As some might know, I started with Realtrax and I'm pretty much locked in, as 1) I overbought and it will take years of Christmases to swap it out. 2) It's a carpet, covered with a white sheet (snow) layout 3) I actually like the look, over other ballasted track.
That said
For Atlas
Has anyone had success with Atlas on a sheet on the carpet?
It's a firm carpet.
Next year, I want to replace the O54 figure 8 with Atlas. The main reason, is I'm obsessed with running the Lionchief PE, slowly, quietly and with 8 cars. I have it to the point, where the only improvement left is better aligned track Atlas seems to line up way better, on my bump and go trolley line, than realtrax did. The difference in how smooth and quietly the trolleys run is remarkable.
For the Realtrax
Does anyone have novel realtrax support ideas?
The layout is too big to put on boards and I need the sound deadening of the carpet. The floor is also a radiant slab, so I don't want to trap the heat (made that mistake when the snow was plastic backed white paper tablecloths). I have been putting more and more clips on the track as over the course of the season, some sections seem to loosen up. I may just bite the bullet and clip every section next year, but those of you using Realtrax get what a PITA disassembly will be, if I do. I have found that even a shim as thin as paneling can cause a dip wherever the shim ends and even wires, where I don't dremel out a path, can cause dips (and wheel slips).