Yesterday I stopped by Peco's HQ in Southern England. I've been using their track for 40+ years. Our club dictates it's use (code 55) on our US modules, but lately some have used Atlas. I'm not about to stone our rebel members, I understand why. Atlas looks better, for starters. I looked at the 83 line Peco offer for the US, HO scale ,and asked if they'd thought about an equivalent for N. The guy behind the counter didn't know, but understood what I was talking about.. Oddly , what he did say was that unifrog was here to stay and eventually all their points would be this design. I'm sure manufacturer's read forum posts too. What do you guys use, and why?
Micro Engineering Code 55 weathered flex track (wooden and concrete tie versions), and Atlas turnouts and some sectional pieces. Why? Prototypical tie spacing and because it's real Code 55.
I am not familiar with the term 'unifrog'. The terms I am familiar with are electro-frog and insul-frog. That being said I have gathered a lot of Peco C55 electro-frog switches mainly because of the live frog they employ.
Maybe this sheds some light on the subject and and maybe not. https://www.peco-uk.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=3360&P_ID=18132 I think this is the result of DCC and a note below the turnout picture has a comment to simply snip a wire to make the turnout power routing again.
I've been doing all new construction in Peco C55 for about five years. You have the same flange clearances on the inside as C80 so it works with all legacy stuff. It's just as rugged, it just looks much better when ballasted. You can still use C80 switches and crossings with it if there is geometry that can't be had in C55. I've mated it up with Atlas C80, Peco SLI tiny switches, Kato Unitrack, you name it. Takes a licking, particularly on modules. By the time I paint weather the track and ties, I really don't see the problems with tie appearance either. This is T-trak, and yes, it takes a licking during setup and teardown. Regular Atlas would likely zip-tie on rail separation. I have nothing against Atlas C55, but there's no way I'm changing over all my MT wheels at this point and trying to turn and regauge wheels on legacy stuff. If you're looking at 'raw' Peco C55 v. Atlas C55, no comparison, but after ballasting and painting it still works for me.
My use of Peco is confined to the turnouts simply because of the short compact length of the ST-5s and 6s and the power routing and I use code 80. For flex track I am using Atlas because it is more flexible the Peco, and I have tried both. Atlas is more adaptable to radiuses under the 9.75. As far as change is concerned the Peco turnouts I just received are just like the turnouts several years ago so any change has not happened yet and according to several internet discussions won't until the current molds are going to be replaced. And like Randgust I am not going to go through the trouble and expense of changing out wheels. I still have older locos left and that is another area I will not go through of machining flanges. As far as a substitute for the short Pecos with their tight radiuses the only other out there is Kato as long as it is code 80.
Guys. To confirm, the Peco staff member I spoke to confirmed that present designs would remain until the tooling needed replacement.
After going to and reading the Peco website as Posted by John Moore, it appears that this 'unifrog' switch is for HOn3 and C70 track. Nothing that I saw on the website to indicate this was coming to N gauge. But that is not to say it won't. As far as the stiffness of the Peco flex track is concerned; that is caused by a higher percentage of nickel in the bras/nickel alloy we call nickel silver. Nickel hardens the alloy making it stiffer. It may also have something to do with maintaining the conductivity aspect.
I use the Peco C55 because it provides a vast improvement in appearance over any C80 track, because it allows me to run some old rolling stock for which I have sentimental feelings (rolling stock from my teenage years), and because it makes it easy to mate up with some old C80 turnouts I still have. I also like using Peco turnouts (mostly C55 but also some old C80) because it is easy to use them manually and the points snap into place in either setting. I will grant that the Atlas C55 is just beautiful, especially their turnouts.
I use Peco C55 because I can get it without problems and old rolling stock runs over it. I forget to mention that I coupled it with old C80 Roco track what work fine for me. Yes Code 40 looks much better.
I use Atlas code 55 and their code 80 for hidden staging track(since I had some flex left over when I had to dismantle my old layout due to selling the house and other life events). It is the tie spacing and overall appearance that lead me to using Atlas code 55 it over Peco code 55.
