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Originally Posted by swank:

great I don't wand a loud track,what else can I do?or what other track

I see you are fairly new to the forum.  Are you near a train or hobby store that carries various types of track.  I have Fastrack on my layout and with a good sound board base over the plywood the noise is negligible.....my trains are louder than any track anyway.

 

Forum members have answered your initial question, your second question can be best answered if you do a forum "search" for types of track.  Your second question has been discussed many times before.

 

Steve, Lady and Tex

Originally Posted by swank:

I need to buy lots of it,try to get some used,is there a track less money,

Fastrack is a very good and well designed system with excellent switches, but as others have said it is loud, possibly it's only drawback. Others have reported the noise can be reduced quite a lot by using carpet under the Fastrack, like indoor/outdoor or similar.

 

The least expensive track I believe would be the original Lionel tubular track. Switches for tubular might also be the most reasonably priced in that category. Gargraves is possibly next in line for price, it's pretty reasonable I think, and also very popular with folks for their O gauge layouts. I think all other switches are similarly priced and not what I would consider inexpensive. 

 

Atlas-O and MTH Scaletrax are solid nickel-silver rail and will be the quietest track. Some say Scaletrax looks the most realistic, but they don't have many switches to choose from and Scaletrax doesn't easily connect to other track or switches, however others have reported doing this with some degree of success.

 

My personal preference is Atlas-O and that's what I am using on my layout. I started out liking Fastrack, but the noise was the deal breaker for me. Since then others here have reported ways to quiet it down as I said above, but I already had purchased a bunch of Atlas by then and the cost of each is similar.

Last edited by rtr12
My opinion is identical to rtr12 below.  I love AtlasO track and it is very quiet, plus even 2-rail stuff will run on it without derailing. It is also a much better selection of switches and wide curves than fastrack.
 
But I keep a stash of fastrack in case I want to throw down a carpet loop at a moments notice.
 
Originally Posted by rtr12:
 

My personal preference is Atlas-O and that's what I am using on my layout. I started out liking Fastrack, but the noise was the deal breaker for me. Since then others here have reported ways to quiet it down as I said above, but I already had purchased a bunch of Atlas by then and the cost of each is similar.

 

Originally Posted by rockstars1989:

You might have a problem if you have a steam locomotive where the tender has a chuff magnet on one of the wheels.I had trouble with the magnet getting knocked off going through the Fastrack turnouts.Make sure the magnet is glued on as close to the axle as possible.Just a heads up.Nick

You just have to get the chuff magnets above the wheel surface line.  Nothing projects above that line on the inside of the wheel.

 

I recently did a conversion to 4-chuff and tested it on my Fastrack, but the magnets all got knocked off on Gargraves switches after delivery, so this could be an issue with any kind of track.

 

Another consideration with ANY track system, make sure that none of your curves are sharper than the minimum curve rating of any locomotive that you intend to operate through that section of track.

 

 If you have any 072 locomotives, understand that they aren't going to run through a section with 042 curves, or get into that industrial trackage with 031 or 036 curves or switches.

 

Doug

Originally Posted by rtr12:

One thing I forgot to add above, the nickel-silver rail track (Atlas-O & Scaletrax) won't work with magne-traction. Sorry, I always forget this one because I have no magne-traction engines so it's not something I think about too much.

That depends on what you're plans are. On a level surface magnatraction running on Atlas Track is kinda fun. Going up grades is where you run into trouble. But burnouts with the Chicago Alton is kinda cool.

 

I have a 15 X 28 double mainline layout all done with FasTrack.  I don't really notice the track noise when the engine sounds are on.  I even turned the sound down a little.  Now I don't run my trains wide open, I try to keep them under 50smph.  My curves are O84 and O72.  I wound up with a lot of extra track pieces and turnout do to changing the design after I started buying track. 

Originally Posted by Matthew B.:
Originally Posted by rtr12:

One thing I forgot to add above, the nickel-silver rail track (Atlas-O & Scaletrax) won't work with magne-traction. Sorry, I always forget this one because I have no magne-traction engines so it's not something I think about too much.

That depends on what you're plans are. On a level surface magnatraction running on Atlas Track is kinda fun. Going up grades is where you run into trouble. But burnouts with the Chicago Alton is kinda cool.

 

 

Yes, I guess flat would be ok with magna-traction and some extra fun could be added.  From your video it looks like I am missing out on some of the fun here by having only command control and traction tires.   

Originally Posted by swank:

will it work on all ,do I need high rail of something else ?

Yes and no.  Curves and straights work with all locomotives, that I have seen.  Switches and crossings do not.  Some older locomotives, like my old Marx steamer, have wide geared flanges, and they will not work on FasTrack crossings and switches, as they will climb out of them.  That and instead of rollers it has a shoe for center pickup (As does my son's older Marx F unit.) and they'll short out on the switches.  So without out knowing what all your locomotives are, no one can say with 100% certainty that it will work.  If all your locomotives are modern ones, then it will, but if you have any older ones, you'll have to watch out.

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