Greetings all again. Sort of hard to do this.
Been a long time since I posted, but was lurking the last few years. Horrible divorce and no interest in much of anything for the last few years other than the bottom of a bottle. Doing tons better now.
Anyways, sold all my O gauge Lionel, but kept some of my N scale stuff. Re-reading Chris333 Erie layout build sparked a long lost interest.
So with that said, I am contemplating starting a layout. I have the HCD already. 36x80. Pretty much all set, but thinking about track.
You all have always been pretty cool with me and honest, so I need advice. Since I am sort of starting out again.
Plans are this... any rolling stock I get will immediately get FMV wheelsets.
I was thinking peco c55 but then thought about atlas c55.
Then of course I read about the bullet proof and pretty much flaw free operation of kato unitrack.
I have fallen in love with the look of perfect trackwork, detail of Chris333 but I know I could never do my own turnouts.
If anyone remembers me, I model the NYC.
Im going to try to be a more prolific poster.
Btw, I still love this site, even with all the asshats! lol
Welcome back. Model railroading and cycling saved my sanity and life a couple of times in my life.
Looking at what your heart and eyes love "...I have fallen in love with the look of perfect trackwork..." and "...I will immediately get FVM wheelsets..." I am hard-pressed to advise you to go with track that doesn't have a pretty close to prototype look.
Frankly, FVM wheelsets don't offer any advantage from an operational aspect...they are strictly cosmetic. "Perfect trackwork"...to be "perfect" should look pretty close to prototype and operate flawlessly. However, there is no such thing as "perfect trackwork" as compromises in N-scale from an appearance standpoint will always have to be made if for nothing else than the very limited range of rail available that represents a scale height used by any North American railroad...which is code 40...actually code 43...which is a nearly correct height, but still suffers from the railhead being too wide and square, with the railweb being waaaay too thick....but, it's all we have to work with.
So, this means that ANY N-scale trackwork you decide upon will not be "perfect". You have to decide how much of a compromise you're willing to make...especially if you really are "in love" with realistic looking trackwork.
Yup, Kato Unitrack is pretty durable, easily fiddled around with and reusable if you don't get too enthusiastic about gluing it down, it's generally reliable, and it works really well on tatami mats or shag carpet...BUT, it has serious compromises from a cosmetic viewpoint. The rail height is way too tall, the rail profile isn't even close to a North American rail profile, the ties are the wrong dimensions, they're spaced too far apart, the "ballast" looks fakey, true spiral easements are impossible to achieve, large radii are not available, the turnouts look really toy-like, and you have obvious, highly visible seams where each section ends. Finally, it's expensive.
Sure, you can make it look somewhat better, as several modelers here have done...but, it takes a LOT of effort, and bluntly, it will NEVER look as good as either Atlas 55 or Micro Engineering 55 or 40 flex on cork roadbed, painted, ballasted with real rock ballast and weathered...and you will NEVER be happy with the compromises you will have to make to it to get it somewhat acceptable.
"But, it's bulletproof!" I consider my hand-laid code 40 track and turnouts to also be "bulletproof". The word "bulletproof" just means that it takes less effort to make it reliable. Other track can also be ultra reliable, as Dave Volmer's layout so graphically shows.
Dr. Dave's layout proves a point...which neither he nor anybody else has pointed out...and this point is this: You can use whatever track you want...even in combination...and if you lay it carefully and use good track-laying practices, it will function very reliably.
In addition to this point, the caveat is...it takes a lot of careful work to do what Dr. Dave has done, and additionally, it takes even more work to modify track that initially looks unprototypical enough to approach cosmetic acceptability.
Since your first layout is going to be a small, HCD layout, I really don't see why you shouldn't go with Atlas or Mircro Engineering turnouts, and Atlas or ME flex in code 55...on cork roadbed. It'd be a great learning experience, and with basic soldering skills and good track-laying practices, it should run just as good (or better) than snapped-together Kato Unitrack...and it will look exponentially better...which your eyes will love. ME #6 turnouts have the added advantage of not requiring a switch machine since they come with an over-center spring which holds the points where your finger switches them.
If track appearance wasn't important to you...which is what your post and comments look like you are trying (unsuccessfully) to convince yourself of...then why go with FVM wheelsets?? Why run scale-looking, expensive, metal lo-pro wheelsets on track and rails that look as non-prototypical as Kato, Peco or Atlas 80 track? It doesn't make sense.
Since good-looking and flawlessly functioning trackwork is the basic foundation of your model railroad, my advice to you is to go with proven products that give you both good looks as well as sufficient reliability, which are Atlas 55 and/or Micro Engineering products...and save some money while you're at it.
Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore
