Gargraves vs Fastrack Economics

@Justaguy posted:

Hello There Again,

I am trying to do a cost comparison on the two & have no problem with pricing on the Fastrack items on the layout. However I do have some questions with Gargraves track & Ross switches before I can get a true idea.

I scrolled through this thread pretty quickly, so I might have missed it, but…

Since you are doing a cost comparison, I recommend you look at Gargraves pricing at on-line dealers such as Just Trains of Delaware.  Prices are much lower than if you buy direct from Gargraves.  And items you buy at Just Trains are generally drop shipped from Gargraves.  I would also suggest you consider Gargraves switches where they meet your needs.  While many here eschew them, I have found their current design to be almost as reliable as Ross switches.

@IRON HORSE posted:

What's nice about GG curves is you can mix them with flex track and save yourself time from bending and cutting every single curve for those areas that you just want standard curves.

You can do the same with Gargraves flex and Ross dimensional curves as well.   I have a bunch of Ross O72 curves where they fit mixed in with the Gargraves Flex.  One place I used that was on the Mianne Lift-Bridge, I didn't want the curves that hang off the bridge changing shape over time, I figured the dimensional track would be better for that use.

@IRON HORSE posted:

I, too, like GG track with Ross switches for the same reasons stated from everyone here.  I have a narrow yard which is possible using the Ross 4 way, due to the size constraints of my narrow but longish layout room.  What hasn't been mentioned is Gargraves also makes standard curves that I think are very nice (I use 0-42).  They have the runners like this straight piece shows to keep the radius permanent.  What's nice about GG curves is you can mix them with flex track and save yourself time from bending and cutting every single curve for those areas that you just want standard curves.

I will also be mixing Gargraves with some of my old but clean stock Lionel 0-27 series straights and 0-27 series 0-42 curves on my 2nd and/or 3rd levels because they mate perfectly together with both GG and Ross using mating pins from GG.  I did this on my last layout after speaking to Steve at Ross and was very pleased with the result.

Mike

Here are the photos of the track as finished.  the photos are numbered as the track in cut, please note I cut out the box cut for the locking pin (roadbed) so it would not have to be removed from a full section.