When laying O27 track, I have discovered that, there sometimes can be a slight rise and fall depending on the roadbed or surface to which it is fastened. Also, sometimes, there is a “banking” issue.
Based on your experience: Is FasTrack forgiving when it comes to an uneven base and does the system ever require “banking” on curves?
As always, many thanks.
From my experiance with Fastrac it is not that forgiving, as you must add a small fitter piece if you do anything but a basic oval or circle. Try to do a slight dogleg shape and you will need at least one or two small fitter pieces and the fitter pieces even though close to one & a half inches long cost just as much as a ten inch straight. As others will mention as well Fastrac is very expensive to buy. Stay with 027 or O gauge tubular if you ask me.
Lee F.
Lee: At this point, I tend to agree but I am always “second guessing” myself so I toss out a question for reassurance. (Sometimes, it backfires and I change my mind.) Thanks.
I use Fastrack all the time on an uneven hard wood floor and it doesn’t mind it nor is it affected by it, at least not noticeably though I suppose if a surface was really warped it would react but the roadbed is very rigid.
The remark about needing fitter pieces for anything other than an oval, simply isn’t true. I have made a reverse loop using standard pieces, alright you might have to put in a few wiggles to make up for not having the exact sized piece you need. I lay and relay my ‘carpet central’ every week to a different layout design and there’s always a way to get something to work as long as you aren’t slavishly bound to some specific design.
When I say ‘wiggle’ I mean that dodge of using S bends to make up or lose an inch or two somewhere. In the last resort you can always use the Fastrak to tubular converter pieces to insert some tubular to solve a need to fudge a connection.
Expensive though it is, Fastrack is a really good roadbed and the switches are marvellous, I have yet to have a derailment from backing freight trains through switches or my use of S bends. If you are doomed to run temporary floor layouts, like me, Fastrack is far superior to tubular.
Yes, Fastrack is very rigid. I set it up on the lawn occasionally and it performs well. In that respect, I have to say it is excellent stuff. I agree it does not have as much flex as tubular and cannot be fudged as easy. It does have some flex to it however. Its rigidness makes it difficult to bank. It must be fastened well to suck it down. As far as cost is concerned. If you add ties and ballast to tubular track, you end up spending nearly as much time and money as what Fastrack costs. Take that for whatever your time is worth. Fastrack switches perform flawlessly and are much better performers than tubular. Fastrack switches are made in a much broader variety than tubular as well. I like the looks of it. Even with postwar. It has more of a postwar catalog look to it than tubular.
Fastrack is rigid and that can be both good and bad. It pretty well stays put on any surface and stays together…good. Expensive, well, I have over 200 foot plus 20+ turnouts and it does add up, but with a little dry brushing looks great, trains run great, and I have no running problems. That to me means a lot of frustrations are not encountered for the added price…well worth it to me. Regarding fitter pieces, I suggest getting several when you are going to actually make your layout. Although, if you check with either the Fastrack Yahoo group, or with RRTracks software, they have a table that allows you to make up just about any configuration and know how to make it with what pieces are needed. One other downside is that, if left on a plywood top, can be noisy. With some sill seal foam backing, and some good planning, it is much better. reasonable running speeds seem to be the best thing to keep noise levels down.
dennis
Fastrack is the best track out there in my opinion also … that includes switches and crossovers … all of it . You may pay a little more but NO HEADACHES and derailments of expensive engines . As said below … has a good looking roadbed already there and the ties look darn good also . Sorry but tubular is a thing of the past unless you want that ole time look … but I don’t advise it for late model trains . As 3railguy said … you’ll end up with as much or more in tubular and alot of hours roadbedding and straightening connections and still be worse off . Shop ebay … you can get lower prices if you want to take the time to shop there . It’s well worth the effort . And if he " 3railguy " sets it up on the lawn and it works great … what else can anyone say ? And as far as noisy … I’ve NEVER heard any quiet tubular track mounted straight to plywood . If someone else has … please enlighten me … LOL .
THOR: JOHN: DENNIS: OLE TIMER: Like I replied to Lee, I like to toss out a “second guess” question.
Although I’m presently a ‘tubular’ guy, I am really torn between the old and the new on my next project. “Cost” will certainly be a factor. This will probably be my last “new” layout (where did I hear that before) so I would like to cover all the bases. Thanks for the information.
Fitters are what Fastrack lacks. You often connect a zillion shorties to tie a plan together that goes beyond simple geometry.
Noise is also a problem. Things like carpet foam or adhesive weather strip are a big help.
Fastrack was originally designed as a kid’s floor track system. It became well liked and sort of exploded into the serious side of the hobby. Anyhow, it’s a great track system.
I would like to recmmend Fastrac for floor layouts. If you are building a layout on a platform use track made by Atlas or Ross. Ross has a very nice line of track now. It comes with a molded roadbed where the track fits down inside of it. Your platform should provide the rigidity needed.
George
Thanks George.
I agree with George. If you are a tubular kind of guy, you would probably warm up to Gargraves and Ross. Especially if you run magnetraction. Gargraves and Ross use tin plated steel where Atlas uses nickle silver which doesn’t work with magnetraction. If I’m not mistaken, Atlas has discontinued steel? If not, the selection is rather limited.
For my own purposes, I like Fastrack for the table top toy appeal more than anything. And the fact it assembles quickly and performs flawlessly.
Thanks John.
John,
I’ve been following track discussions for about a year…ever since I joined the forum and began my re-education on O-guage toy railroading. IMHO you ahve summed up the track choice decision parameters very nicely and suscinctly!
Personally, where radii and switch options permit, I think I will stick with tubular 031 profile, when not I will use gragraves track and ross switches, and for temporary, seasonal layouts I will try fastrack. This is predicated by my predominance of postwar magnatraction engines, plus a smattering of prewar.
And Frank53 has shown us how good 031 tubular can look!
Absolutely. Frank does beautiful work. However, he insists on replacing those beloved switch machine covers and lanterns with…here this now…SCENERY!!!
THE HORROR!!! [:O]
Heck yeah!! My layout will look like his, or…at least I will shoot for that. I can do it.
Fastrack is an extremely nice system, but I have already invested in 0-27 so it makes sense for me to stick to that, plus I don’t have room for switches on my layout, but I obviously do have a crossover, and some of my locos,(particularly the ones without coil spring loaded rollers) loose contact while going over it and go into neutral), my 726 does it sometimes also, but it’s rollers have alot of wear on them. But I agree Fastrack looks awesome, especially with a black wash over it’s road bed, and rust painted on the sides of its rails. It really brings it to life.
I am using Fastrac for a small layout, about 3 feet by 9 feet and have spent over $100.00 for the track. Power tracks are expensive and I have one uncoupling track($35.00), no switches, so the cost of Fastrac adds up very quickly.
I don’t ballast my tubular track, just add plastic cross ties to make it look better, so cost is a very big factor for me.
Lee F.
Berk, does your 726 have trouble on the curves on O-27, or do you use wider curves with the O-27 profile? I thought the 726 was “O-gauge” (O-31)?
Dennis
No, I use a minimum of 0-27 profile 0-42 curves on my layout. I use to use the 0-27 curves when I had smaller temporary layouts. If I had to go with a smaller layout I would probably use the regular O-guage track with 0-31 curves because I just love how that track looks.