Fun with <gasp> Unitrack!

[peteski]

I think that while everybody is getting hung up on the rail height, tie dimensions and spacing, nobody is paying any attention to the oversized molded plastic spikes.  While ME seems to make the smallest spikes, they are still not to scale. They have to be oversize, just to hold the rail and ties together.

Not only they are inaccurate visually, but in combination with the scale height rail, they will drastically limit the number of models one can run on that track. That is because even models with smaller flanges still have relatively deep flanges. Robert did mention the spikes in one of his posts, but otherwise, they are largely ignored.  Sanding them down only weakens their ability to hold the rail.

[DKS]

Nope.  I could be a "pizza cutter" ignorer if I just ran them instead of choosing to run what are the smallest effective and commercially available flanges, but there's not a pizza cutter on my layout, each wheel being equipped with the lowest practical flange I can get or turn.

The equivalent of your "flange ignorer" would be a "rail ignorer".  Not a "code 80 ignorer" which involves ignoring tie height, tie width, tie length, spikehead details, rail height, rail profile, track floppiness (a contributor to Dave's cut problem), prominent nail holes and most importantly, the fact that there is better looking, and equally well-functioning commercially available track out there.

Ignoring flanges only involves ignoring their height.

I must have read this five times, and it still doesn't add up. So, either you don't get the joke, or you really are a "flange ignorer." Big difference between "the lowest practical flange" and a "scale flange." Either way, it's all still really funny.

I think that while everybody is getting hung up on the rail height, tie dimensions and spacing, nobody is paying any attention to the oversized molded plastic spikes.  While ME seems to make the smallest spikes, they are still not to scale...

Thank you, Peteski. It reinforces my contention that some modelers have "selective vision": they carry on for paragraphs about proper rail height, but still manage to live with fist-sized spikes and pizza cutter flanges. (Yes, every flange over .00625" is a pizza cutter!) Hey, how about handrails and grab irons? They all need to be <.009" to be correct. And your paint should be no more than ~.000025" thick...     

[Rich_S]

All I can vouch for is my own experience.  My code 55 in Enola looks fantastic, but backing a 22-car coal drag down the yard ladder is not an experience I relish.

Dave. Now you've opened another can of worms. Do you have all truck mounted couplers or body mounted couplers. Truck mounted couplers are known to cause derailments during reverse or backup moves.

[Chris333]

Dave will never have to clean that outside track curve again!

[Dave V]

Dave. Now you've opened another can of worms. Do you have all truck mounted couplers or body mounted couplers. Truck mounted couplers are known to cause derailments during reverse or backup moves.

I figured someone would ask.  The fact is I have not invested the money and time to convert most of my truck-mounts over to body mounts.  Sure, I want to...  But the more cars I have the more daunting it is.  What's worse is that I have a mix.  In my hoppers, for example, my H21s came with truck-mounted Rapidos which I replaced with body-mount  MTs, but my GLa hoppers came with truck-mounted Accumates...and still have them.

I know this is not code 55's fault, either...  But the combination of my mixed-mounted couplers and my less-than-perfect ability to lay perfectly-flat and aligned track makes for operational headaches that detract from my fun.

If nothing else this thread nicely illustrates just how novice I still am...  Yes, I've had a few publications now but it does not make me a Master Model Railroader by any stretch.

As for the Unitrack debate, it's very clear that people read what they want to read, and ignore the part where I didn't say it could be made to look prototypical.  I know close up it looks wrong, and yeah, the tie spacing bothers me (as does the spike head detail and the big-a$$ rail).

I shared this to show that it can be blended well with code 80 flex, and that it doesn't look half bad to my naked eye at normal viewing distances (not with the Nikon D5100).

I haven't ruled out conversion to code 55, but time, money, my skill, and availability of the line has made this difficult.

[bbussey]

I have a handful of small modules and dioramas that I use as photo and video settings.  The oldest one is 24"x12" and was built in the mid 1980s with Atlas 80 track.  Before I started using it for ESM videos, I replaced the track with Atlas 55 and reballasted with the Arizona Rock/Mineral product.  While it's only a two-foot-long double main, both tracks have power feeds for animation through the module for video shoots and trains run through smoothly.  The module has only the two unspliced pieces of flex track obviously, but I don't recall any extra effort expended in making the track lay down smoothly.

[Scottl]

Dave, what is it about track laying that you struggle with?  Your general preparation and craftsmanship (as evidenced by your fix on this curve) suggest you are likely to lay a good roadbed, which is 90% of the battle with any track type.

[Dave V]

Roadbed and soldering.

For starters I will never again use Woodland Scenics Trackbed.  Waaaay to mushy.  It's super easy to use but it isn't stiff enough to cover imperfections.

I'm getting much better at track soldering, but I need more practice.  I used to ham-fist with a 100/140 W gun.  I'm smarter than that now...   . I have a nice professional 15 W pencil-tip iron.

I have not ruled out going code 55...  I was surprised at how cleanly the section of code 80 came out.  That smooth surface is key to smooth roadbed and then smooth track.

[Scottl]

I have not had the issue with the WS foam, but cork is definitely more stable.  Soldering with a pencil iron vs. a 100W gun is like a carving knife vs. a chain saw- that will definitely make track soldering easier.  I think you will do fine regardless of what track you use, but I think you seem to have found solutions to key problems that limit your track selection.

[kalbert]

Dave, I think the cause is lost on most of this crowd. This is TRW after all... Folks like to argue the same age old talking points and ignore the rest.

I still say your repair job looks great, UniTrack or not. It's hard enough to make a repair, even using the same kind of track. That you were able to do it with completely different track and have it look more or less unnoticeable from the surrounding bits is pretty good work IMO.

[davefoxx]

I still say your repair job looks great, UniTrack or not. It's hard enough to make a repair, even using the same kind of track. That you were able to do it with completely different track and have it look more or less unnoticeable from the surrounding bits is pretty good work IMO.

+1.   Anyone who can blend different track brands and perform a track repair of the magnitude that Dave Vollmer just did is better at track laying than he gives himself credit.

DFF

[mionerr]

I'm getting much better at track soldering, but I need more practice.  I used to ham-fist with a 100/140 W gun.  I'm smarter than that now...   . I have a nice professional 15 W pencil-tip iron.

Dave,
I'm about an hour south in Pueblo and I've got lots of track left to put down, especially the yard tracks.

[Mike C]

Mike C,

Although it is admittedly tedious to paint the concrete ties, it isn't difficult.  I reached the point where I could manage three feet of double-track in one sitting before having to take a break.  (I painted mine at the workbench prior to installation.)  It isn't real obvious in the second view due to the camera angle, but that is the super-elevated curve section.

Ron

That looks pretty good Ron, I may have to give it a try eventually . When I painted my rails I did it sitting at my bench, it was a whole lot easier than bending over the layout. I just had to touch up the joints after I had it laid. ...Mike

[chicken45]

Yeah, I'm with Dave about the WS roadbed.  It's super easy to use, just not for me. I'm sure arguments have been made both ways , but again, it didn't seem to work for me.

[superturbine]

I think you did a Really Nice Job on the track replacement Dave!!  Good Job!

Jason Smith