# Newbie with a question



## Commander_47 (Dec 12, 2014)

Hi all, 

My buddy and I are new to railroading. He is in O scale, and I am in HO scale. 

Truth be told, he came across a big pile of Lionel train equipment and had no idea how to get started. 

I'm a tinkerer, and ended up getting him a basic layout and up and running. 

I got bit by the bug working on his!!!!!!!

A Bachman Chattanooga Choo Choo set came my way and now I'm way in over the deep end. I started to collect more engines, cars and E Z track. 

I set up a couple of simple rings and have experimenting with some designs and layouts but have run into an impasse. 

The E Z track is nice, but limiting. I want to use flex track and cork, but not do away with the EZ track I have. 

Will the LIfe Like couplers adapt my Bachmand EZ track to flex track? And if so, which flex track should I look for. 

There is a train show in Atlanta on the 17th my buddy and I are going to, so I want to stock up on some things:appl:

thanks


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Atlas and Peco make the best flex track....Peco is more expensive though....


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

And I don't understand your question about Life Like "couplers" adapting your track......?


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

duplicate post


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Would this work with your EZ track?

https://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/433-21314

If not, it may give you an idea of how to make your
own adapter.

Don


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

To the best of my knowledge, manufacturers assume that you want to use either roadbed track or not.

While there are adapters to move between different brands of roadbed track, I don't recall ever seeing one to connect roadbed and non-roadbed track.

That said, if you are meticulously careful with your track laying, both in vertical and horizontal alignment, there is no reason why you couldn't simply butt the two together. You would need separate electrical feeders for each section (which is a good practice to follow anyway).


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Ooops. Should have looked more carefully at Don's post. Just goes to show how limited my knowledge can be.

That would work, but you'd need an EZ Track (Bachmann) to Power Loc Track (Lifelike) first. Worth checking to see if Bachmann makes a similar adapter.


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## Commander_47 (Dec 12, 2014)

DonR said:


> Would this work with your EZ track?
> 
> https://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/433-21314
> 
> ...


Yes, this looks like something I may be able to use. That is exactly what I was looking for. I didn't want to just trash my EZ track at the moment and start all over!!!!

At least for now, combining the two with these adapters is probably cost effective for me. 

Do you know if I have to use Life Like flex track with these or will Atlas work? 

Please forgive my mistakes with the nomenclature. I believe I called these couplers, but I know that's not correct. 

Newbie mistake!!!


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Anybody's track will work. Atlas is pretty standard stuff and widely available. Walthers Shinohara is nice, but almost prohibitively expensive. MicroEngineering is slightly different from other brands in that it stays curved after shaping instead of springing back. Most of my flextrack is MicroEngineering pre-weathered Code 83 track. FYI, the code is the height of the rails in 1000ths of an inch. Scale rail would be about code 45, so the smaller the code, the more realistic, but also the more finicky for operating.


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## gator do 65 (Jan 27, 2014)

Commander,
I got around this by sacrificing 2 piece's of EZ track by cutting the plastic road bed flush with the end of the track to create a joiner track (save the cut off piece to glue back on the road bed) then used shim's to level the mating track!
Side note; Your EZ track won't last long once you use flex! Ask me how I know...


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## Commander_47 (Dec 12, 2014)

gator do 65 said:


> Commander,
> I got around this by sacrificing 2 piece's of EZ track by cutting the plastic road bed flush with the end of the track to create a joiner track (save the cut off piece to glue back on the road bed) then used shim's to level the mating track!
> Side note; Your EZ track won't last long once you use flex! Ask me how I know...


The EZ track is code 100, so when you are like me.....CHEAP, I try to plan a little ahead. 

I happen to have a boatload of this EZ steel track, but I won't be able to do what I want with my space. I need to use some flex track to get the effects I want. 

I have no trouble sacrificing a few pieces of ez track. Once I get my layout determined, then I will upgrade. 

I believe I will invest in a few pieces of Atlas code 100 flex track and take it from there. 

My layout is a challenge, and for design purposes, I should be able to settle on a layout and wiring with what I have. 

After that when I begin my mountains and such, I can relay all flex track and maybe sell the EZ track. 

I really appreciate all the advice. It's a great help in deciding a course of action.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Ooof. You didn't mention that your existing track was steel. Calling steel track junk is insulting junk. It doesn't conduct very well to begin with, and it corrodes easily into a non-conductive oxide. This will become a maintenance nightmare for you on down the road (mandatory track cleaning prior to any running of trains, if not worse). Recognizing that replacing all this will require a significant investment, I would establish a budget right now for replacing it.


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

yeah i would do as above stated and plan to imiedatly dump the steel ez track i have been there and done it the steel track sucks you have to clean it so often its not funny


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## gator do 65 (Jan 27, 2014)

I'll jump on the steel track sucks wagon! Worst choice I ever made!


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## Howard1975 (Jan 6, 2014)

Generally the nickle silver track is the best (compared to steal or brass), because nickle silver needs less cleaning, therefore it's less of a maintenance chore. The trains themselves don't care what metal the track is made of, as long as it's clean. You can get by in a pinch, by using the cheaper steal or brass, but after a while, the extra cleaning can get tiring. 

You still have to clean even the nickle silver track, and all the wheels on all your locomotives. It's just less often with nickle silver track, compared to steal or brass track.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

I think that should be *steel* track.....not steal track......you shouldn't steal things....

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.....


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Old_Hobo said:


> I think that should be *steel* track.....not steal track......you shouldn't steal things....
> 
> Sorry, I just couldn't resist.....


I think he was implying that the OP should hope someone steals the track....

And now the thread has been well and truly hijacked...


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

CTValleyRR said:


> And now the thread has been well and truly hijacked...


"Take me to Cuba".....:laugh:


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## Mr.Buchholz (Dec 30, 2011)

Am I the only one to not have a problem with steel track? I honestly find the stuff pretty good.

-J.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Mr.Buchholz said:


> Am I the only one to not have a problem with steel track? I honestly find the stuff pretty good.
> 
> -J.


Have you ever used anything else? I used to love frozen swordfish fillets, until I tasted fresh.


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## Mr.Buchholz (Dec 30, 2011)

CTValleyRR said:


> Have you ever used anything else? I used to love frozen swordfish fillets, until I tasted fresh.


Your reference to seafood is interesting, but irrelevant. My very first layout a while back utilized brass track. I found it too malleable and problematic, and switched to steel in my last two layouts, including my current one.

-J.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Mr.Buchholz said:


> Your reference to seafood is interesting, but irrelevant. My very first layout a while back utilized brass track. I found it too malleable and problematic, and switched to steel in my last two layouts, including my current one.
> 
> -J.


No need to get testy. My question was a fair one, and my analogy was appropriate. I could have used any comparison of something I liked until I tried something superior.

I shudder to think what you're doing on your layouts that brass is too malleable and you need the strength of steel.

I have used all 3 -- brass, steel, and nickel silver. At the time I used steel (for my son's layout, which is 10 feet from mine), my layout was approximately half brass. My experience was that the steel track required far more maintenance than the others, Within a year, I had ripped out the steel and replaced it with nickel silver.

I'm sure there's room for all 3, but for my money, the incremental added espense of nickel silver is worth it.


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## Howard1975 (Jan 6, 2014)

Old_Hobo said:


> I think that should be *steel* track.....not steal track......you shouldn't steal things....
> 
> Sorry, I just couldn't resist.....



Oops, I meant to write steel, not steal.


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## Mr.Buchholz (Dec 30, 2011)

CTValleyRR said:


> I have used all 3 -- brass, steel, and nickel silver. At the time I used steel (for my son's layout, which is 10 feet from mine), my layout was approximately half brass. My experience was that the steel track required far more maintenance than the others.


Regular track maintenance, no matter what it's made of, is the price we pay for running our trains and whatnot. I try to clean the tracks a few times a year, and use magnifiers and such to examine every inch of track at that time as well. In the three years since my layout has been rebuilt, I've only ever replaced one length of track.

-J.


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## WaltP (Jan 21, 2013)

Howard1975 said:


> Oops, I meant to write steel, not steal.


Don't feel bad. Half the people on the web don't know the difference between:

than/then
there/their/they're
your/you're

among others. The above are used interchangeably for some people.


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## Howard1975 (Jan 6, 2014)

WaltP said:


> Don't feel bad. Half the people on the web don't know the difference between:
> 
> than/then
> there/their/they're
> ...


That is quite true. I learned the difference of those words in school, and usually still remember which one is correct to use. Most of the time anyway. But sometimes I can forget, or I'm just about falling asleep when I'm online late at night. 

I certainly know the difference between steal and steel, when I'm wide awake. But when I'm tired, I can make a mistake.


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## Commander_47 (Dec 12, 2014)

I'm using the steel (steal?) track for now simply because I have so much of it. 

This whole hobby has gotten out of hand already as I am redoing the game room completely to make room for the layout and I want to have to blue sky over it, with track lighting.

I saw on U tube, and talked to some guys at the Atlanta train show last week, who claim the best, and easiest, way to clean this track is to simply use a little automatic transmission fluid on about 5 inches of the track every quarter and let the train wheels distribute it:dunno:


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Howard1975 said:


> I certainly know the difference between steal and steel, when I'm wide awake. But when I'm tired, I can make a mistake


No worries....anybody can make a misteak......


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Commander_47 said:


> I saw on U tube, and talked to some guys at the Atlanta train show last week, who claim the best, and easiest, way to clean this track is to simply use a little automatic transmission fluid on about 5 inches of the track every quarter and let the train wheels distribute it:dunno:


Automatic transmission fluid is best left in automatic transmissions.


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

There was article in Model Railroader a few years back about the use of auto trans fluid to clean track. They seemed to find it worked IIRC. That of course led to a lively debate here.
I personally have never tried it so until I do and if I do I'll keep a open mind. Others here adamantly said it wouldn't work even though they hadn't tried it yet. IIRC.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

I prefer to keep any liquid "cleaner" away from my rails.....many can leave a sticky residue behind, which will cause more problems than when the track was simply just dirty.

I like the brite boy type of cleaning pads, as well as track cleaning cars, followed by a lite vacuuming to pick up the loose crud that the pads got off the rails.....be careful to make it a real lite vacuuming though.....


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## Commander_47 (Dec 12, 2014)

Old_Hobo said:


> I like the brite boy type of cleaning pads, as well as track cleaning cars, followed by a lite vacuuming to pick up the loose crud that the pads got off the rails.....be careful to make it a real lite vacuuming though.....


I have seen the track cleaning cars, also, the kits to attach to the bottom of a car after adding some weight to them. 

The Track cleaning cars appeal to me simply because it keeps it within the sphere of the model. You know, time for the crew to clean the tracks. 

I can make sure the son and grandson run the track cleaner car.....sort of a chore tied to fun if you know what I mean.


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