Unitrack turnouts issue.

[DKS]

I'll have to cast my vote for @peteski in this discussion. Yes, @robert3985 your turnouts are likely very robust in addition to being very good-looking. But are they practical to manufacture in large numbers? I rather doubt that. And while it's easy to pick on Kato for being toylike, a few exceptions notwithstanding, they are quite robust (and I speak from a fair bit of experience here). If yours are so wonderful in every respect and so easy for you to make, why aren't you mass-producing them? After all, that would improve the look of sooo many layouts in desperate need of your expert touch...

So, sure, Robert, keep claiming it's apples and apples. But here are some facts to chew on:

Kato Unitrack turnouts are mass-produced. Apples. Despite having made "hundreds" (so you claim), are yours mass-produced? No. Oranges.

Some of the above is delivered with tongue in cheek. (Admittedly, some is not...)

[alhoop]

From  Bob's reply #29:

"What's going to break on the hand-laid extra durable turnout that won't break first on the Kato design?"

If you don't know the answer to that it's no wonder you are not in the turnout manufacturing business.
Fanboys?? You can tell when someone is losing an argument, they resort to name calling.
Regards
Al

[robert3985]

From  Bob's reply #29:

"What's going to break on the hand-laid extra durable turnout that won't break first on the Kato design?"

If you don't know the answer to that it's no wonder you are not in the turnout manufacturing business.
Fanboys?? You can tell when someone is losing an argument, they resort to name calling.
Regards
Al

Al Al Al...calm down...I was using Peteski's own moniker he called himself when he replied to my first comment.  I don't consider "fanboy" as a prejorative and will say that I am blatantly a fanboy of Kato's fine motive power and passenger cars, and I own many of them.  Also I'm a Digitrax fanboy, as well as a fanboy of Micro Engineering flextrack and Midwest Cork Products HO and N-scale cork roadbed...as well as many other products that I find to be superior.  So...it wasn't meant to be insulting, or "name calling" at all...it was meant to be funny....especially the part about fanboys chanting in the background...which gave me a laugh!   

As for my question about what's going to break first on my turnouts before the Kato turnouts break...I know the answer to my question.  I wanted to see of you did...which you evidently don't.  The answer is "nothing on the robustly built hand-laid turnouts is going to break before the Kato's held-in-place-with-little-plastic-tabs rails snap, or the hinges pop loose, or the spindly point rails bend, or the point rail heels get knocked out of alignment, or the electricals get corroded and stop making contact."  That's enough I suppose.   

As for why I'm not in the turnout manufacturing business...I don't WANT to be in the turnout manufacturing business, that's why.  I manufacture enough turnouts for my own use nowadays.  I will not turn my hobby into "work". 

Y'know, I really don't care if I lose an argument.   If somebody can actually logically offer any valid reasons for me to lose, then I'll gladly go with it.  Emotionalism doesn't count however...logic counts. 

Nobody makes a "perfect N-scale turnout"...not Kato, not Peco, not Bachmann, not Atlas, not Micro Engineering...and not me either....welll...maybe @ednadolki does...except Code55 is too big.   But, some are "better" in some aspects than others, and some do things that the others don't, and some manufacturers offer much more variety, and RTR turnouts take a lot less time to buy and install than hand-laid turnouts do...and hand-laid turnouts are missing spikehead and tieplate details which are present on ALL RTR turnouts in varying degrees of ugliness, and hand-laid turnouts give you near complete freedom to make any kind of trackwork you want, but then, ya gotta take the time to learn how to do it, and Micro Engineering's #6 is almost the "perfect" N-scale turnout, except there's only ONE SIZE for Hell's sake!  So, nobody has it all, even Kato Unitrack...the most non-prototypical looking RTR track made, but one of the most reliable, most versatile and quickest to lay down and operate on...if you're into changing your trackplan every day!  Those of us who aren't into that...we have other, more realistic looking and equally well functioning options in most instances...that fit our needs.  But, do yer own thing, and be happy!

and Al, really...I wasn't name-calling.  Your preference for a product and my lack of preference for it have nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of our characters.  Just means we have different preferences but can enjoy the hobby equally well in our own way! 

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[chicken45]

Al Al Al...calm down...I was using Peteski's own moniker he called himself when he replied to my first comment.  I don't consider "fanboy" as a prejorative and will say that I am blatantly a fanboy of Kato's fine motive power and passenger cars, and I own many of them.  Also I'm a Digitrax fanboy, as well as a fanboy of Micro Engineering flextrack and Midwest Cork Products HO and N-scale cork roadbed...as well as many other products that I find to be superior. 

@robert3985 , you're missing one very important thing here...


...and that's Superior Super Safe #30 flux!
 

[alhoop]

Is this  rugged - like KATO turnouts?

https://preview.redd.it/1hyp1zhkmpx41.gif?width=520&format=mp4&s=4d82d73db3219ebbebd100f3f49b354b50d40d43

Al

[Dave V]

Is this  rugged - like KATO turnouts?

https://preview.redd.it/1hyp1zhkmpx41.gif?width=520&format=mp4&s=4d82d73db3219ebbebd100f3f49b354b50d40d43

Al

I bet @DKS could model that!   

[DKS]

Is this  rugged - like KATO turnouts?

https://preview.redd.it/1hyp1zhkmpx41.gif?width=520&format=mp4&s=4d82d73db3219ebbebd100f3f49b354b50d40d43

Al

I bet @DKS could model that!   

Was just now thinking... that looks like it would be a lot of fun!

[Dave V]

Philosophy of tracklaying aside, though, I would have expected more from Unitrack.

Blackstone made HOn3 code 70 "Unitrack" using Kato Unitrack joiners...straights and 19" radius curves.  It would have been interesting if they'd have continued on and made turnouts.  I wonder how much of the Unitrack turnout design would have found its way to Blackstone's version.

That said I've been exceptionally happy with Peco HOn3 #5 and their "Unifrogs."

[chicken45]

I mean, the other 5 turnouts are fine.

[Maletrain]

Is this  rugged - like KATO turnouts?

https://preview.redd.it/1hyp1zhkmpx41.gif?width=520&format=mp4&s=4d82d73db3219ebbebd100f3f49b354b50d40d43

Al

And no need for a frog juicer!

[nkalanaga]

I've seen rack turnouts that look - and work - like regular ones, and have heard of ones like this, but this is the first time I've seen one.  Fascinating.

They also make a similar design where the two sections are side-by-side, and move horizontally, on a track. 

As for Unitrack, Bob's comment is closer to reality than many realize.  "One of the most reliable, most versatile and quickest to lay down and operate on...if you're into changing your trackplan every day"  is the exact purpose of Unitrack.  Many Japanese modelers, at least into the 90s, have no room for a permanent layout.  So, the track has to be laid down, and picked up, each time they want to run their trains.

A suggestion for manufacturers:  Roadbed-style turnouts with code 40 rail and North American tie spacing, with the roadbed designed to match cork roadbed.  A C40 turnout would be very fragile, but with the roadbed included, that wouldn't be an issue.  Ballast the area under the points, and leave the rest plain, so that it could be ballasted to match the adjacent track.  It could be used with any flextrack, and the ballast around most switch points is an oily/greasy/dirty color anyway, so it wouldn't have to match the customer's ballast.  If the customer wanted to, it wouldn't be hard to paint the ballast with a small brush and craft paints.

For those who don't use cork, it wouldn't be hard to carve out a space in their roadbed, or scenery, for the turnout's roadbed. 

[peteski]

As for Unitrack, Bob's comment is closer to reality than many realize.  "One of the most reliable, most versatile and quickest to lay down and operate on...if you're into changing your trackplan every day"  is the exact purpose of Unitrack.  Many Japanese modelers, at least into the 90s, have no room for a permanent layout.  So, the track has to be laid down, and picked up, each time they want to run their trains.

Bob's responses about the Kato turnouts, and Unitrak in general have been a bit bipolar.  He keeps flipping between praising and dissing Unitrak.  Couple of examples:

Ah Peter...so, what does the volume of sales have to do with good turnout design and/or reliability??  Are you contending that any large-volume track product MUST be toy-like, just because Kato Unitrack was designed badly from an appearance standpoint and evidently from a mechanical standpoint too? 

So, nobody has it all, even Kato Unitrack...the most non-prototypical looking RTR track made, but one of the most reliable, most versatile and quickest to lay down and operate on...if you're into changing your trackplan every day!

Bob is an excellent modeler who does high quality work, but sometimes . . . where is the eye-roll emoticon when one is needed?

[Point353]

So, nobody has it all, even Kato Unitrack...the most non-prototypical looking RTR track made, but one of the most reliable, most versatile and quickest to lay down and operate on...

Between Unitrack and E-Z-Track, which would you recommend?

[narrowminded]

A suggestion for manufacturers:  Roadbed-style turnouts with code 40 rail and North American tie spacing, with the roadbed designed to match cork roadbed.  A C40 turnout would be very fragile, but with the roadbed included, that wouldn't be an issue.  Ballast the area under the points, and leave the rest plain, so that it could be ballasted to match the adjacent track.  It could be used with any flextrack, and the ballast around most switch points is an oily/greasy/dirty color anyway, so it wouldn't have to match the customer's ballast.  If the customer wanted to, it wouldn't be hard to paint the ballast with a small brush and craft paints.

For those who don't use cork, it wouldn't be hard to carve out a space in their roadbed, or scenery, for the turnout's roadbed.

What if you could choose one or the other?

[alhoop]

What if you could choose one or the other?

Good question - a point not brought up so far - you can put a Kato turnout/crossover etal down
and use a toggle switch and one capacitor to actuate/throw the unit. Can't do that with hand laid/other sectional track turnouts.
Al