A few thoughts about track

From time to time, the question of which track is the "best" plagues the various N scale web forums.  What exactly makes one range of track better than the rest?  In my opinion, performance and durability trump appearance.  For years the selection of N scale track was pretty limited, and most of the stuff available was patterned after European track with its wide tie spacing.  To boot, it was thought for years that in order for such small wheels to track well, we needed deep flanges and tall rail. 

More recent developments disprove this theory.  If the manufacturers are designing to the NMRA standards, then chances are their products will perform well.  No doubt there is some great looking track readily available, and I have seen some amazing hand laid track that you would struggle to distinguish from the real thing.

But... and there had to be a "but."  I have some unique design constraints with my little layout.  As previously mentioned, in order to make my little layout work, I need short radius turnouts.  Now the choice of which track to use becomes easy.  In N scale, I still prefer to use conventional track that does not have an integrated roadbed (such as Kato Unitrack).  I prefer to ballast myself as I feel it will look more natural.  That said, the choice is Peco Setrack turnouts.  Performance is on the money and this stuff is bulletproof--which is a good choice for a portable layout.  And I happen to have a bunch of them here at the house salvaged from past projects!

I will admit that these are a little toy like in this application.  Euro tie spacing, sharp radii, and code 80 rail won't help these little beasties--but I think that with a little paint and ballast, they will blend right in.  One unfortunate twist is that there are no short radius curved turnouts.  The GHC track plan in my previous post calls for 2 curved turnouts.  I may be able to get around this by the fact that the straight run of the setrack turnouts is short.  We'll have to see about that.

There are plenty of great N scale layouts out there with Code 80 rail.  No shame here.  I will go with Atlas standard code 80 flex for the rest of the track.

One final note on the code 80 track.  While this layout has a specific period and theme, having code 80 track will allow me to run a few vintage N scale trains that I have in my collection now and then just for the fun of it!