MTH Scaletrax switches yea or nay?

There have been several threads here about what others have used to quiet their Fastrack. Carpet was one method, Quiet Brace, Homasote, the foam or rubber type floor mats was (I think) another, and there were other things too. Can't remember them all, but many folks have been able to quiet their Fastrack to their complete satisfaction. Since you already have all the Fastrack, I would sure try to do some quieting first.

One more thing, some folks here don't think the stock Fastrack is too loud at all. Everyone has different noise toleration levels, we are all different in this area. If you haven't yet tried it out as is, I would do that too, it may not bother you at all as it is?

I started out a few years ago to use Fastrack (I thought it was a very good track system, and still do), but the noise scared me off. I went with Atlas solid rail which I ended up becoming very fond of and am very happy with now. I did all that before I had read some of the threads here about how others had quieted their Fastrack. Had I read those first, I may have stuck with the Fastrack? I would have at least tried some of the ideas of others to quiet it anyway.

Thanks for the advice.  I have had a smaller layout with fastack before and the noise wasn't terrible, but I have noticed it can get loud with a lot of cars hooked up.  On the other hand, I haven't heard or seen a long train running on atlas or scaletrax before.  I've also set up many carpet central layouts with my fastrack and even on the carpet my wife has complained to turn off the trains because its too loud.  I always make a loop around the tree during Christmas and it doesn't get run too much because she thinks its too loud.  

I think I've about talked myself out of scaletrax because of the many threads dealing with repairing their switches and dealing with their flexible track.  The problem is the other alternatives (atlas, gargraves, ross) are very expensive and the used market is not very helpful on these brands, especially in the switch department.  I'm sure people are saying that they are just as cheap as fastrack, but I disagree as there is a healthy market of discounted fastrack material if you just shop a little.

My advice is use Atlas track and Ross Custom Switches.  A bullet proof combination.  You can get the Ross Switches with the DZ-2500 switch machine which works off of a data wire for Legacy or TMCC (and I believe DCS as well).  More expensive yes.  But if you only want to build your layout once, and without headaches, this is the way to go.  I have bent Atlas flex track by hand with no jigs and it is very easy to bend for those areas that need a custom fit.  And it is as quiet as it gets.

My experience with Lionel Fastrack has also been extremely positive.  Engines and cars work like a charm over the rails and through the switches.  And it can be made to look pretty darn good with some added details.  I've seen photos of Fastrack layouts that look absolutely beautiful. The downside is the noise.  I have heard that if you get some foam insulation under the track (like the insulation stuff in a can) it does a good job of quieting it down.  A little more work but maybe worth the effort if you already have Fastrack.

There have been many threads on Scaletrax.  Without going into all the details the biggest headache seems to be availability.  Especially switches.  If you want to see the best ScaleTrax layout check out this link:  www.toytrainsontracks.com

The videos are outstanding and the layout is all Scaletrax.  BigRail