Hey all you seasoned engineers! I have just took the plunge intot he hobby and have a basic question. Is Bachmann EZ Track preferred over the Atlas Rail? I bought Bachmann from Amazon to get started, but just bought large lot of Atlas with an estate sale. The Bachmann has plastic base while Atlas has none. I expect I will need cork to go under and wonder which is best in durability and cost. Alos can i connect the two?
There doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in EZ track on this forum. The DCC crowd likes to wire ever bit of track so short pieces of track mean more work. Also the bigger layouts here, consume 100's of feet of track, so lack of flextrack is a liability.
That said, the Bachmann forum is full of people who use it. It doesn't look realistic to me, but I'm old school.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Okay, thanks for the wisdom. I am planning to take up my flex track and see if the Atlas will connect and work okay. How much track can you successfully power with one controller?
Joe,
You are not quite comparing apples to oranges. You have two factors in your question, track wth plastic roadbed attached and track with no roadbed. As long as the E-Z track has nickel silver track, not steel, I haven't heard anything against the track itself, but there have been some negative comments about the turnouts. I don't have any, so cannot give an opinion. Again, as long as the Atlas track is nickel silver it should be OK, assuming it is not damaged in some way. I have heard fewer negative comments about their turnouts. You are right, you will need cork road bed to bring up the Atlas to the height of the E-Z, but otherwise should connect to each other. You may have to modify rail joiners where the two typpes meet, if there is a difference in the web thickness of the two, a simple matter.
As far as I have seen on these forums, as long as it has nickel silver track, the brands are similar. The differences come in the flexability of the track and the appearance of the ties. Turnouts seem to be where the greatest difference in brands comes.
The appearance of any track with attached plastic roadbed can be improved by careful painting and addition of ballast. You may be able to search here for some examples.
Good luck,
Richard
How much?
DC, or DCC? Soldered joints, or no?
Bigger issue is current draw. So, with only one locomotive, and soldered joints, with additional feeders, the largest layout you can imagine. More than one locomotive? Now it depends on current draw of the more than one.
The issues to remember are clean track, power (feeders everywhere, especially if DCC), and how many locomotives (and lighted cars). Power drop is an issue in HO scale (and all other scales) through rail as it does not conduct power quite as well as wire. Rail joiners do not reliably transmit power (especially if loose), and can cause drops in power. Too many locomotives (and lighted passenger cars) can overload your power supply.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Joe Owens How much track can you successfully power with one controller?
Not enough information for those that could answer your question. With DCC one must select an appropriate gauge of wire for the length of the layout. Then the limiting factor is power supply vs the number of engines/sound devices running. That is easily over come by adding more boosters. With DC and one controller, you are only running one engine. It probably varies with the brand of controller and if and how many blocks you are powering at once.
If you are depending on rail connectors and point to rail contact to supply power everywhere, you may have reliability issues down the line.
BigDaddyWith DC and one controller, you are only running one engine.
I use DC and rarely do I run less than two engines and many times 3 in the same block.
Jim
If you want a track system with a roadbed I would look at Kato Ho track. It is absolutely bullit proof and the switches are just as good.
I use it on my layout and it performs without any problems. It looks great with code 83 rail. A little more expensive then other similar track systems but it is by far the best.
DAVID FORTNEY If you want a track system with a roadbed I would look at Kato Ho track. It is absolutely bullit proof and the switches are just as good. I use it on my layout and it performs without any problems. It looks great with code 83 rail. A little more expensive then other similar track systems but it is by far the best.
Yes! +++++
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
To all who responded pleas understand I am starting from ground zero and the luist of questions is unending. I do not know what DCC is in definition but understand it relates to enines and controls, yes? I just bought a large collection with enough curved track to make a 10 foot diameter circle (or more). I am trying to decide if I should keep the Atlas and sell the EZ Track I have to recover some of the cost of the investment.
DCC ands for digitized command control. It allows you to run multiple motives at the same time on the same track using a special controller and decoders (computer chips) in the locomotives. It is costly, but the price is starting to go down. For a more serious layout, I reccomend using atlas. You have more track layout options, as you are not restricted to sectional pieces. With roadbed and ballast, it also looks more realistic than ez track.
-Peter. Mantua collector, 3D printing enthusiast, Korail modeler.
Joe:
Quick, dirty and incomplete answers.Due to lack of my knowledge.
DCC stands for Digital Command Control. This is a method of using a decoder in each engine to receive orders intended for that engine. This permits many engines to operate independently on the layout at the same time.
DC stands for direct current. All engines in an electrical block receive the same power and move in the same direction. Changing the polarity of the DC current causes the engines to reverse direction.
As stated above, with one power pack and one engine, and feeder wires every six or so feet, you could run an engine on all the track that would fit into a high school gym.
For DC multi train operation you have to divide your layout into electrical blocks, wired so that each of two or more power packs can power any block, but only one power pack to a block at a time.
As I still operate DC my knowledge of DCC is already exhausted.
There are many books/articles availible one each system.
Local club members and people at shows are usually helpful as well.
Dave
Welcome and don't worry about asking questions. Lots of good resources are available on the subject of DCC as far as learning. Plenty of people here willing to ask questions and you also might want to utilize the "Search" button to see if your question hasn't previously been answered. Another option you might want to look into if you decide to go the Atlas route is homabed. In many cases it will outlast cork roadbed.
Thanks Da Stumer, Davidmurray and Left Coast Rail.
Another question, and yes I searched for it first. How can I determine the radius of track I bought as part of an estate sale lot?
Two possible ways:
Some brands have the radius on the back in fine print embossing.
Make a semi-circle on the floor, measure the diameter from track center to centre and divide by two.
Have fun with your trains
The nickel silver Bachmann track has a grey base.
The steel has a black base.
Below is a link to the Bachmann website with an HO forum. Loads of info about Bachmann products.
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/board,2.0.html
Below is just one link about DCC with emphasis on sound though sound is not always necessary. Again, lots of info.
http://mrdccu.com/
Be advised, wiring for DC layouts is usually #20 or #22 wire with block wiring.
For DCC, usually #16 with #22 feeders. No blocks in DCC.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Good evening all,
Normally I post in the land of the tinplaters, but every once in a great while I venture over here. I have a very small HO layout, mostly to run some equipment from my younger days. I tried several times with Atlas to get a smooth running track plan. I have the manual dexterity of an amoeba and never could lay track well enough to have a train circumnavigate consistently. A few years back I found out about EZ-track and tried and an oval and a switch (nickel silver). If this had been around in the early 80s, I never would gone into tinplate. Trains run very smoothly and the switches function perfectly. As far as the DC/DCC issue, I run one locomotive with DC and all is fine. Again this is a very small layout so your mileage may vary as they say in the car ads. I hope everyone has a good day.
Keep on training,
Mike C. from Indiana
My Yuba River Subdivision was built about fifteen years ago using the Bachmann EZ track in one section where I needed some bullet-proof track circling a mountain that was about 6 feet above a cement garage floor and had relatively sheer cliffs. I used their 35-1/2" radius, all joints soldered and feeders attached every four feet (I run DC) and I've had no problem with the track at all. One thing I would caution--the plastic base of the EZ track raises it about 1/4" above track using standard foam roadbed, so some adjustments need to be made when combining the two. The EZ track will take ballasting--I used thinned Elmer's white glue. Here's a photo of what it looks like when ballasted and the rails painted.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Here is one link on suggestion for matching ez track and atlas.
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php?topic=8212.0;wap2
You could try a google search for ez track matching atlas like I did for maybe a few more links.
Regarding EZ track I used it on the old SIW and had to do quite a bit of filing and tweaking of the turnouts to get them to work without derailments. The newer turnouts seemed better than some of the older turnouts though. I questioned a Bachmann rep about this at a train show and he said they had tightened up on the tolerances following complaints.
However the new SIW will use Atlas turnouts and flex track in the hope of avoiding the need to tweak.
Joe Staten Island West