Sorry you guys have probably been asked this a quintillion times already but what do you say is the best track to use in a layout. As I said in my first post I am a total beginner!! I do have quite a lot of track from a Christmas train it is the Bachmann EZ track system. My problem is it the kind with the black base and I am afraid it won’t look authentic enough. What do you guys, the pros, go with in your HO layout? Do you use this type or is that for more of a toy type thing that can be assembled and disassembled quite easily and quickly. I have been looking at the normal flat HO rails, but would like some imput before buying.
Atlas rail is nice, and i hear Peco makes quality items - can’t speak from experience though, i’ve only used Atlas rail, as that was what i could get at my LHS (and i’ve just gotten back into the hobby after a few years)
Talk to your local hobby shop for advice. Several companies make sectional track and three foot flex track. Then there is handlaid that a more experienced modeler will use. All the track options range in appearance and cost, not to mention the size of the railhead (HO code 100, 83, etc.). Look around and talk around before you make the buying decision.
The first thing to consider is the material the actual rail is made from. I believe that Bachmann track with the dark base has plated steel rails. You should avoid this and buy track with nickel steel alloy (a type of stainless steel, called “nickel silver”) because this is affected much less by corrosion and will allow your trains to run better by providing better electrical contact.
The Bachmann “EZ Track” with the grey base and dark ties has “nickel silver” rail and will connect to the dark track. If you will be changing and adding to your layout as you build it up, the Bachmann track will last better than track without a base, because it is held together by clips in the plastic base as well as by the rail joiners (sometimes called “fish plates” after the plates used on real track). The little metal rail joiners are what carries the power from rail to rail, and if they get bent and loose, your power will be distributed unevenly, causing slow running of the train.
If you are going to settle on a track layout and stick to it, flexible track will allow you to decide your own radius and spacing of switches, but flexible track has to be cut to fit each time it is used, and if you change the layout a lot you will have less and less of each section.
The plastic base represents the stone ballast, and in a permanent layout you can use track without a base with cork underlay and sprinkle a ballast dust over it (after speading glue) to give the appearance of real ballast in the colour and quantity you like.
Pre made track with a plastic base is less realistic, but is quicker and easier to lay and gives a finished appearance more quickly, leaving you to use something to represent roadways and grass to get an area looking finished.
Both Peco and Atlas provide flexible and fixed track sections without the large base, and if the rail joiners are treated carefully, the fixed sections can be joined and moved many times, and matching sectio
HEY HEY I have a twin. I have a Bachmann EZ track system (black tracks) that I got for Christmas 3 years ago. I personnaly don’t think they would work well for a MR but if it’s your first time just experiment with them instead of spending $$$ on new track. By the way though I swapped from HO scale to N scale now and I am selling my Bachmann EZ Track Trainset.
I used the grey-ballasted EZ-Track that is nickel-silver, and added real ballast over it in a suitable depth so that it looks quite good. The secret to EZ-Track and similar stuff is to ensure that your joins are all LEVEL! There seems to be a tendency, in my limited experience, for the joins to want to dip on each side, and your longer steamers (if that is what you will run), will tend to want to keep the front truck elevated due to the drivers being on higher track further back. On curves, this means a derailed and bucking front truck. It is the worst when you are on the minimum radius for the loco…go ahead, ask me.
There is nothing inherently “wrong” with EZ-Track, but it has limitations if you want a lot of freedom in your design, and the dipping-at-the-joins- problem can be a pain once the track is ballasted and glued.
If you would rather not spend any money on track for the present, thanks very much, then use what you have, prove it by running your most unforgiving items in both directions, and then replace it as you can.