Rolo,
I did not disassemble my track. I painted it right where it lies. All I did was make a wash out of black craft acrylic paint and brush it on the ballast. The diffence is astounding. My finished ballast is a medium dark gray, but depending on where you live, it could be any color.
Jim
I had to go look for this - here’s the URL for the site: Johnson’s Roadbed
I don’t know whether I have a real preference for FasTrack or O27. O27 is what I had first, what I recieved with my first train set. It worked for me for three years until I got some FasTrack. O27 rails are:
The downside:
I got FasTrack with the Polar Express set in 2005, and since then, I’ve been using it more regularly. IMHO, FasTrack is really the best. The pros:
There are cons, of course.
I started out with FasTrack because it came with the set and I liked the look and the way it snaps together and the switches (points/turnouts) work really well and I speak from experience of having had a lot of trouble with these in the past though admittedly with HO not O.
However after a year or two I started buying 027 partly because it was so much cheaper but also because the rail section looks better, I can’t understand why they didn’t make FasTrack with an I or T section and also because I really needed to get a loop onto a tabletop and FasTrack was just a bit too big.
My FastTrack has also started to break, specifically the grey plastic snap joiners, it doesnt seem to matter much because the pins hold it together anyway but it doesnt bode well for the switch mechanisms as they use the same plastic and have quite skimpy over center levers and pins beneath them which may well fatigue too and render the switch useless. Hasn’t happened yet, maybe it won’t but the potential is there.
On the other hand, I like the way my LEGO goes with the FasTrack. I cemented pieces of Lego - the flat grey plates - to the underside of my FastTrack so I can solidly attach working mechanisms to the track. Also I removed the center rail and replaced it with copper wire glued to the grey plastic studs that support the rails, it looks really good and unobtrusive. I built one test piece and its held up well so I may end up gradually replacing them all, beats even Super O in appearance!
The tubular rails sound better, they are quieter and yet the joins make the right clicketty clack sound, in fact the rails SOUND like real rails with the right wheel noise too. The lack of ties and ballast doesnt bother me at all and as for the so called ‘sharp’ edges of the metal rails well frankly I find FasTrack more painful to handle, its almost as bad as oyster shells. I actually try and avoid joining and disassembling it and get my kid to do it for me because I have rheumatism and my fingers just happ
Man, that rubber roadbed looks nice, but at $3 to $4 per section plus the cost of the track, you would be paying the same as Fastrack, right? Except for the switches, which apparently just hang in the air with the black rubber system? At this point I’m thinking I will just use my tubular track and make roadbed from thin sheets of foam. I think I could make some templates pretty easily, maybe a wood base with sheet metal bent around it, and just punch them out of foam. I’ll think on this and if I do it, I’ll post a thread.
I think it would actually turn out to be more than FasTrack.
Bobby, see my earlier post about O34, O42, O54, and O72, all in O27 profile. Lots of curvature variety.
Jim, see my earlier post about Popsicle-stick crossties. Cheap.
Bob - that’s good for the ties, but if someone wanted to elevate the track a little like the fasttrack, then they could just cookie-cut out some thin foam sheets I think? I don’t know if this is something I’ll do, but was just thinking. OTOH - I probably will do the popsicle sticks, thanks for the tip! [:)]
What is so bad with fastrack?! Is it the noise? Is it the plastic? What really makes people lile Frank hate fastrack so bad?
I’m split between making my layout with fastrack or tubular. The reason why i want to to go woth fastrack is the switches, theres a 100% non derailing function 2 ways, one, if the engine goes in one “backwards”, and the other is because they run so smoothly through them.
Any final recommendations?
Grayson
The only real bad part to me is the price. [:-^]
Grayson - The deciding factor for me is how big or elaborate the track plan you are using. If you are talking simple loops and long tangents of track, the ridgid track like Fastrack or Realtrax is fine. If you are doing a lot of over-under like my current layout, you need that wig-a-bility that tubular track grants. (i.e. it is really forgiving when things are off a tick).
You could use FasTrack switches with O scale tubular track. The only problem here, of course, is that you have to have an “O Gauge Transition” piece after every switch, so the track can go from FasTrack back to tubular. This isn’t really a problem, but it may be kind of difficult to do if your layout is going to be very complex.
There is nothing wrong with FasTrack. Over the past 20 years of doing this, this is why I like FasTrack:
The switches are the same height as the track they are suppose to connect to! Finnaly, after 90+ years, Lionel actually got this right. Ever see O gauge track hooked up to 022 or 711 switches on an unlandscaped layout? The track is supposed to be smooth and level! Some morons screw the track down so hard on the first piece after the switch, that the switch rails start to pull out and then you got more problems.
The switches themseleves are enough to buy this system. LED laterns and switch bases- no voltage change in the bulb or burned out bulbs. LEDs stay the same brightness no matter if your at 5 volts or 20 volts. Snappy operation, TMCC equipped.
Base radius of 36" vs 31". Don’t think that extra 5" is easier on the engine and more realistic? Think again.
Surface area of all three rails. FasTrack rail tops are FLAT which gives your better coverage than the tiny “crest” of a tubular rail. As soon as I ran FasTrack the flickering in my passenger cars stopped.
More oppourunties for more layouts (radii, 60" switches, etc.)
Stability. Every press down on O gauge in the middle of the two ties? Flimsy! Easy to twist! FasTrack is RIGID which adds incredible strenght to the entire system. Thats why there is a considerable difference in the way the trains run.
Easier to line up- no warping of the track. It has to be a certain way. If you have to fight a track system to get it were you need to go then your doing something wrong.
No dicking around with pins any more. No cut hands, insulating pins, change this pin change that pin, take this out, etc.
Looks exceptional on a landscaped layout.
Better connections.
I wonder if there was this much trouble in 1957 when super-o came out.
Recomendation? Why don’t you chose, operate and buy what YOU want.
A lot of people on this board are consistently looking for others to make decisions for them and I can not figure that out.
Personally, I think the people asking the questions are just trying to gather information, based on actual experiences. That is the purpose of the Forum. To relate knowledge, to one another. The final decision has always been in the hands of the person asking the questions.
Chuck
so because “morons” screw the track down hard it means the track is no good? Maybe it’s the guy with the screwdriver?
I’m not seeing where not having a switch bulb burn out is worth the price of a FasTrack switch, myself. Heck, I started using #22 switches that had sat in an attic for 40 years. Bulbs still worked.
Imagine how much easier a 42" tubular curve is than a 36" FasTrack curve.
Never noticed how “tiny” that crest was. [:-^]
I admit I have no idea what an “oppourunty” is, but I do know that tubular comes in 31, 42, 54 and 72 with switches. That’s a lot of layout flexibility is you ask me.
[q
Frank, do trains run smoothly through #22 switches? The only switches i have now is 027 manuals and my engines(not really cars) always bang into them, but they run smoothly through fastrack switches( I have 2 that i bought, along with some fastrack that came with a set).
Smoothly? I guess that depends. I would guess that trains run “more smoothly” through fasttrack switches. I have one tubular switch that I would describe as “not smooth” that I am replacing. Other than that, they do run “smoothly” but I would think they run more smoothly through FasTrack switches just by the design.
[quote user=“Frank53”]
so because “morons” screw the track down hard it means the track is no good? Maybe it’s the guy with the screwdriver?
I’m not seeing where not having a switch bulb burn out is worth the price of a FasTrack switch, myself. Heck, I started using #22 switches that had sat in an attic for 40 years. Bulbs still worked.
Imagine how much easier a 42" tubular curve is than a 36" FasTrack curve.
Never noticed how “tiny” that crest was. [:-^]
I admit I have no idea what an “oppourunty” is, but I do know that tubular comes in 31, 42, 54 and 72 with switches. That’s a lot of layout flexibility i