Best Track for on carpet use?

[zanesvilletrains]

I've been toying with the idea of setting up a railroad for fun around my living room on the carpet. Is there any track that is best suited for use on top of typical carpet?

I remember trying to do this with old Lionel O27, but the track pieces kept coming apart.

I was thinking HO gauge for this.

I'm not looking to spend a lot.

Be nice, I'm just a first time poster.

 

[PWRR-2207]

Rug-Runners...

Welcome to the Gauge!

I hear you on the O27 wall1 My niece came to visit me a while back. Since she had just turned 3 and wanted to play with the trains, I thought...

- the N Scale mini-layout had 'too many easily edible things',
- the HO on the layout was 'too fragile',
- which left either the 'too expensive Lionel' or the 'Marx tanks'.

The Marx was entertaining for my niece but frightening to my sister once sparks started flying so I got some plywood strips to put under the O27 track on the carpet to solve the problem.

To achieve the same effect in HO, including easy breakdown and storage, you may want to look at the widely available "Atlas True-Track". It has a built-in roadbed to get the ties, rails and train wheels away from the carpet and interlocking connections so you are not vacuuming up rail joiners for the next few months. Here is a link to the product:

Atlas HO True-Track® Products

Note that "Atlas True-Track" is 'Code 83' track (not as tall and closer to true HO scale than Code 100) and older model trains may not run on it if they still have large wheels. For example, my 1960's Fleischman's engines and cars have their wheels resting on the ties, not on the Code 83 rails. :cry:

 

[CRed]

Kato Uni-track,the stuff is really nice!Easy to put together and take apart and like the Atlas stuff mentioned above has the built in roadbed.I've never used the Atlas stuff and I'm sure it's good also,but since I have the Kato stuff I can recommend it highly.

Chris

 

[myltlpny]

I agree with CRed. Kato Unitrack is expensive, but from my experience (with n-scale, at least) very durable. The HO track seems comparable. My main interest is HO, but I have a lot of N-gauge from my days in a train club. So every once in a while I pull it all out, set up a unitrack layout on the dining room table, and run everything. I've never had a piece break on me. I can think of nothing better for setting up on carpet. The molded roadbed on both the Unitrack and the Atlas true track will also elevate the trains a bit so they don't pick up fuzz.

 

[nachoman]

There's also bachmann's EZ track. I've used it for temporary setups on carpet - and worked great. It's not that durable, and one must be careful during disassembly to not break off the plastic fasteners.

Kevin

 

[ripvanwnkl]

Carpet track

My grandson and I have used EZ track for the last 3 years to set up and tear down temporary and different layouts for multiple DCC/sound trains at least a dozen times in as many as 5 rooms and hallways at once. It works great on carpet and tile, using transition foam roadbed when necessary, as long as you're careful with assembly and disassembly. We've found it less expensive than Kato Unitrack, with more variety of track, but turnouts sometimes need some "tweaking".

 

[ripvanwnkl]

Carpet track

PS - we use HO scale EZ track.

 

[davidstrains]

Welcome to the Gauge!

I hear you on the O27 wall1 My niece came to visit me a while back. Since she had just turned 3 and wanted to play with the trains, I thought...

- the N Scale mini-layout had 'too many easily edible things',
- the HO on the layout was 'too fragile',
- which left either the 'too expensive Lionel' or the 'Marx tanks'.

The Marx was entertaining for my niece but frightening to my sister once sparks started flying so I got some plywood strips to put under the O27 track on the carpet to solve the problem.

To achieve the same effect in HO, including easy breakdown and storage, you may want to look at the widely available "Atlas True-Track". It has a built-in roadbed to get the ties, rails and train wheels away from the carpet and interlocking connections so you are not vacuuming up rail joiners for the next few months. Here is a link to the product:

Atlas HO True-Track® Products

Note that "Atlas True-Track" is 'Code 83' track (not as tall and closer to true HO scale than Code 100) and older model trains may not run on it if they still have large wheels. For example, my 1960's Fleischman's engines and cars have their wheels resting on the ties, not on the Code 83 rails. :cry:

While this is a great thing for your under tree of kids layout, be aware that running any of the above sets on carpet is going to get carpet lint and gunk in the gears. You should put something such as a smooth fabric sheet between the carpet and the track to minimize the amount of lint that you are ultimately going to have to clean in order to keep the engine running.

Happy running