I never cared for the hollow rail Realtrax. The roadbed is a different color than the solid rail, the plastic roadbed seems thinner than the solid rail,and in general it just seems easier to bend up if put on carpet and stepped on. I hunt on the bay for solid rail at good prices. I had a few hollow rail pieces given to me.
I came up with an idea to make a heavy grade to see what these Lionel and MTH locos can do. I constructed a hump out of Styrofoam( 2 layers of 1 1/2"). Since I had a few hollow rail pieces given to me, I bent the 30" pieces over my knee to lay on top of the hump. This hump rises 6'' in 6 feet then lowers to 0" in 6 more feet. I think that is a 4% grade. I don't think I could have done that with solid rail. It is too rigid. Here's a few pics of my summer setup in my minibarn. I will take all this in the house in October. This is just a way for me to enjoy the summer weather.
