mth realtrax

It's good track and I've seen a lot of people using it and very pleased with it.  I think there is just a lot out there and for sale which is why the prices are low at times. 

my layout is 30 x 14 28 switches,18 isolated sidings, a lot of track ,all realtrax no problems

I am a Fastrack user but I do use Standard gauge Realtrax and have been very happy with it but it is also installed with screws and down for good. The older Realtrax had solid rail and you had to deal with the thin brass contacts which got bent if you took the track apart for a carpet layout and lost contact. The newer stuff is hollow rail and you can use track pins in them for better contact. I would still use Fastrack for O gauge track but Realtrax has gotten better than it was.

When I had a carpet layout, I had trouble with it staying together, even if I was walking within a few feet of it. I never had the same problem with the Fastrack. Then again, this track is from about 10 years ago.

@Dave,

My use of the product had a sordid history as well...

I can't remember exactly when I started buying RiteTrax but I think it was right around 1998 or 1999.  I started with a simple loop for around the Christmas tree - O-31 and a few straights.  I liked it so much at Christmas I started buying pairs of 30" straights for the 1-2 times between Christmases that I could set up a big loop in my basement.  I was really hot with RiteTrax.  There was nothing like it.  Then came the next Christmas.  I tried to set up my loop of track but I had trouble getting the train to run.  It took me a while but I eventually found the contacts that weren't contacting and "fixed" it.  Christmas came and went and the track was carefully taken apart and put away.  Next Christmas I hadn't had the track out since January but when I went to put it together I had problems again.  I found a contact had broken off so I replaced that track section.  Still no luck.  It took me a good deal of time *again* to find the problem pieces of track and replace them.  Again, after Christmas the track was carefully taken apart and stored until the next year.  Same problem.

Now I really am careful with the track.  I didn't have kids or animals beating on it and though it was stored loose in a box, it was *PLACED* there (not thrown) and stored on a shelf.  My usage was best described as "light".  I maybe ran trains on it for at most an hour or two (the whole time it was up).  I thought I assembled and disassembled it according to instructions.  In any case, I was not rough with it, yet I had problems with it and eventually gave up on it out of sheer frustration.

Looking back, I think I got in at the end of the "high quality" era you describe.  Sections of track with contacts that looked like copper seemed to give less trouble than those that looked like brass.  The ones that looked like brass also seemed to snap off a lot more easily.

I'm now a FasTrack user.  I got a loop with my Polar Express and have not looked back.  I won't say RealTrax is junk but I had a bad experience.

My experience is close to Eric's, I was not impressed with the contact reliability or the ability of RealTrax to stay together on a carpet layout.  I suspect that a permanent layout would solve the coming apart issue, but I still have my doubts about the contacts.  Fastrack is much better in that regard, though I've had some issues with the contacts there until I squeeze the tracks a bit for better contact.  However, that's after many assembly/disassembly cycles.

I have a permanent layout and have had four sections fail.I removed the failed sections and their adjacent sections and drilled the ends straight across to accept a 6/32 screw and nut and made a tie plate to go between them. All my track is solid rail. I will one day switch to all Atlas track. I know hind sights 20/20 but I'd never would have bought realtrax with what I know now.

David

Michigan Model Train Center has some good prices on their leftover stock if anyone is interested: http://www.michiganmodeltraincenter.com/

My RealTrax also pulls apart. I bought the MTH track clips that clip 2 pieces together. That solves the problem. For the oldest track (RiteTrax) there is a mold post that interferes and has to be drilled out so the clip fits. A possible reason for so much track is that it was included in a lot of sets and when dealers broke the sets to sell individual pieces, the track was left over. That's how I got mine at a good price. You'll see a lot of 31" curves available.