Hi. At this point I have put down about 20 turnouts and about 50 pieces of flextrack, all Atlas standard (code 80 I think it is), and are now at a point where I need to order some more. But but but, I’m not really happy with the way it looks, so I was wondering if I should rip it all up and put down some Atlas code 55 track instead, including their turnouts. Has anyone used their new code 55 track ?, how realistic does it look ?, does it have the right track profile instead of the code 80s inverted T profile ?. See I think that if I want to replace it, I should do it now before I do any more scenery (I only have very little scenery at this time). Another question. I spend this weekend in San Diego, and of course I went to see the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. Their N scale layout is all hand laid, and I really liked the look of the hand laid track and specially the turnouts, so now of course I was wondering if I could do the same (meaning, do I have enough patient to hand lay track). I have read a few articles on how to hand lay track, both HO and N, but I haven’t found any place to buy the track or the pcboard strip used for ties. The local hobby store doesn’t carry any of it. I would really like to try it out. I know it’s very time consuming, but after having seen the hand laid turnouts, the standard Atlas turnouts just looks to much like toy. What would YOU do ? continue using Atlas code 80 track and turnout ?, replacing all with Atlas code 55, including turnouts ?, replacing all track with code 55 and hand lay turnouts ? or ….. (I just copied this from HO where it ended up by mistake) Thanks Jesper
That all depends on your budget, your patience, and your concept of good-enough. Code 80 will be good enuff for me, altho I'd like to use c55, it is pricey. Con-Cor has a 'yard sale' going on, with 60% off all kinds of stuff, incl. Atlas c80 track... If you tend to count rivets, C55 will be better, if you just want to run trains, and are not too worried about the unprototypical look, C80 is cheaper, and easier to find.. Good luck!
Jesper, I am in roughly the same quandry you are. I had a fully functional dogbone in code 80. Now I am redoing an end of the loop and a 4' module with code 55 (Atlas). I will get this track this week. For about the last month, I have been practicing handlaying turnouts. I have a couple of articles from MR and found 2 good sources for info on the web: http://www.wic.net/trainworx/ you can get all of the ties, and some other supplies here, the only thing I buy locally has been rail. Take your time, and draw up a couple of turnout diagrams and just match the parts to the diagram... Good source of diagrams can be found at: http://www.urbaneagle.com/data/RRturnouts.html I use windoze and I needed to copy the templates at 133%. No affiliation to either site. Good luck, and give handlaying a try, you might like it. I have really enjoyed making turnouts, and just completed a #10 crossover which is butter smooth. Amazing how fast you see improvements as you build a couple turnouts. nodima
Jasper, I believe Micro Engineering still makes N-Scale Code 40 in 3' flex sections. It looks great from what I've seen in a store. You would still have to make your own switches, but ME does sell Code 40 rail in 3' sections. There is a company (Trainworx, Inc.) that sells #8 RH and LH switches, along with the full line of ME products. Trainworx also sells a full line of wheel and truck assemblies that are compatible with Code-40. Also, if you send them your engine (or just the trucks), they will turn the wheels down and modify the trucks. Their website is: http://www.wic.net/trainworx/ [ 29 January 2002, 14:59: Message edited by: Hank Coolidge ]
I made a decision, finally !! Today I went to the local hobby store, and they had just received some of the new Atlas code 55 tracks, and what a difference from the old ones. So I have decided to replace existing visible code 80 track with the new one from atlas, and to replace (over time) the turnouts. I know there are some problems with the wheel flange bumping on the tie head, but I only have about 30 cars right now, so they will all be replaced with MT low profile wheels. But I must say that the new tracks looks sooooo nice are compared to the old one. Jesper
Just in case anyone is wondering about code 40 turnouts, I believe BK Enterprises makes a preassembled turnout as well as turnout components that just need spiked down, and gauged.
