HI THERE
Has anyone here made a permanent layout with Kato HO track ?
If so, did you do anything special ?
Pictures welcome !!
THANKS
WRGMILW
Are you a member of the NMRA’s WISE Division? If so from time to time Larry Pizur’s N scale layout in South Milwaukee WI is on tour and he has an elaborate and very nicely done layout entirely using Kato unitrak - he likes to change the track plan regularly! It was also on tour during the NMRA national convention last month. What ever he did in N would seemingly be just as possible in HO.
Dave Nelson
If you check back in the January issue of MR you’ll find the start of a series of articles about The Salt Lake Route an n scale layout construction from start to finish an outstanding model railroad. It’s in n but all the same principals can be applied to HO. I can definitely see how it can have some advantages as well as some limitations but it seems to be growing in popularity.
Note that the OP’s question was about HO, not N scale.
Where’s Stix? He’s the forum’s big champion of Kato Unitrak. Since my opinion of ALL sectional track is no secret, I won’t repeat it here.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - on flex track with hand-laid specialwork)
I have a small HO layout largely built with Unitrack.
It is very well made and if you are in a hurry as I was it can do a reasonable job for a small layout.
The #6 turnouts are the best, the manual #4 is the worst with the power #4 somewhere inbetween. The manual #4 has a plastic frog while the power one is metal and although they are supposed to be the same number, the construction is different.
The appearance is good for molded plastic but I think the roadbed is too high and without ballasting it doesn’t look that great.
I have never had a problem with electrical contact and my layout has been up for 3 years.
It is fairly expensive but I found Kleins to have about the best price.
If I were to build another layout in HO I would go with flex. As it is I will be starting an N scale layout soon and in that scale Unitrack is very popular. I won’t be using it but will go with Atlas code 55 as the Unitrack just doesn’t look right.
CN Charlie
HI THERE GUYS
THANKS SO FAR !
I already own $750 worth of the track !
I Quess my question is how do you attach the track to the bench work?
Do you nail it down ! or just leave sitting there !
Second how do you handle grade crossings ?
Have a great day !
My response is HAD, well sort of. While living in a small temp apartment with limited space, I built a rolling table (5x9) to store/test/run some On30 trains. I had started with a simple Bachman loop set, and could not find any Bachman turnouts in my LHS. They had a Kato track set that I bought at deep discount and ordered another (also at deep discount). This gave me somewhere to store my equipment, test run new equipment, and a place to set structures so I could enjoy model railroading until I found more permanent living space. The track operated very well when properly assembled, but as they say, " It is what it is"! It may well be the Cadillac of sectional track, but it is still sectional track. Every radius is fixed and of a predetermined length. With no means to create transitions to curves, equipment “Lurches” into each turn of the track. Though I have not tried, I believe elevation changes would also be difficult. For me, and maybe me alone, those are enough reasons to NOT build a permanent layout with Kato Unitrack.
Hope this helps more than it hurts
Kevin
OOPS, While I was composing my post, you added to your original post so I will try to be of more assistance. Because mine was designed to be totally removable (my table was build to be reused as a workbench for assembly of cabinets and furniture so it is very stout), I used double stick tape to hold the track in place. I also ballasted some of the spots around the layout to try different techniques for ballasting and also to anchor the track a bit better. This resulted in a dovetail looking cross section which seemed to be quite solid (but it was only up and “completed” for about 6 months, and gently rolled out from the wall for use and back when I needed the space. I have heard that some people use clear latex caulk which seems to bond anything.
Hope this helps more than it hurts
Kevin
To fix your plastic ‘ballast’ base in place, smear a thin layer of acrylic latex caulking on either side of your proposed (and then proven…) center-line. You must have a good idea that your intended track arrangement actually works for you and your trains. Once you establish that, draw a center-line or a right/left side line against which you smear a thin layer of the caulk. Just enough that the plastic base gets stuck in place, not enough that it sinks in more than about 1/32 of an inch.
Go cheap on the caulking. Look for bargain basement Cheapo brand at builders’ supply stores. It’ll work just fine.
-Crandell