I am just beginning my first layout and am still in the planning stages. I have selected to create a variation of the California & Comstock RR track plan that I downloaded from MR. I have a couple of questions, the first of which is when building roads, how wide should small town streets be when including the road, space for parking, and sidewalks or to simplify, how far between the building fronts? The next question I have is regarding turnouts. I started using Bachmann E-Z Track to build the layout and after spending a lot of money on it I discovered that I don’t like it very much. But I have invested too much into the track I have to switch to something else so I’ll make due. One of the first sets of EZ Track I bought came with two turnouts. I had no idea at the time that there were different sizes, so I bought some more of the same type. When I made a passing siding with these the tracks appeared to be much too far apart which I found out later about the other sizes. My question is, what size turnout (I am leaning towards a #4)should I be using to build a passing siding And will a full size 18 inch curve piece bring the two tracks to be parallel or will that be too long? Also one final question why are the Bachmann EZ Track #4 turnouts so much more expensive than the ones that came with my track pack. They don’t appear to be much different, other than the ones I have now have a curve at the end and what is the purpose of the ones with the curve.So far after trying to build that track plan they seem to be pretty useless and with the expense of the #4s I don’t want to buy something that I can’t use. Thanks for any advice you can provide.
Welcome to the forums.
Not sure how much help I can be, but I will give it a shot. I am assuming you are in HO
Road width: the era that your town was built will make a difference. Some towns the buildings are far apart and have diagonal parking on both sides, others have only one side of parallel parkiing. A road about 3" wide works fairly well,a bit wider for a newer roads, narrower for older country roads. Sidewalks can vary in width too, depending on space available. I’d say a 3’ wide sidewalk would be about the minimum you would want to model.
I am not familiar with the E-Z track, but did your original turnouts come with a slight curve in the divergent route? If so, were there some short pieces of curved track in the package? If they are like Atlas Snap Switches, the ones with a slight curve can make parallel passing sidings using the shory curves to bring you back to parallel. (If they are 1/3 curve sections, it takes 2 to get to parallel.) The #4 switches look very similar, but are different. ( I bought some one time and the fellow didn’t know the difference. When I told him he said it was probably why he had trouble matching them up. You are not alone.) I’m not sure how, other than with flex track, you can get parallel tracks with #4 or #6’s.
However, all is not lost on the extra turnouts. They will work fine for single sidings or you can make ladders, if you have several of the same #. You can also make an adapter track by modifying the end of one piece of E-Z track to butt up to cork roadbed, then you can lay flex track on that. If you don’t like the looks of the E-Z track, you can use it for background tracls, hidden areas and yards, where ballast, dirt and spills have pretty much burried the ties… Some folks have managed to ballast E-Z and similar molded base track and made it look quite passable.
Good luck,
Richard &nbs
Richard,
Thanks for the Advice!! It will help a lot. I still don’t know why there is such a big difference in price though. The #4 Turnout is almost twice the price of the turnouts with the curve. I love the way the EZ Track looks, I just don’t like the way it stays together. I have busted the rails off two pieces of straight track trying to join them together quite easily. The first set I bought came with Power Loc which I like much better. I could hold the oval track straight out and it would still stay together. The only reason I didn’t use that is there there doesn’t seem to be much of a selection of the Power Loc. Anyway thanks again.
Kevin
Before I switched to n scale from HO, I received some E-Z track to run my train on the floor. I think that it stays together pretty well. I think that the turnouts that came with the sets are made to a radius, so that they will work as part of a curve without any modification. I have no idea why the #4 turnouts are more expensive, although they might be thinking they could make more money because modelers would buy them for a specific track plan. Personally, when I wanted a layout and switched to n scale, I went with flex track and Atlas turnouts for more flexibility. I still have the E-Z track for under the Christmas tree and it works good. A note about E-Z track, buy the gray roadbed (nickel-silver), the track with the black roadbed does not hold up as well.
Excuse my total ignorance of this type of track, but are you sure that the power lok and non power lok is supposed to work together? You’ve learned a lesson that most others in hobbies have also, knowledge saves you money or maybe it would be better to say a lack of knowledge costs you money. If you lucky it doesnt cost you too much. In the beginning and especially before the internet, it cost me alot. It didnt take too long before I learnt to research everything online first. This saves time, money, headaches etc. Example, using the wrong adhesive for a particular project, or mixing enamels with acrylics etc,etc.(hey, I was young) I’ve improved as a modeller soo much as a result of the internet, its incredible. Good luck to you and keep the hobby fun.
To answer your question about track radius, I would want to know what era are you modeling and what locomotives and length of rolling stock are you going to use. Usually, a # 4 turnout is too small for a passing siding. I would use at least a #6 turnout but I use a # 8 turnout because I run 2-8-8-2 Y6b of N&W as my largest locomotive. As far as streets in a small town, I use 2&1/2 inches for the road. Measure the size of your autos and add that to each side. I do not use Bachmann EZ track so I do not have any answers for those questions.[2c]