I have an opportunity to purchase a huge lot of arnold rapido n scale track, it carries the Revell model co.brand. I would like to know the compatibility of this track to any other newer n scale track types. My layout now consists of primarily Atlas snap track, so if I choose to buy the Arnold Rapido track will it connect with my Atlas track to expand the layout??
No, it won´t!
Arnold Rapido track has a different shaped rail which is not compatible to anything newer. It has a round shaped rail head which was meant to keep the tracks clean and I doubt that any newer equipment will roll on that without derailing at the turnouts.
I cannot recommend to buy it.
It been years since I have heard Rapido mentioned. I still have three of their N-scale Geeps, which though being quite noisy, run like champs after 30+ years. The one aspect I remember about Rapido’s track which made it incompatible with other brands was that the rail ends were staggered at the joints, unlike the Atlas or Peco track where they are evenly aligned. Thus you couldn’t mate Rapido track to anything else without one of their special adaptor sections.
Boy, when you talk about Revell and Rapido track you are talking about the stone age. I would mail this stuff off to GEICO because I can’t see anyone else except perhaps their cavemen having any use for it!
Actually I have to edit this posting: why don’t you even off the ends of the (straight) sections and stack them up somewhere towards the back of your layout representing premade track sections ready for use the next time there is a derailment? You might even consider putting these on-board a MOW flatcar as part of a work train.
Hi,
I started using Rapido Track because of the Enfield & Ohio project railroad in MR in 1966-1967. I liked it better than other items. I never found problems with nipping off a section of rail to connect Atlas to Rapido and (at the time) I preferred it to Atlas. I would use it again. I like the darkened rails especially.
I left N scale when I discovered the D&RGW narrow gauge and Nn3 was not reasonable for me at the time. I actually laid some Nn3 track (true, not Z gauge) and built several D&RGW cars for it. It was one of my first scratch building attempts and I still have all 5 models (see my home page for photos www.dougsrrshop.com). I was stymied (at 13-14 years old) by Nn3 motive power.
The only issue I had with Arnold at the time was the lack of US based prototypes. They did correct that but I had switched to HOn3 by that time (c1970-72).
Thanks for helping me recall the memories. I was big into Apollo at the time and I had my N scale train go by a launch pad with a 1:220 scale model of the Apollo-Saturn 5 rocket!
Doug vV