I inherited a large collection with 100% Kato Uni Track. It has a lots pieces, turnouts, crossovers and accessories. Uni track was just coming out when I left the hobby. SO do I use the uni track and then use flex track for any additional mileage I want? Or do I see the uni track and go with all regular flextrack with new turnouts etc? Uni Track kinda locks you into a design to a certain extent. Opinions?
Welcome, MM. Unitrack is a very viable product to use for an N Scale layout. There is a wealth of information available on it, and there are many excellent examples of elaborate layouts created with it. It does not have to look artificial. My own home layout, the JACALAR, is Unitrack, except the leads to the turntable. (See link in my signature). Layouts with flex track are certainly more flexible (pun intended), and the use of Code 55 does give a more realistic look to the rails. It really all depends on what you want to do with your railroad; where you want to spend your time.
I have a fairly decent size layout using all Unitrack. THERR RV... http://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/t-h-e-r-r-reborn.64636/ Some people love Unitrack...some people dont. I find Unitrack easy to use. I can pretty much make any track design I want with it. If you have a large collection of it and I where you...I would just use all Unitrack to make your layout. If you are a stickler for things being 'Prototypical'...including things like tie spacing under the track...Unitrack may not be for you. Like all things in this hobby...it comes down to personal preference....JMO
I believe Unitrack is Code 80 and Kato make adapter sections where you can transition from Unitrack to Atlas Code 80 flex track. This way you can use both and more importantly use Atlas turnouts which are cheaper than Unitrack turnouts (unless you inherited those too ). Unitrack also tends to oxidize less so I would use as much as you can since you inherited them. The Unitrack conversion track is Kato 20045.
Another considerstion for Unitrack is that everything is in 15-degree curve increments. This is REALLY handy for putting together layouts quickly and have them run well. BUT, it is not so convenient when trying to make things fit into odd spaces. And, it gives an unrealistic-looking uniformity to the track plan. One thing I do with Unitrack is to make psuedo "easements" into my curves by using a section of 19-3/4" curve between my straights and my tighter curves. If you are blessed with enough space to use 19-3/4" as your minimum radius, it still looks better to start with a section of 28" radius.
It is explained in the very first post of my "THERR REBORN" thread...http://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/t-h-e-r-r-reborn.64636/ Short answer...easier to move a layout intact then to tear it down and start over
I guess I should explain how I came into this collection of trains. I had a neighbor who I only really knew in passing. He had lived across the street from me for 30 years. He came over one day to tell me he had just gotten home from the doctors. He had gone in for a backache. He came home with 3 months to live. Advanced pancreatic cancer. I stepped up and started taking care of his yard and minor chores cause it was obvious that he felt like crap. He lasted about 7 weeks. By then I had met his wife. She was confined to a wheelchair due to a medical condition and I never saw her outdoors because they didnt have a wheelchair ramp. So a few months after his passing, my wife and I started helping out with shopping and minor stuff. The house was a disaster. The husband had been a bit of a hoarder. I spent 2 weeks cleaning out the basement. THEN I got to go upstairs to his bedroom. It was knee deep in debris. After I cleaned out the mounds of unpaid bills, magazines and containers, I found a table in the middle of that room covered with a sheet. I pulled back the corner of the sheet and found train track! I pulled the sheet all the way off to find a practice layout...and LOTS of brand new locomotives and layout supplies that were never even opened! His widow told me I could keep the layout as payment for all my work. Here's a pic of his room with the sheet covered layout. The man never threw out a container. If he bought something, the box was still there with any paperwork and the receipt for it. I filled 6-60 gallon trashcans with just the empty boxes and paperwork from auto parts, guitar parts, household items like smoke detectors etc. Just imagine if YOU had hoarded 30 years of the boxes that contained everything you ever bought! It was there. So the RR stuff is at my house. Now that the kids are all gone off on their own, it's time for an epic layout!
You already have the Unitrack so go with it and see if you like it or not. You have already conquered one of the pitfalls of both flex track and Unitrack which is cost. You can't beat free. So try it. You may like it. If not, you can always go the flextrack route.
Goes to show that life is fragile and sometimes short. Enjoy every day of it! I think you can honor the man by using his tracks and building your epic layout. Be sure to show us pictures!
I've made some decent tabletop layouts with the Kato double-track that I have. Sadly, no room for a more permanent layout like I use to have. Here's my last temp track a few weeks months ago.
Play with the Unitrak. Then, if the hobby takes you elsewhere... change! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Well I decided to stick with the unitrack after watching a video on the N Scale facebook page. Convinced me that the danger of a derailment and subsequent hazmat release on a remote part of my layout was too high. I just snagged a ton of unitrack on ebay for a good price so Im off to the train room to prepare!
