The Kato Unitrack library comes standard with the base install. kato-n.xtp in the Parameters folder. Cheers David
Wait, wait, read this! Don't get frustrated if you can't get your layout to come out quite right with XTrakCad's Unitrack plotting. The 19" and 28" R curved Unitrack sections give you considerable latitude for making significant adjustments to the effective radius. To appreciate what I'm saying, look at THIS: I love to show this picture to people who think that, with Unitrack, you can't capture those beautiful, free-form curves that you get with flex trak. If you're talking about working with a minimum main-line 19" radius, Unitrak IS flex track! (Well, almost.) The important point is this: XTrakCAD won't let you plan a layout that includes the trackwork shown in the photograph. It's PRECISE, but it's not ACCURATE!!!! Note: If you're running passenger cars or TOFC/COFC equipment longer than 50', be sure to create easements by starting a curve with one 28"R, continuing with 19"R, and finishing the curve with one 28"R. That's what you're seeing in the photograph above. I think it's great to use XtrakCAD to develop one's layout ideas, but don't become a prisoner of it. Get some Unitrak and mess around with it, too! --Bryan (Charlottesville, VA)
Bryan, That Unitrack looks fantastic. Are you going to paint and weather it too? Between your picture and the thread about painting and weathering it (versus the Atlas Code 55 turnout thread) I may be doing the Unitrack thing for my next layout. Maybe weathered and painted Unitrack for the mains and Peco Code 55 for sidings and yards...
Code 55 Unitrack - I am not making this up Dave, yes, absolutely. However, I'm not planning to use the dark brown color that most people seem to prefer. On the (former) D&RGW Helper-Soldier Summit run, the ties can appear quite light in color, perhaps due to high altitude bleaching: And now, while we're on the subject of hacking Unitrack: Code 55 Unitrack? :shade: This is still at the experimental stage, but I've discovered that it's possible (indeed, quite easy) to slip the code 80 rail out of Unitrack sections and slip code 55 rail back in. The Unijoiners work fine, too. This wouldn't work for turnouts, of course, but it appears to be a really cool way to get prototypical-looking sidings. In the picture I posted earlier of the three-track main line (modeled after the D&RGW prototype at Kyune, Utah), the center track is actually the siding (it's in the center so that it can be easily accessed by trains moving in either direction). Let's experiment. Grab a hunk of Unitrack and some Atlas code 55, and try it. Is it still properly in gauge? Bryan Pfaffenberger Charlottesville, VA a.k.a. 'bryan9'
I used MS Paint to do my track plan after it was done up for me in Xtracad. The Xtracad plan gave me a working idea what would fit where and then I could eyeball where the Unitrack would fit. After that I just laid track down. My main smooth curve goes from 15" to 19" to 28" radiuses in a 3foot deapth.
