Back in April of last year Ted Hikel reported on this forum that MTH was revising the ScaleTrax tooling to address reported issues. Does anyone know where that process is at this time? Has the new and improved Scaletrax been released yet?
I hope to start a layout soon and really like the looks of ScaleTrax. And, like many others, I hope MTH adds a few other pieces to the ScaleTrax line.
Thanks for any help!
Robert H.
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Hi Robert. Let's hope Dave or Ted or perhaps one of the guys at MTH will see this and comment. This may not be fully correct but I think I remember them saying that several of the switches would be improved correcting the shorting issue that showed up on some of them. Don't remember hearing anything about more switches or additional RTR curves...
Yikes...I just bought two O72L switches off eBay. Hope they don't short out.
George (G3)
George - Not to worry!
Not all switches are affected and the fix is easy, essentially creating an electrical gap with a thin plastic shim at the right place in the switch. Do a search here for several threads that show how to do this
What Switches are missing from the ScaleTrax line?
Andrew
Limited switch offerings:
No Wyes for starters. Only O-31, O-54, O-72 left and right and #4 and #6 left and right.
however, Put 5mm roadbed under the Scaletrax and 2mm cork under Ross Custom switches and they line right up.
Ross uses the same shape rails, tho they are a bit larger. And Ross ties are a lot bigger but they are real wood. Ross makes every kind of switch I know of so there is a solution.
I have 2 Ross O-72 Wyes for my Scaletrax layout (work in early progress)
Russell,
Any chance you could share a picture or two of the Ross Wye's with the scaletrax? I would love you see how you did it and what it looks like.
Thanks!
Ron
Ron, at this point I just laid them on a table to verify lineup of the rails, the Layout is still in early woodwork. No track laid.
That said, I'll see when I can dig them up and take a picture of the test I did.
Additional pieces I would like to see added to the ScaleTrax line:
O-72 Wye
O-63 Curve
Half Curves
And there are other pieces which would be nice if they were added later, like an O-72 curved switch and a slip switch. But I would be happy with the "easy" ones first.
A question I have for ScaleTrax users:
What do you use for a return curve coming out of the #4 and #6 switches and what kind of track center to center do you achieve?
Thanks!
For the #4 and #6's, I use flex to get the return curve back. The flex is very easy to use/install. It's also great for custom curves too. Rich Batista has a great video on this. The down side of the flex is the power can not flow through it unless you solder the ends or drop a connection to it directly.
Ron
https://ogrforum.com/t...opinion-of-scaletrax
https://ogrforum.com/t.../scaletrax-good-news
https://ogrforum.com/t...ax--gargraves?page=1
I can't find Dave's original one?
Here is a picture to help. The first one is out of the box. The 2nd one was modified. On the 2nd one the points touched the frog. When the pick up roller goes over the frog the 2nd pickup roller energizes it. If the points are touching, you can get a short.
You can shim plastic or foam in the gap or just cut them shorter. I have only had 2 problems and I have 2 dozen switches.
Hope this helps.
Ron
I asked MTH on Facebook about the prospect of new ScaleTrax turnouts being offered in the future and I was told that they didn't feel that any new turnout tooling would be worth the investment for the amount they would sell. So I wouldn't hold my breath for a Wye or curved turnout from MTH anytime soon.
Thanks Joe and Ron...now I know what to do. I received three O72 switches yesterday and a ton of Scaletrax. As soon as I'm up and running, I'll watch those switches carefully.
This forum is so great.
George (G3)
Back in April of last year Ted Hikel reported on this forum that MTH was revising the ScaleTrax tooling to address reported issues. Does anyone know where that process is at this time? Has the new and improved Scaletrax been released yet?
Robert
I did expect to see new the production run last year so MTH could restock the full line of Scaletrax items. So far new Scaletrax has not arrived in the US. If we don't see it by this April I will ask when we can expect to see it when I am at York.
Dave gave MTH a punch list and a thorough briefing on areas where the tooling or assembly process could be improved to eliminate the know problems with some of the Scaletrax switches. Hopefully we will see those improvements when the new products arrive. As soon as Dave and I have new switches in hand you will be able to be able to read about it here.
Additional pieces I would like to see added to the ScaleTrax line:
O-72 Wye
O-63 Curve
Half Curves
And there are other pieces which would be nice if they were added later, like an O-72 curved switch and a slip switch. But I would be happy with the "easy" ones first.
For O-63 I'd just use flex track and I'd cut a section for a half curve, although there isn't much need to cut a piece of sectional track if you are using flex track for most of a layout.
As for switches, I am totally with you. A double slip would be great. I've kitbashed an O-72 wye from an O-72 left and right. It has been in Mike's office and I've pointed out that it uses mostly components from existing tooling. The photo below is me with Jill from MTH with the first Scaletrax #8 curved switch. There are nine more on the Northwest Trunk Lines.
I do not know if we with see new Scaletrax products from MTH or see a RossScale product line. But Dave and I are doing our best to show what can be made. 
I did a search for Hikel Scaletrax Switch and couldn’t find anything about a thin plastic shim.
In addition to the links Joe provided please be aware that Dave's article on ScaleTrax appeared in OGR Run 251. It has instructions and photos of shimming the gap between the frog and rails.
The flex is very easy to use/install. It's also great for custom curves too. Rich Batista has a great video on this. The down side of the flex is the power can not flow through it unless you solder the ends or drop a connection to it directly.
Ron
I have also found the flextrack to be easy to work with and Rich's videos are very helpful to new Scaletrax users. I actually consider the soldered joints on the flextrack an upside, especially if running DCS. Barry Broskowitz has a rule of thumb for good DCS signal strength of having a maximum of 10 lengths of track in a block. With soldered Scaletrax flex you can have nearly 30 feet of track with excellent electrical continuity and signal strength and only one power drop. Nickel silver rail joiners from Lou Cross give excellent mechanical support to a joint, look very realistic and can go anywhere without interfering with tie placement. His plastic joiners are also great for insulating joints at the end of a block.
Nickel silver rail joiners from Lou Cross give excellent mechanical support to a joint, look very realistic and can go anywhere without interfering with tie placement. His plastic joiners are also great for insulating joints at the end of a block.
+1 on the Lou Cross Joiners. I have used them also with great success.
Ron
Thanks Ted for the update!
I and others will be looking forward to your and Dave's review when MTH releases the re-tooled and improved ScaleTrax switches.
I really like the look of ballasted ScaleTrax. To me, the "non-prototypical" tie spacing has never been an issue. After all, it also has a non-prototypical third rail! I have a much bigger issue with the 1/43th scale toy-look cars and trucks that we all place next to our 1/48th scale engines and rolling stock. But that is another subject.
I do agree with others that with the price we pay for these switches, MTH needs to make sure they work like they are suppose to. We shouldn't have to repair brand new track right out of the box. If MTH seriously addresses and fixes these simple problems (and maybe add a few more pieces), I think ScaleTrax will really take off in popularity and sales.
Thanks again!
I really like the look of ballasted ScaleTrax. To me, the "non-prototypical" tie spacing has never been an issue.
I agree Bob. My son and I just ballasted this small section last night. Looks ok to me. We use Atlas on the Turn Table whisker tracks. Look at the one shot where both are in the picture. Unless you have your ruler out, it does not jump out as a problem... at least to me it does not.
Ron
Ron...that looks really nice. What kind of ballast did you use?
My lower level is Atlas and I got tired of waiting for Atlas to have product on the market, so I'm doing my upper level with Scaletrax. So far, so good. Connecting the two brands of tracks together was easy using the Atlas clear insulators and a small piece of basswood glued to the bottom of the first Scaletrax tie.
George (G3)
Ron...that looks really nice. What kind of ballast did you use?
Believe it or not my son and I swept the street after the hard winder last year and we are using that. We washed all of the gravel and sifted it into different sizes. I had a thread about it last year. Click Here
Connecting the two brands of tracks together was easy using the Atlas clear insulators and a small piece of basswood glued to the bottom of the first Scaletrax tie.
We connected Atlas and Scaletrax also by making a transition piece. My son did a video on it.
Ron,
Your ballasted ScaleTrax looks perfect. And your son is a talented craftsman too!
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