Mixing Unitrack with....???

[steve.i456]

I'm considering building the Wisconsin & souther layout in the the last three issues of Model Railroader in N scale. The layout would fit well along the walls of my basement, with room to grow later.

My question is, I really like unitrack and I have a decent amount of it to build most of the W&S, except turnouts. I own eight unitrack #6 (4r's & 4l'S) and 9 atlas turnouts. My question is, how well does unitrack work with other brands(to get started). Do I need to use the converter track (I do own a few of those already.)? Also, since I will need to purchase more turnouts, what brand does the crowd at large recommend?

My thought is this, if unitrack works well with altas or peco, then what is the "Mainline" of the layout will be Kato, with the industrial trackage being either peco or atlas track. Budget wise, atlas is the way to go. Another thought is to use atlas turnouts with unitrack. Peco and unitrack turnouts are similarly priced, so I really don't see myself going there, except they (peco)offer a wider range.

I'm looking for reliability over looks. My crappy scenery will take care of the looks. :twisted: Unitrack runs w/o derailment (for me at least). Can I mix it with others and get the same results? Or do I need to get all the kato I can?

 

[railohio]

It would probably be best to minimize the number of transitions and make one portion of the layout Unitrack and one portion Atlas. Other brands of track can be mated using regular joiners instead of the Kato ones but these joints are awkward to make. Having fewer of them will make construction easier and operations more reliable.

~BS

 

[Herc Driver]

I haven't seen a Kato Unitrack conversion to any other's plastic ballasted track. I know Life Like makes one to fit Bachmann, but haven't seen anything for Kato.

On a related question...how do you like the Kato turnouts? Any problems?

 

[Catt]

ATLAS,KATO,and Peco track will mix just fine.Once you pop the uni-joiner off the uni-track it will accept a standard rail joiner just like the other track uses.

You may or may not have to shim your roadbed to get a good transition.

 

[nscaler711]

Hey Herc driver, where could i find this conversion track from LL to Bmann? i have looked every where so can ya help?

 

[Herc Driver]

I found the LL conversion piece in the Walthers Catalog, pg 110, item number 433-7807. It is listed as a Power Link Short Adapeter Track, so I can't say it exactly hooks with Bachmann (since I've not seen the product in Nscale). But at my LHS, they used to have the same product in HO scale and it looked like it did hook up with just about every other maker of snap-track. I have also seen the adaptor for Kato track too in the Walther's book, pg 116, item number 381-20045. I checked the Bachmann website and they no longer list a conversion or adaptor piece. Hope this helps.

 

[steve.i456]

Thanks for all the replies. The conversion pcs. I have are the kato to snap track. I decided to start out with using the atlas turnouts with my unitrack. so far so good, but I haven't laid much and I've yet to run any trains. With Luck, tonight I may do so. Thats the great thing about unitrack.

The nice things is that I'm using bif-fold closet doors, so I can work on the layout upstairs, thus reducing time away from the family. Of cousre, once built, all bets are off. lol.