Opinions on Bachmann EZ track for a beginner


I started out with steel power loc track :eek: then "upgraded" to E-Z. I like it overall and I've had it for about 6 years now. The only problem is? the turnouts. I have 5 of them, 3 right and 2 left. All but one have been replaced due to the fact that they can be a real peice of crap since they don't hold the points. I don't have enough extra cash to switch over to Atlas so I'll deal with it for now. I just have to double check that the points are lined up before I spot a car on a particular siding. :rolleyes:
 
adurbin said:
Hello all,

My Experiences.

When I see the videos from Bachmann and read the posts here, and see other HO videos, I get the impression that having all the rails clean and free of contamnation is important.

If the EZ Track is in a permanent installation it will accumulate contamination, etc. After some time, I can see how it could be a problem. But if the layout is periodically cleaned I would think it would be okay. Also, multiple power feed points would be helpful. So, I think it is okay for temporary installations.

I recently started to get back into HO and started to buy Bachmann stuff. I found that the tolerances were low on some HO running stock, so it could be a problem at the switches. I did not like the engines but I liked the Silver Series cars. The switches have small plastic protrusions. I bought 5 engines from Bachmann with DCC, plus some analog engines, plus the EZ track, plus Atlas 100 track. But, I sold the engines on E Bay and bought MTH and Proto engines on E Bay (not expensive).

I kept the EZ track and Silver Series cars.

I sold the Atlas 100 tracks. It seemed cheap. Also, I simplified the layout to have only 4 switches. It might be made more complicated later. The DCC is just controlling the engines.

If one looks at U Tube, most EZ Track installations seem temporary, which seems to be the strong point of EZ Track. And, you can keep the temporary track clean.

PS: The silver looks nicer than all black.
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I am not an expert.

After being away from HO for some time I re-started.

But I have bought a variety of equipment and am still testing some.

I am making a smaller layout with DCC and some good engines. I am using silver EZ Track for now.

But I am happy to chat.

Both EZ Track and Atlas seem cheap. One can pay a fortune for good track.
I saw one package on E Bay for $1000. of what seemed to be a good starter package of better grade track.
 
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I don't, but I can describe what to do. Assuming it won't stay flat for some reason, or that it undulates due to a less than ideal surface, you could shim under it with cardstock cut from breakfast cereal boxes.

If it lies well, but you want to fix it in place, many of us use a very thin sheen of acrylic latex adhesive caulk. This is not to be spread like peanut butter, but more like a thin skiff of soft margarine that a stingy person would want on a slice of bread. A little goes a long way. You place a thin bead of it down the center line of the track plan, spread it thinly with a plastic card, a spackle spatula, or whatever, and then relay your track elements. It would not hurt to weight the tracks with soda tins or soup tins placed on the rails. However, if your base is not very flat, weighting the rails makes them conform to the non-flat surface, and you will end up with an undulating and rocking rail system. Also, you will have wasted a lot of caulk if you don't weight them on a wavy surface. Hence, it is important to have a good surface prepared.
 
RDC1 said:
Does anyone have photos of how they secured the E-Z Track to the layout?

~ Dave
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My layout top is plywood covered with white foam. I laid the EZ-Track on the foam then when I was satisfied with the arrangement I covered the foam with wall joint compound including the bottom half of the EZ-Track roadbed. Later the compound will be sanded smooth and the ground cover applied.

P1011413-1.jpg
 
jeffrey-wimberly said:
My layout top is plywood covered with white foam. I laid the EZ-Track on the foam then when I was satisfied with the arrangement I covered the foam with wall joint compound including the bottom half of the EZ-Track roadbed. Later the compound will be sanded smooth and the ground cover applied.

P1011413-1.jpg
Click to expand...

I had to look twice at that. At first I thought it was a winter scene!!! I am coming back to this hobby after a almost 30 year Hiatus. I too bought some Bachmann sets, so that I had a place to start. I quickly learned that it wasn't the best quality. But I am still torn on whether to use EZ Track or not. I have two sets of Ez track that came with the 00501 bachmann set. I combined that stuff into a dogbone layout with the turnouts being used to store the unused locos and cars. It works great as it is.

However, I want to expand. I wasn't sure the EZ track was the way I wanted to go because of how expensive it is. The turnouts are expensive as well. So for me it's not about quality right now it's about the price. I am still doing my research though.
 
You can't get much cheaper than hand-laying your own track, and many do that. Same with making your own turnouts. But a lot of people, after a time hand-laying will restort to Micro Engineering track or Atlas, or Peco. You can make an infinite variety of track layouts with flex track. If you shop around, you can get each 3' length for about $3, give or take 50 cents. 3' of EZ-Track will be about three times as much.

Peco turnouts are my favourite right now. They work reliably, and they look okay. I use their Streamline Code 83 #6 ""insulfrog" turnouts that are meant to be DCC-friendly. They aren't exactly cheap, but they will last a long time if you treat them well.

I also make my own turnouts out of rail stock, PCB ties, solder, and wooden fillers for the ties. I can make a much better turnout than most any commercial one as far as smoothness and tolerances are concerned. For about half the price.
 
I have a smaller layout. I bought the EZ Track, looked at it at decided to sell it on E Bay and replace with Kato. The EZ track has more pieces. Kato seems better made.
 
I started using EZ-Track back in the very early 90's. To me it was easier than working with the Atlas flex track and cork roadbed. The Bachmann turnouts can be problematic at first but some simple modifications can be made pretty reliable. Turnouts are another reason I stopped Atlas track. Some of the larger turnouts were OK but the smaller snap switches were a constant PITA. No matter how I adjusted them or shimmed them there was a derailment nearly every time a train went through. I still have the occasional minor derailment with the Bachmann turnouts. That happens 1 to 2 times a month at the maximum. I find the manual turnouts to be the most reliable as they lock in position.
 
I have been away from HO, and getting back into it.
I bought some Atlas and EZ Track.Do you have any experience with Kato ?
 
I have both Atlas True-Track and Bachmann EZ-Track. I'd say go for the EZ-Track. The Atlas switches are junk.
 
scibiz said:
I have been away from HO, and getting back into it.
I bought some Atlas and EZ Track.Do you have any experience with Kato ?
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KATO is all I use now. I like it much better than E-Z track. I use #6 switches and do not have any problems with them. Since my layouts are temporary (winter months only), track like KATO is perfect for me. Take it out, snap it together, hook up the DCC power lines and the switch control wires and it always works. I have enough track to create 2 main lines and 3-4 sides tracks for a yard.

It would be nice if KATO made a few more pieces of track in HO like they do in N scale plus an adaptor track for when you really need to use Altas track for something.
 
Tuna said:
KATO is all I use now. I like it much better than E-Z track. I use #6 switches and do not have any problems with them. Since my layouts are temporary (winter months only), track like KATO is perfect for me. Take it out, snap it together, hook up the DCC power lines and the switch control wires and it always works. I have enough track to create 2 main lines and 3-4 sides tracks for a yard.

It would be nice if KATO made a few more pieces of track in HO like they do in N scale plus an adaptor track for when you really need to use Altas track for something.
Click to expand...

I'm doing N-Scale and I'm also tying to decide to stay with E-Z Track or move to something else. I'm interested in your specific reasons for choosing Kato vice E-Z Track. I've got about $100 invested in E-Z track, but I'm having 2nd thoughts, mostly because I'd like to use FlexTrack for straight runs to add some gentle curves.

Also, and more important to me, I'm about 5 months from beginning construction on a 10x6 layout that will have to be portable. It will be done in 2-4 sections and I'm currently working on designing two 10x3 sections. The sections will back against each other using tunnels to go to/from each section. I might cut both sections in half to give me four 5x3 sections to make it easier to assemble/disassemble 3 times a year. At any rate, I'm interested in how you deal with your temporary layout.
 
Tuna said:
KATO is all I use now. I like it much better than E-Z track. I use #6 switches and do not have any problems with them. Since my layouts are temporary (winter months only), track like KATO is perfect for me. Take it out, snap it together, hook up the DCC power lines and the switch control wires and it always works. I have enough track to create 2 main lines and 3-4 sides tracks for a yard.

It would be nice if KATO made a few more pieces of track in HO like they do in N scale plus an adaptor track for when you really need to use Altas track for something.
Click to expand...

*****************

I am starting from scratch.

I bought Kato, EZ Track, and Atlas. I sold all the stuff except for the Kato track on E Bay. I am the same as you. #6 switches.

I am looking for quality.
I bought some Bachmann stuff and sold it all.
The Proto engines I like. I bought three.
Bought one Athearn engine and was impressed.
Bought a few MTH engines and sold them immediately on E Bay: too complicated and fragile.

DCC - bought an MRC Prodigy hand held.

Live in an appartment. Space is a problem.
 
DoubleDAZ said:
I'm doing N-Scale and I'm also tying to decide to stay with E-Z Track or move to something else. I'm interested in your specific reasons for choosing Kato vice E-Z Track. I've got about $100 invested in E-Z track, but I'm having 2nd thoughts, mostly because I'd like to use FlexTrack for straight runs to add some gentle curves.

Also, and more important to me, I'm about 5 months from beginning construction on a 10x6 layout that will have to be portable. It will be done in 2-4 sections and I'm currently working on designing two 10x3 sections. The sections will back against each other using tunnels to go to/from each section. I might cut both sections in half to give me four 5x3 sections to make it easier to assemble/disassemble 3 times a year. At any rate, I'm interested in how you deal with your temporary layout.
Click to expand...

Just seemed cheap. The grey or silver is better than the black. The black looks very cheap. I question how many times you can set it up and put it away, It looks like it wil lnot stand up.
 
scibiz said:
Just seemed cheap. The grey or silver is better than the black. The black looks very cheap. I question how many times you can set it up and put it away, It looks like it wil lnot stand up.
Click to expand...

I was a little worried about that too, but I don't intend to take it apart and they seem to be holding up rather well to my playing around at the moment.

My layout will be built using modular techniques, like making sure only a few straight tracks cross from one section to the next, etc. I figure if push comes to shove, I'll simply replace a few track pieces every so often.

Isn't Kato a bit more expensive than E-Z Track though?

Oh, and I don't use the black at all. I'll be giving Kato a few more looks over the next few months, then it will be time to decide.
 
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