpaceMouse]

The one good thing about the size is that they get the turnout switches inside the turnout so they aren't exposed nor do they need to be driven from below.

[icmr]

In the DVD MR sent out it shows how to build the WGH layout. They use cork sheets to raise the buildings to the right height.



Victor

Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]

[cwclark]

I saw that in size of the ez track when it first came out...that's why i stuck with flex track on cork roadbed...sometimes those "better products" aren't always cracked up to what they make them out to be...chuck

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cacole

All of this just proves the old adage that you get what you pay for. EZ track is for people who don't care about scale or appearance.

Or didn't know any better. I figured it out just after I special ordered 17 turnouts from my LHS. If I knew then...well someone might have gotten a deal on eBay.

[cacole]

All of this just proves the old adage that you get what you pay for. EZ track is for people who don't care about scale or appearance.

[SpaceMouse]

Jerry,

The turnouts were and still are a "b word".

One more coat of the drywall and I'm going to let paint, ballast and shrubbery do it's thing. Thanks for the suggestions.

It's just that making the track the right height was more time consuming than laying and tuning the track.

[wjstix]

Try getting "Ribbonrail" 24" straight roadbed (available from Walthers). It's beveled pre-cut upsom board (looks kinda like the EZ track...only without the track). If you turn it upside down, the bevel should just about match the slope of the EZ track ballast. Might not be perfect but I bet it will be close. It comes in single track and double track, the double track would be the best bet for putting buildings on, for a big building you might need more than one piece. You can cut it (with a little work) with an Atlas saw to the exact size for the building you need.

[Roadtrp]

As a beginner I've used N scale EZ track and been quite happy with it. Yes, it is a little high but that can almost be an advantage. First off... look at some 1:1 track. It is almost ALWAYS higher than the surrounding landscape.

For structures that need to match track height, I put them on a piece of wood or foam to bring them to the proper height. Any height difference with the surrounding landscape is easily solved with some contouring of the surrounding land. Since most land isn't perfectly flat anyway, I don't see it as a big problem.

Now if you wanted to complain about EZ track turnouts, I would join you in a minute.

[;)]

But even with the troublesome turnouts, I’ve found if I file the points a bit before installing the turnout I really don’t have much of a problem with them.

[:)]

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by twhite

Chip--I used quite a bit of EZ track originally on the Yuba River Sub (still have some of it on some dangerous curves). To get regular track and roadbed to match in height, I laid Woodland Scenics N-scale foam roadbed sheets under the regular HO roadbed and it matched perfectly. A little expensive, but it works.
Tom

Actually I have a mix already. The track you see on the risers is all Flex. Just tonight I put in another turnout and and I am putting in an all flex staging yard.

[twhite]

Chip--I used quite a bit of EZ track originally on the Yuba River Sub (still have some of it on some dangerous curves). To get regular track and roadbed to match in height, I laid Woodland Scenics N-scale foam roadbed sheets under the regular HO roadbed and it matched perfectly. A little expensive, but it works.
Tom

[FCnota]

Well Spacemouse, I also used E-Z track for my layout. While my reasons for using it my be different from yours (my 7 year old son wanted to run trains, NOW !!!!) I'm pretty happy with it. While my layout will NEVER be in MR, and I wouldn't begin to compare mine to what I've seen in these forums & in MR, it has served its purpose. My son can run trains on a decent sized layout. We work together on the scenery, learning together. One day I'll redo everything with handlaid track, but for now if something is a little off, it's OK. Don't loose site of why we are all doing this, for enjoyment!! By the way, from the pic's you've posted, I think your layout is very well done!! Keep it up.

[selector]

I understand, Chip. I just placed mine on top of 1" foam, and ballasted over it. I have no yard, as you well know, so the problem doesn't exist on my layout. Instead, I have the problem of no passing, no yard,... (what a headache).

May I suggest underlay, if that is doable cheaply? Cut to measure, sprinkle on some powdered you-name-it, and spritze heavily. Cover track first, natch. Come back next day and you are all set.

-Crandell

[SpaceMouse]

As some of you know my layout was built using EZ track. Recently I noticed that the track was too high for all my structures so I set about raising my layout. First I added 3/16" foam poster board. Because I could not fit it right to the edge of the roadbed, I used painters caulk because of it elastic ability to fill the gaps.

Well the caulk shrank so I went over the caulk with drywall mud. That seems to be dropping as well and it looks like I will be needed a second coat.

A lot of work just to get i to the right height.