What's your preferred S track?

Classic Tubular...........

Gary

• Cheers from The Detroit and Mackinac Railway

S gauge? I definitely like the classic American Flyer tubular track. It is solid, smooth, the two rails make it more realistic, although the lack of ties give it away, and its availability and price make it appealing. 

I like the old AF style track with rubber roadbed. K-Line made some straight and curve track a while back that matched the old AF 2 rail track.

Gargraves makes a decent S gauge track as well.

Or you can always buy plastic or rubber ties from 3R Plastics for AF S gauge track, they sell them buy the bag, I think 100 come in a bag. 3R Plastics also makes O gauge and 027 track ties.

Lee Fritz

I'm really happy with my MTH track.  30" radius is really nice for large rolling stock and modern diesels.

I'll add my two cents on a holiday style layout and recommend classic Flyer T-Rail track with rubber roadbed.  I use it on our hardwood floors at Christmas for a great nostalgic look.  It's also very reliable and quiet (a great way to make points with the person with whom you live).  You can find it at most local train shows.  If you have any trouble, ask for any on this site.  I'm sure there are guys out there who can help.

And a BIG BTW....  it's MUCH cheaper than the Lionel track system.   As nice as the FasTrack looks, we're a bunch of cheapskates at heart!

Happy running!

I recommend you not put the S gauge track directly on the carpet. A track system that locks together with the plastic roadbed works ok but unless it is larger than a simple oval it will "walk" with the pile grain across the carpet. I have some SHS/MTH track on a carpeted floor and it is working well but it is a larger layout with many turnouts. I assume Fastrack would be similar. The worst on medium to high pile carpet is Gilbert track with rubber roadbed. As much as I like it, it needs to be on a hardwood floor or a layout board. I put a small oval of Gilbert track under one of the trees last Christmas just on the carpet and after 30 minutes of train running it had moved a full 3" along the carpet.Your experience may vary. 

The track that MTH is producing now is the same as the track that S-Helper used to sell.  I have both and (if it weren't for some spots of paint on the older track) wouldn't be able tell you which pieces came from each manufacturer.  I looked at the under side of the track and they all seem to be marked "S-Trax System" rather than MTH or S-Helper.

I still see the original SHS packaged track at train shows. MTH purchased SHS and now sells the same track in MTH packaging. It is on their website and available from vendors. The curves come in three different radii and they make uncouplers, operating car track sections and bumpers. No crossings and only 20" radius turnouts. MTH also produces flex track using the same rail. It is code 138, the packaging is not accurate. 

Lionel Fastrack has a wider selection of track pieces but the rail sides are not weathered and the ballast is monotone gray. Since you now have some Fastrack it might be easier to just add to it. 

Yes, it would be easier and cheaper to add to the Lionel Fastrack that came with my FlyerChief PE set, AmFlyer, but easier and cheaper isn't what I want. I want track that's

sturdy but if possible, also quiet when trains are running on it on the floor or carpet. So, if the MTH track is noticeably quieter and less noisy than Lionel's Fastrack on a floor or carpet, then for me it"s worth the extra cost and work. Which type wins the noise producing test and isn't annoyingly loud, the Lionel or MTH track?

I do not own any Fastrack so I cannot comment on it. Others have said it is noisier than the SHS track. I had three loops of SHS sectional track directly on a honed limestone floor in our family room this past Christmas. I used a small piece of double sided tape under every fourth track joint just so if it is bumped it does not slide around. With three trains running there was no track noise. Original Gilbert track in rubber roadbed also works well on a limestone floor but it does not look as good nor come in a 30" radius. Also the rubber roadbed is hard to find. American Models track does not include a roadbed so I have not commented on it. The original Gilbert track switches are bullet proof and have the selective power routing feature for multi train conventional operation. Flyer Chief and Legacy do not need this feature so the SHS/MTH turnouts work well with those control systems. 

For information, we selected MTH flex track for my permanent layout. I just bought 600' of it. Unfortunately (from a time and cost perspective) all the turnouts have to be hand laid. 

As long as the subject came up again, here's a quick photo review of the plastic surgery need to join FasTrack to MTH/SHS S-Trax:

Rusty

Though I think I like the MTH track better... one drawback is that, as far as I have seen, it is sold only in pre-packaged, blister-pack units,  while Fastrack is available by the individual piece so you can buy exactly what you want and nothing more or less.

I have hand laid code 100, but I don't recommend it for carpets.

I have it over a short pile outdoor type carpet.  Quiet and stays in place quite well.

Good old reliable Gilbert track

"What about for an off the floor permanent layout'

   I use both Tomalco and Shinohara code 100 and find them both excellent. I hand lay my turnouts with matching code 100 rail.

   I don't have any S scale temporary track but I have some O scale Lionel fastrack which is similar to the SHS/ Lionel S tracks and I find it quite handy. I don't think sound will be an issue on a temporary layout set on carpet other than keeping the kids from blowing the horn and ringing the bell constantly :> ........DaveB

For a permanent layout I am basically doing the same thing as DaveB except using the MTH flex track with hand laid turnouts. The reason is the rail is code 138 so I can run all my original Gilbert trains. 

Were I starting from scratch and looking for a sectional track with roadbed solution Fastrack is fine. In addition to two different turnout radii and crossings, the turnouts are Command Control ready. Of course they are out of stock on the Lionel website. I like the MTH sectional track appearance better plus it's three curve radii but they only make 20" radius turnouts. 

If you want sectional track without the plastic roadbed then the American Models track system is available. 

What's your preferred S track?

For a permanent layout, my preferred track is SHS code 138 flex with Tom’s Turnouts (big surprise there, LOL).  I have a lot of AM code 148 flex which is okay, but I find SHS much easier to work with.

Under the tree… I’m with Jerry P.  Flyer switches and a mix of Flyer sectional and Gargraves flex on homemade Homasote roadbed.

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

Scale Railroad: Code 100 Shinorhora/Scenery Unlimited flex and turnouts, with a couple of Old Pullman's in the mix.

When I used to modulate: AM Flex

On the Carpet: SHS S-Trax. 

I used some K-Line S track for a while when I first got sucked into the Flyer Dimension, but the end of the rails were poorly trimmed and the rails loaded up with crud quickly.  It wasn't as good as their 3-rail O gauge track.

Rusty

Tom, I think it is cruel and unusual punishment to list Toms Turnouts as your favorite when they are no longer available for order. We know how great they are, I only wish you were still in that business so more of us could enjoy using them. 

Hey Tom,

Sorry.  You might want to see what Tim Warris at Fast Tracks is up to.  The Dispatch claims he has Hi-rail S gauge turnouts, however the web site states:

Note:  Our S scale fixtures are designed to NMRA specifications and are not compatible with American Flyer or Hi-Rail equipment.  Currently, we do not have assembly fixtures available for S Hi-Rail.

I‘ve tried to get him interested in Tom’s Turnouts in the past.   Who knows, if enough people inquire…

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

Tom, thanks for the reference. So far they are not interested in hi-rail turnouts. 

OK, I'm here to throw gas on the fire.  I captured this from the Fast Tracks site:

So it looks like Fast Tracks makes a hirail fixture.  In my experience, the SHS (MTH now) rail will fit in the fixture.  Whether of nor Flyer will pass through is another story. 

I used a Fast Tracks scale fixture borrowed from a club member to make the turnouts on my layout, and I modified the guard rail placement to make them hirail.  They also accommodate my Flyer items, IF they're gauged properly.  As a side note, I also borrowed Tom Stoltz' idea of an insert in the frog area so that scale items will work.  It does.  Now it looks like FT has a true hirail fixture!  Good for them!

And to be fair, the Fast Track site is expanding, and the owner even said that he's working on it.  That would explain any discrepancies.

Jerry, those are the fixtures my layout builder is using. They built one test prototype using the MTH code 138 rail. It fits in the fixture but does not result in a reliably operating turnout. They are in the process of modifying the fixtures for the 138 rail. I am expecting to get one of the final turnouts to test at home in about three weeks.I sent them an assortment of Gilbert, AM and Lionel AF for testing at the shop and for scenery clearance. The layout requires #'s4,5,6 and custom curve turnouts.

Interesting.  My layout consists of all #6s for simplicity.  The track plan isn't.  The only problems I have are with old Flyer items and some new Flyonel things.  It seems to boil down to gauging of the wheels.  Some of them hit a closure rail when going towards them.  If the offending item hits the closure rails, I regauge it.  However, some Flyonel items don't take kindly to regauging, like some things with the "split" axle.  I then install a small piece of rail shaped to guide the flange towards the stock rail, similar to standard guard rails at the frog.  I then paint it black and it virtually disappears.  They all then function flawlessly.  I run classic Flyer, hirail and even a scratch built gas-electric with Black Beetle trucks.

Jerry,

Thanks for find and posting this bit of info.  This is great news.  I hope someone will give a review of this Hi-rail fixture.  The specs don't give an indication of the flangeway size which will be key to finding out what Fast Tracks means by 'Hi-rail'.

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

"used a Fast Tracks scale fixture borrowed from a club member to make the turnouts on my layout, and I modified the guard rail placement to make them hirail."  

  TT scale has a similar problem when trying to mix old USA TT equipment with newer Euro equipment. The Euro stuff has larger flanges that won't fit thru the finer USA frogs/guard rails but I found I could build a turnout that would take both by making the flangeways deep enough to accept Euro flanges and then leaving off the guard rails so the narrower Euro back to back measurement doesn't matter. As long as the tracks are laid fair the guardrails are not a necessity so this might work for making scale S/ hirail turnouts......DaveB