What's your opinion of Scaletrax?

The go to guys on Scale Trax is Dave Hikel and Rich Battista Both of these Guys have built layouts with Scale Trax  and Both are very Skilled with this Track

You can Check out Rich's Layout from a link on the MTH Website.

I like it, some of the flex may do well in some of the sidings I think to use. We will see how it goes.

Yes I've seen the video of Rick's layout and it's nice, I did notice that some of his diesels bumped through the switches, but I remember that he has replaced his diesels wheels with scale wheels , so that would explain that. I would like to here  how smooth or rough the switches  are with different equipment. Thanks James 

I've viewed--multiple times--Rich's videos.  Those were enough to convince me that ScaleTrax is pretty darn good stuff.  I love that lower and more realistic rail profile.

I have Fastrack at home and find it very reliable, the switches are good, the connections are strong. It's not the best looking, but it's OK.

We have Scaletrax on our club layout and on our modular. It looks very good, no doubt.

The connections can be problematic, the switches are not very good at all. They are not very strong, the switch motors and mechanisms are crappy, we have had a lot of problems with locos shorting on the frog, and all switches required some dremel work to deepen flange grooves to prevent derailments. The worst shorting actually happened with MTH diesels. There are some members preparing a written and photographic record of the problems we found and the results will at some stage be posted here. I also have seen similar problems with Atlas switches.

The collective wisdom on this forum is to use Ross switches with Ross or Gargraves track for the best and most reliable results. I have a fair bit invested in Fastrack, I will stick with it for the time being.

Scaletracx is nice.  The only drawback I know of is the lack of availability.  Not a lot of hobby shops carry the track and items can be hard to find.

I like the looks and am using it for my logging line.  For my main lines I use Ross/Gargraves and have had no problems.

 

Dave Hikel has previously posted on many of the steps to fix the Scaletrax switches.  I wish he would write an all inclusive article with pictures describing the possible problems and their solutions.  I can figure out some of what he has done but not all.

Dan

I have been using it on my layout since 2003 and like it and it works well. At one time there was a problem obtaining pieces, but now it is well stocked and easy to obtain. It is hands down the best looking 3R track out there currently.

 

Do you think the problems with the switches are a design flaw, or maybe just a bad run of some? I know their have been bad runs of Realtrax, (I've read here). So far no problems with Fastrack, except, like I posted, the price of switches.

A good switch like Ross is priceless.

 

Right now it will take me about 300 dollars in switches to finish the wye to start. I don't mind the expense of a good quality product.

 

Long time ago I started off with plastic frogs, brass track and crappy switches and it almost drove me out of the hobby. But again, that was a good long time ago.

 

Today, the future is bright in O scale.

Hi JamesGang,

 

As some of the other posters have mentioned, ScaleTrax takes some extra effort to work well.  If you've never worked with flex track before you will need to learn some new skills with any of the more advanced track systems (ScaleTrax, Ross/Gargraves, and Atlas).  In general, I find the appearance of ScaleTrax to be worth the effort.

 

I did an article on how to work with ScaleTrax in run 251 of OGR.  Rich Batista's videos also show a number of good tips for working with ScaleTrax.  I'm working on a short video for YouTube that runs through the items that need to be checked on new ScaleTrax switch.  There are about a dozen items to check, but you rarely have more than one or two items that are actually wrong with the switches.  If you go over the switches before installing them they're easy to fix.

 

Here's a few shots from the NorthWest Trunk Lines.

 

 

 

 

Dave

Scaletrax looks great and once you get past the little tricks you must learn it is a very cost effective system.

 

I use Gargrave and Ross at this time and I am very pleased with them. They are great systems but they do not look as good as MTH Scaletrax.

 

It's all up to you brother, have fun.

 

Mario E.

Scaletrax is arguably the best looking O gauge track on the market.  I do wish MTH would expand the line of switches to include curved and wider radius ones to better compete with Atlas--they have the widest variety of track combinations out there.

At one time a year or two go Steve @ Ross Switches was considering making some ScaleTrax compatible switches. Dave & Ted Hikel hand-built several custom switches using Ross templates that were beautiful and I believe trouble free for the Northwest Lines.

Perhaps some enterprising craftsman could offer custom switches using ScaleTrax rail and make it available to the hobby? There is a small, yet real need for this out here!

It really is the overall most realistic-looking. The only legitimate issue is the tie spacing is slightly too great but not really noticeable from most viewing angles as illustrated below

The low profile greatly enhances the massive appearance of your equipment like this PW Berkshire shows

Thanks Dave and everyone for the input, I really like the look of the track, photos were great! James

I also use scaletrax and I believe that it is the best looking 3 rail track available right now. Sometimes the connectors are a little tricky but it is well worth the effort, especially if you paint it! I run 3rs like Rich I have some locos with scale wheels and they do bump through the turnouts but my rolling stock and locos with high rail wheels run through smooth.

JamesGang,

 

   As you see most people agree that ScaleTrax is the most realistic looking track, and for me that is my main requirement.  I can deal with any of the "temporary" problems that may arise. 

 

Let me give you my interpretation of "flimsy".  It has smaller ties, lower profile rails which is close to scale dimensions so it is "less rugged", it has to be.  It can't be as strong as Lionel tube track and be scale in size, its just physics in play here.  You can not use this track for temporary carpet layouts.  It is best for permanent layouts, and once fastened to the layout, and ballast, it is very rugged where you can stand on it. 

 

Fact.  My original switches and switch machines from 8 yrs ago are still working flawlessly.  Having said that, a few of the newer switches have the shorting problem.  The difference is the place where the track that is manufactured today is not the same place as my orignal switches, so there are some quality issues.  The good news it is fixable, and once I fixed them, eveything works great.  I have not seen any problems with the solenoid switch machines ever, new or old. 

 

Running scale wheel engines on any track other than 2-rail track is not for the faint of heart.  Even 2-rail track has to be almost perfect for reliable operation.  ScaleTrax is no different.  All the track must very flat and smooth.  Even a slight bump or twist in the track of less than 1/8" over the length of an engine can cause it to climb the rail and derail (on curves).  So I have had to tweek my track to stop engines from derailing.  Regardless, ScaleTrax is probably the best 3-rail track to use for 2-rail operation.  As Will said, the bumps in my video are from the scale wheels dipping into the frog. 

 

If I had to start over or build another layout, there would be no thinking or decisions to make on track, it would be a no brainer, and it would be ScaleTrax.

 

Ah wait, whats this?  A sneek peak?  (Elevated subway in the background)

 

 

 

Good luck, have fun!

 

Rich

www.toytrainsontracks.com

 

Anybody looking for Scaletrax I have a ton of it for sale  Shoot me an email

Thanks Rich, your layout is really nice. James