Had a few misc pieces of rail around and switched out the center rail for the one ScaleTrax uses.
Grinding it down about 35%-40% would further enhance the effect.
A definite improvement IMO
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Interesting idea! Is that all there is to it? Was it a lot of work?
Looks very nice. But, how would a person accomplish that on a layout that is already completed?
theres nothing wrong with the way atlas looks the way they make it.no need to fix something thats not broke.-jim
Now Sam you have to get rid of the center rail spikes! Then you will have fixed two of my three objections to Atlas track.
Interesting experiment Sam. You are on a mission to get the ideal O-Gauge track. Good for you!
Gee Sam I think it may be time to go two rail.
Originally Posted by Lee Willis:
Interesting idea! Is that all there is to it? Was it a lot of work?
It was really very simple - I was sitting at the bench last evening and noticed that I could pull the center rail out of the Atlas tie bed with little effort. There was a Scaletrax center blade on the bench left from something else and it appeared it would fit. It slipped in with a little slack so I put drops of CA glue on each tie and popped the MTH blade in. It appears to be solid but I don't know if it will hold up to actual running.
The rails of flex track from both manufacturers come out fairly easily...
David - Have no interest at this time to switch to 2 rail. The third rail honestly doesn't bother me but I do like the lower profile of ScaleTrax. Am finding however that the tie spacing DOES bother me now that I have a few feet of Atlas on hand to compare side by side. Atlas' rails are just too darned big...
Very interesting. Down side is that Atlas track is so expensive it's not worth transplanting the rails.
Nice breakthrough Sam! That looks worth doing to me. Thanks for sharing that excellent idea!
theres nothing wrong with the way atlas looks the way they make it.no need to fix something thats not broke.-jim
Wow... Thank goodness we have visionary's in the country who don't think like that. I'll bet you don't own a microwave do you? The oven still works just fine.
Hey Sam, great idea. Instead of grinding down that center rail, what do you think about putting in some "S" gauge rail in the center? Would it fit?
Ron
Ron, I have no experience with modern S gauge rail so I really don't know.
To me the advantage of the Scaletrax center rail is that it is not a 'rail' at all. The Atlas track visually appears crowded due to the oversized rails and relatively large surface area of the 'T' top rails - all three of them. With the thin blade it lessens that effect.
This was a spur of the moment idea I had just playing around with the scrap pieces of track on my bench. I've not had any hands on experience with Atlas before this but I honestly don't think this is a valid 'solution' as several posters have pointed out primarily due to the cost of Atlas 3 rail. Another idea seems to be to use Atlas or Micro Engineering 2 rail O with a center rail added as two Forum members are working on a much more viable approach...
Maybe try glueing in some even lower code 125 or code 100 Micro Engineering weathered black rail.
Looks as close to Lionel's Super O track as I have ever seen. Sam, are you the one who invented post-it notes?
Steve, Lady and Tex
An interesting experiment there, the end result is not bad.....
I honestly don't think this is a valid 'solution' as several posters have pointed out primarily due to the cost of Atlas 3 rail
You make some good points Sam, However I would do some research before you abandon the idea. A simple search on one of the online shops I frequent has these prices for the two track systems. I think the real price difference is in the larger switches +$11 each. But considering the Scaletrax switch issues as noted in another thread, paying $11 more for a switch that works right out of the box might be worth it.
On top of that, you have more options with Atlas and the availability is greater.
Atlas O Scaletrax
O-81 CURVE $ 7.42 O-80 Curve $6.99
10'' STRAIGHT $ 3.98 0'' STRAIGHT $3.99
40” FLEX $16.81 30” FLEX $11.52
.42 cents per inch .38 cents per inch
40” Rigid $15.89 30” Straight $11.52
.39 cents per inch .38 cents per inch
O-72 Turnout $65.37 O-72 Turnout $65.89
#5 Turnout $82.10 #4 Turnout $71.99
#7.5 Turnout $83.62 #6 Turnout $71.99
It seems my cut/paste and editing attempts are feeble. Atlas prices are on the left and Scaletrax prices are on the right. I can't get it to all line up.
Good Luck
Ron
As I commented in another thread or two on this subject, painting the center rail sides the color of the ties is an option that I have seen and it worked fairly well. I do agree that the tie plates, etc. that Atlas added to the center rail needs to to away. Unfortunately, I don't have a suggestion on how to then hold the center rail to the ties....
Alan
