From what I can tell, there is only couple pennies difference per inch of track between flex and kato’s unitrack. The unitrack switches are about double the cost of normal switches. I know it is much easier to get track up and running with the unitrack, but with flex track, you can make any curve you like. Is there any other things that make one better than the other?
Thanks, Fred
In N scale, Kato makes a pretty large selection - straights, curves, double track, single track, superelevated curves, bridges and viaducts, etc. It’s unlikely you wouldn’t be able to do what you want with the Kato track. Plus with flextrack you have to put down something like cork roadbed.
The smaller the scale, the easier it is to have a problem with the track, like changes in weather causing buckles in the track. With Unitrack, you don’t get that.
If you’re using flat-top construction (like plywood), you can lay out the Unitrack the way you want it, and then raise it couple of inches with Woodland Scenic’s risers (and create grades if you wish). That allows you to have track go over rivers or roads or another rail line without needing to saw up the plywood.
That’s it. I’m moving to N scale. [bow]
Rich
Wow, and I didn’t even mention the Unitram streetcar system, or the buildings, or the turntable!
I’ve checked several companies I order from, and I believe it amounts to more than a few pennies. The cost for an entire layout is what prompted me to use Atlas flex track instead of Kato flex track or Kato Unitrack. The cost of cork roadbed was not nearly high enough to make a major difference.
Disclaimer: I did not check every company or store. It’s very likely you’ve been able to find a source that makes the Kato track prices competitive.
Reading it again, I think the OP may have been comparing Kato N flextrack to Kato N Unitrack, rather than comparing Unitrack to Atlas or some other flextrack.
The Kato to Kato comparison would be pretty close. Going by list price, a 31-13/16" piece of Kato flextrack and a 35-7/16" strip of Kato cork roadbed each sell for $6.00, so a total of $12. A pack of four Unitrack 9-3/4" straights (39" total) with attached roadbed also costs $12. So it’s like 38 cents vs. 30 cents per inch.
Derf, sorry about that. I misread your original post.
I would argue from my experience in HO, that the ease of construction and reliability with Unitrack makes it worth the extra cost. The last layout I built with flextrack required me to twice a year fix track that had buckled or otherwise moved due to the change in seasons. Also, seems like I was regularly soldering on new feeders because some section of track was losing power. Neither is an issue with Unitrack.
Stix, you gotta stop posting about the merits of N scale and Kato Unitrack. I am gettting more and more tempted to rip out my large HO scale layout, sell it all on eBay, and go N scale.
Rich
No problem. I’m thinking about switching to N from HO due to space and have been watching several videos and comparing prices to see if there was a clear winner in one system over another. I like the ease of the unitrack Everyone I’ve seen say that the unitrack is very reliable. I have about a 10 x 9 spare room and like seeing trains run versus just switching.
What are the most reliable brands of freight cars and engines in N scale?
Thanks, Fred
Flex track allows, wel, flexibility. With Unitrak you get the switch alignments and track alignments that Kato provides.
With flex track and non-ballasted track components, you have much more flexibility.
The big difference is in yards. Yards laid with non-ballasted switches and flex track look much different tha yards laid with Unitrack, the non-Unitrack yards have tracks closer together and look more prototypical.
I’m looking to possibly build the Housatonic Valley from the August 2008 issue of MRR or possibly a door size layout. The Housatonic is within inches, the same size as what I have built for my shelf layout. All I would need to do is add depth where the curved track is on the ends.
Good points. I have always felt that Kato Unitrack was built for running trains, not so much for performing operations in yards.
Rich
Well a pretty good chunk of my HO layout is a 5-track yard that serves my ore dock. I used No.6 switches so my large articulated engines have no trouble moving around. So far it works well; it hasn’t been scenicked yet but I suspect it will look OK.
In HO, Kato Unitrack pieces are set up to use 2-3/8" between tracks. I know most HOers use 2", so yes the tracks of my yard are a little farther apart than they might have been had I used some other type of track. But I don’t know if visually it makes that much difference - guess to some people it could.
p.s. re appearance, don’t know about N, but Kato’s HO Unitrack has code 83 track that is much thinner than Walthers or Atlas rail - I’ve been using ‘semi-scale’ metal wheelsets as replacements on some of the old plastic-wheeled cars I still have, and they work great on the Unitrack.
I also don’t find Atlas HO flextrack with the big nailhead in the middle of every 7th or 8th tie all that realistic looking.
For locomotives in N, I have found Kato to be the best. They run great and they pull well.
I don’t find ANY brand of sectional track with molded on roadbed all that realistic looking, but I’m not criticizing anyone who feels it is best for their needs.
These days most people are not attaching Atlas (or any flex track) with track nails in the center of the ties.
Look mom, its magic, no track nails.
Most people these days are gluing flex track down.
This track is glued down with clear PolySeamSeal adhesive caulk. And once painted and ballasted will look pretty realistic.
Sheldon
On my last layout, I did secure the Atlas flextrack with track nails on ties between the rails. I thought that it was hardly noticeable until years later I bought a mini-cam. I took one look at the video and about fainted. It looked like a series of bowling balls up and down the track. On my current layout, I still use track nails to secure Atlas flex track, but I installed the track nails on the ties outside the rails.
Rich
With my Unitrack, I paint about half the ties brown or dark gray, and paint the sides of the rails with Neo-Lube which dries to a flat dark gray. When the track is in it’s final place, I add some ballast along the sides and then add some weathering over it all. (My layout is set in early winter, so it’s white; if it were summer I would do a black wash.)
It’s kinda like an Atlas signal tower or water tower. We’ve seen so many built right out of the box - shiny green plastic etc. - that it’s hard to accept that when properly painted and weathered, they’re actually quite nice.
My objection to products like Unitrack, beyond the overly uniform look of the roadbed portion, is the inability to make natural flowing trackwork, smooth, true spiral easements, broad curves that are actually two easements back to back, etc.
Sheldon
Evening
Unitrack, Schmooze attack.
Perhaps that could get pretty serious. Wish Orson Welles was here to do another radio show.
Have always loved flex track. “The land of Do Whatever you Please”. Summed up in two words, (Curves & Swerves). Works best in given parameters.
One must go out on a tangent here. But just as long as your longest passenger car fits with a little extra splash in length, It’l go along way in-between curves.
We’re all good here.
My Vote is Flex Track all the way my Brothers.
TF