PRR steam PS3 set

Hi Joe,

Quick fix... get some gargraves track pins and insert them in the RealTrax.  Two pins in each rail makes an OK fit.  It's not perfect, but it will make a bad joint a lot closer.

Long term fix...  Find the offending pieces that don't match well with others and send them to MTH for replacement.  They shouldn't mate that poorly and most of the newer "hollow" rail RealTrax has been pretty good on alignment.

If you decide to change track brands it's always easier to do sooner rather than later.  Once you invest in switches it gets harder to change coarse.

Sorry to hear you're having trouble.

 Thanks for the help Dave. I'm not sure about the pins because this is for the grandsons and is at their house. I'm not there to make things cozy.

 I would order O72 curves for him. I'm just not sure they will be any smoother connecting than the ones in the set??

Hey Joe,

Seems I'm mimicking some of your grandkids experiences with the MTH starter set   When setting up some of my new realtrax sections, I noticed that they were "floating" in several places, with the plastic road bed not laying flat.  Not thinking much about it I tried to push the track down in spots...some it helped some not as much.

What I noticed later was that I believe the rails extend a hair too much on several sections of the newest realtrax causing the rail tips to bind and not let the road bed rest flat.  Pushing down in spots caused the hollow rail ends from one section to the next to 'mushroom' a bit, letting the track lay flatter in some sections but making for rough transitions at the mushrooming tips.  I'm hoping some needle nose pliers and a light filing will make it better, but it's still a bummer QC issue I suspect.

I have an oval of older solid rail realtrax that seems to have less overhang on the railtips, not alot but enough to keep them from binding, and for whatever reason my O42 curve pieces did not seem to have this issue as much as the 10" straights.

Robert