As I put my bigger layout on hold for a bit, I am pondering doing a Kato N scale Unitram layout using one of the basic starter sets, then equiping it with all the neat Kato and Tomix buildings to represent some large Japanese city. Mike
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
My layout uses HO Kato Unitrack. I would like to see Kato do the Unitram street railway system in HO. Unfortunately, their N line is much more extensive than their HO line.
I have not build a Kato Unitram layout, but I have dabbled in N scale with Kato Unitrack and Kato locos and rolling stock and I am impressed with the quality of that stuff.
The Unitram layout system is designed for Kato structures and Kato rolling stock, but you can easily run Tomix, Modemo or other N scale equipment on it, as the choice of Kato streetcars is somewhat limited.
Kato structure kits are easy to build.
I have an HO Kato Unitrack layout...a folded dogbone along the basement walls, going on 10 years old now. Never completed all the scenery due to things like children's slot car racetrack which is now above the railroad tracks on one end.
I had all manual turnouts (#6, I think) and passing sidings. Unfortunately, a little scenic cement flowed underneath a couple and then after that happened the spring tension to keep the points closed well enough for good electrical contact was not the same as when the turnouts were new, and I eventually began seeing voltage drops on the mainline. This was easily solved by removing all sidings except for one long single ended siding which has been retained.
Since I enjoy "railfanning" my own trains and have a long enough single track mainline such that I can actually run two or even three trains at the same time, even in plain DC, my minimalist track plan works adequately well.
The advantage of the Kato system is that once I completed my sketch plan and knew how many of what piece I needed, actual track placement took less than 2 hours, with minimal assistance from my father (who did all the benchwork). So I was up and running in one evening.
Subsequent track revisions only took as much time as it took to again figure out how many of what piece I needed.
The track was subsequently glued down directly to the foam insulation board table top with Liquid Nails. If I had it to do over, I would place cork roadbed over the insulation foam prior to gluing down the track, as it can be a little noisy. The Kato roadbed just by itself acts as a sound tunnel to amplify any motor/gear noise.
If the track is not glued down, it will creep over time.
John
I started with a Kato Unitrack layout (N-Scale) and found, as others have stated, it is pretty bullet-proof. I have since moved to Peco flex track only because I wanted more flexibility (no pun intended) in what I could do. The good news is there is a large catalog of track options in Kato N-Scale; the bad news is you are still limited to what you can design based on that catalog.
Richard
I model in N using Kato Unitrack and am really pleased with it. The whole Kato track and accesory system including powerpack are as stated above, pretty bullet proof. As with their locomotives and rolling stock everything seems well engineered and made with quality materials and put together really well, the only exception that I know of being the SD70Ace locomotive with 6 axle truck issue that some have posted about on a lot of n scale fourms. On a trip to Japan several years ago, I picked up a ED75 Japanese electric locomotive and been a Kato fan ever since.
Ralph
The original post is about Unitram layouts. After the first two replies. the thread is all about Unitrack. How quickly we stray off topic.
Dave
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
Of cause it would, as Unitram is compatible with Unitrack and their advice is to use unitrack for what ever unitram fails to cover.
The only use I've seen exhibition wise is a basic operating unitram loop the local Japanese rail modelers have in the cityscape background on their modules. Any other tram based exhibition layout I've seen are HO and they obviously don't use unitram.
Sorry, I live in Pennsylvania, in the U.S., patronize some really fine train stores and never heard of Unitram. Since there are a number of folks on these forums who occasionally make a spelling mistake, I thought perhaps that might be the case here.
We only see a minor portion of the Kato N scale line up here in the states. They make sooooo much more for the home modeling crowd in Japan. Some really neat streamlined high speed bullet trains, the Unitram series, which is really cool and I know of a couple guys that wish Kato would do a USA version of the trams and street trackage. But even the Japanese version wouldn't look to out of place on a modern era USA layout. Ebay or a modeling friend in Japan is the best way to find the stuff Kato doesn't offer thru thier USA division, which is a real shame IMHO! Mike
wjstix My layout uses HO Kato Unitrack. I would like to see Kato do the Unitram street railway system in HO. Unfortunately, their N line is much more extensive than their HO line.
Not sure if you are talking about just the track or the teams included, as I recently saw an HO version of the prototype Unitram sell on eBay. In Japanese HO (1:80), the only manufacturer I know that made that specific tram is ENDO. Not sure of the item number or even sure where to begin searching, but I just wanted to let you know it existed. From what I could tell, it looked really nice. I think it sold for $300.
I've had a Unitram layout for a couple of years now. It's designed to fit on a 42" square coffee table. The layout includes 8 Unitram turnouts and a center crossing, as well as all of the sidewalk plates. The interesting thing about the track plan is that it creates reversing loops that don't require isolation. This is because when you reverse, you actually changet tracks. So it is very easy to set up the layout such that the two track are running in opposite directions naturally and so no traditional reverse loop is implemented. The one thing this does do is to eliminate the isolation between the two tracks. So depending upon how the turnouts are set, both trams can end up on the same track. Individual control is only possible if you use DCC.
Thankfully, the Bachmann Peter Witt trolleys come with DCC standard. I have found that once you've run them in for a while, these trolleys operate very well over the Unitram turnouts and crossing. Recently, I switched over to DCC for the layout using the NCE starter set. This really opens up flexibility in that you can operate any number of trolleys as well as a small freight using a diesel switcher. For that, the Kato NW-2 is excellent and there are drop in DCC decoders made for it.
recently, Katousa ran a poll where they asked what American trolley prototype would be of interest, because they were considering offering a right hand version of the Unitram track system. One option was a PCC trolley. That would make a spectacular addition to my layout.
Overall, I can say that this is a very satisfying solution if you have limited space, are interested in urban scenery, and like the idea of operating trolleys as opposed to long freight and passenger trains.
ChristianJDavis1 In Japanese HO (1:80), the only manufacturer I know that made that specific tram is ENDO.
The HOj PORTRAM was made by Halling in Europe for ENDO...... hard to come by (even in Japan) but they do run very nicely.
I just noticed this thread is 7 months old, so not sure if the OP is still interested. I remember seeing a post on the Model Railroad Hobbyist forum recently by a guy who has a small unitram layout. It's in the discussion forum section in a recent topic called "track cleaning/ wheel cleaning".
Anyway, if you're just looking for inspirational photos of what's possible, just do a Google image search for "Kato unitram layout" and you'll have enough photos of amazing unitram layouts to keep you busy for a while.
Dan Stokes
My other car is a tunnel motor