Layout track

[Anonymous]

What is the best overall o gauge track ...gargraves atlas fastrak etc. for use on layouts? Considering ease of use electrical problems ,ease of hooking up accessories, dead spots etc what would you consider best? THANKS

[Anonymous]

personally I like fastrack,nice tight fit and built in roadbed it works for me.
joe

[csxt30]

[#welcome][#welcome] Hello Conrail507 It may depend on the type layout you have in mind. I can tell you quite a bit about Gargraves. Now for a bigger layout & for more of a scale look, it will be cheaper in the long run, maybe, as you have to put down the ballast & solder wires or buy conecters. You shape it yourself, but not hard. For each 37inch section, I pay less than 4dollars. Now for more of the traditional smaller layouts you may want to use the others, and tubular track is still very popular & inexpensive. There will be more info coming, so, hope this helps a little for now & welcome. Don't forget the coffee pot & Sunday Photo Fun!! Thanks, John

[FJ and G]

welcome to the forum, Conrail

Each track has its pros and cons. I use tubes but others swear by Atlas or gargraves for its realism; but if you run carpet theres fasttrack and realtrax

what's a body to do?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info!!!

[garyseven]

Well that would be hard to say, sir. They're each outstanding in their own way.

[tjsprague]

Conrail,

I think it also comes down to the look you're trying to create. Are you going hi-rail or toy?

I recently sold off a bunch of Atlas track because I finally decided that I have a fairly small space, and like to run older postwar and prewar Lionel, so the "toy" look works for me.

Regarding your convern about "dead spots", which ever tack you go with, put lots of leads from the bus wires to the track. Instead of lock-ons, I slipped spade connectors into the bottom of my tubular rails, about every 2 1/2 feet. It's nice to have absolute smooth power. Plus no stalls on the hard to reach parts of the layout.

Good luck.

Tim

[Anonymous]

I choose to stick with good ol' 027 tubular. Cheap, works great, you can easily cut it for special situations, or insulate a rail for operating accessories. You can cut and stain your own wood ties, buy matching color plastic ties, or go with classic Lionel look.

[overall]

I was in the "track system of the month club" for a while i.e. I tried sveral different track systems on my layout. My favorite is Atlas because of the switches. Every locomotive I have operates smoothly through their switches. For some reason, my Williams E-9's do not like Lionel 072 switches.

George

[Anonymous]

I too was a member of the "track of the month club". I've used 027, Gargraves, O Gauge, and Super O from time to time. I liked them all for different reasons and they all worked fairly well.

But since then, I've been using new Lionel O Gauge tubular track. I've had good luck with 40" straight sections and 042 and 054 curves. I also like the nostalgic look of this type of track. Magna-Traction seems to work well with Lionel track as the outside rails are connected to each other. The Remote Control tracks and the 022 Switches seem pretty reliable.

The one big drawback with Lione O Gauge track is it's not very realistic looking. I guess that the type of track one uses is purely subjective because they all work pretty good but they all have their own little quirks.