Reusing track for new layouts -- pro or con?

[OldEastRR]

Some guys buy all brand-new track and throw away what was on the old layout, some guys save part or all of their trackage from layout to layout. If care is taken to make absolutely smooth and flawless roadbed does it matter if you use new or recycled track on a new layout? Obviously I mean used track in reasonable or excellent condition.

[Viperjim1]

I think there is no problem at all with recycling track as it's easier on the pockets , just be careful of the soldering and u soldering to many times as this might play a role on the ties even if you cut them back..

[mplsjct]

I always re-use old track, it's a cost saving maneuver.

[randgust]

One thing there is absolutely no economy on is saving old rail joiners.  Between oxidation and damage getting old track apart, those should always be 100% new.

Down in the depths of my hidden staging tracks, I've got some truly vintage flex-track (remember the massive Trix flex?) that dates back to at least 1972, still doing fine, where nobody can see it.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I'm pretty sure that 50% of the layouts built in the mid-atlantic area are made up in whole or part of re-lay rail from Jerry Britton's old layout...

[Catt]

Unless it is damaged during renovation or removal of the old layout I recycle the old track.If I am changing code (55 for 80) I will use the old track where it isn't ovious as in hidden staging.

[mmagliaro]

I guess I'm the outlier here.   I have reused turnouts before, since they are particularly expensive, and that means I take great care to harvest them from old layouts.   But for flex, I have never reused it.

I think part of this is driven by the fact that my layouts have always been medium sized (i.e. 9 x 12 room size) ,
so even with fairly expensive ME flex, the total cost is a few hundred dollars, which is not huge in
the context of all the money that goes into a layout (On the order of 5-6 engines' worth of cost).

I would say consider the true dollar amount you are saving, vs the time and requirement of getting
track up, possibly out of ballast, getting it clean so it lays flat, and being really sure you have no
odd little bend in any part of it. 

[davefoxx]

Since I use yellow glue to secure my track, it easily comes free with a putty knife, and I've been known to even reuse it on the same layout during realignments and expansions.  I would not hesitate to harvest all of my track and recycle it on the next layout, if I scrapped my current layout.  Even ballasted track comes clean with a soak in water.  That would save me hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.

DFF

EDIT: Another concern would be the availability and current pricing of new track.

[drgw0579]

A couple months ago, our club was approached by someone who's layout was involved in a divorce and needed to get it removed immediately. There was over a 1000' of Atlas code 55 flex and probably 20-30 Atlas switches.  I was needing track to complete my new staging yard, and at the time, very little new flex track could be found.  So I offered to scrap out the layout.

We found out right away the track had mostly been glued down on cork roadbed with non-water soluble glue and in some places directly on plywood. Where it was ballasted, it was basically impossible to remove intact.  One of my friends spent the better part of the time carefully removing the switches, and his efforts were rewarded well.  I ended up using a drywall "mud knife" to peel the cork away from the plywood and carting the remains away in big boxes.  Later on it took me several days to carefully cut the cork away from the bottom of the ties with an x-acto knife.  But my success rate for getting usable track was not good, maybe only 50%.   IMHO Atlas Code 55 track, being finer, is not as robust at Code 80 might be.  I have a lot of C55 rail in case I ever want to hand lay my own track!

I was happy that I got enough track and switches out of it for an 11 track staging yard where most tracks were about 17' long.  Using new track would have cost a fortune (which I then spent the savings on ESU decoders).  Since the benchwork was assembled with drywall screws, that came apart quickly and filled a pickup-sized trailer twice.  Hopefully a friend with a new basement and house on top can use the majority of that soon.  Another friend has been heating her apartment this winter with the plywood used for the track structure.

All in all it was worth it, but I probably wouldn't do it again.

Bill Kepner

[PAL_Houston]

My current layout is mostly new, because I was also changing from code-80 to code-55.
However, owing to Atlas' supply issues over the last couple years, I have used OTHER PEOPLE's used turnouts, and I am perfectly happy to be running trains, as opposed to not running trains. 

[Kentuckian]

This is the third layout for some of my peco code 55 switches; those things are bulletproof.  I am also using used Atlas code 55 switches obtained on the secondary market.  I never have reused flex track, but my layouts to date have been small enough that new flex is not very expensive.

[casmmr]

With Kato unitrack, re use is easy, just clean off the old white glue and ballast and reuse after checking the joiners.  I have pieces that I have used on 3 or 4 different t-trak modules.