Kato Unitrack vs Tomix FineTrack

[Atobit]

I discovered it when I moved in Japan few month back, those temporary layout are great to me as I do not have fix home at the moment.

I looked at both Kato and Tomix system, which one has your preference?

I'm hesitating before investing in one system.

I found the Tomix rails looking better, they seems have more rail accessories available, meanwhile I found that Kato seems have better "Shinkansen rail system".

There are any adaptor available to mix the two systems? 

[cteno4]

Atobit,

 

That's a constant debate! Tomix has a broader range of track than kato and does look better, kato is a tad more rugged with replicable jointers and is a bit more available world wide. But in Japan tomix is easy to get and you can also use their wide tram rail and moving bus plates easily with it. Tomix has double viaduct Shinkansen track and a station platform system as well. One difference is that the multiple rail spacing is wider on tomix at 37mm and kato 33mm. You will find fans of both!

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[Ewan.in.gz]

My personal preference is for Kato UniTrack, I find the mounting of the rails above the roadbed to be more realistic than the way Tomix track's rails are sunken into the sleepers and roadbed. Also, I like the slightly higher "ballast" roadbed, and the closer track spacing of UniTrack.

[railsquid]

Umm, the Tomix rails/sleepers look to be mounted in pretty much the same way as Unitrack?

[Ewan.in.gz]

Unitrack rails are held in place by the chairs/rail fasteners, so they are above the ballast and sleepers, with a gap underneath, much like full size railways. Look closely at the track pieces and you can see it!

[railsquid]

Hmm, on the Tomix track I have the rails are held in place by the sleeper chairs, not sunk into the roadbed. There isn't much of a gap beneath the rails, unlike Unitrack. Not that I'd noticed before.

 

I do know I laid out some Unitrack on a narrow (30cm) shelf and it looked wrong - way too clunky - so went with Tomix for that part.

 

Edit: anyway Unitrack vs Finetrack is kind of off-topic, unless it's a question of which is better for temporary layouts, in which case Unitrack is more robust.

Edited October 20, 2015 by railsquid

[Ewan.in.gz]

I have never used Finetrack myself, it was hard to find in Australia (and I was modelling SoCal on an old, thick &n heavy waterbed chipboard base anyway), and impossible to find in South China. But I have to say that BOTH Finetrack and UniTrack are superior to flextrack.... Especially for temporary layouts, or lazy builders like me who don't wanna build their own roadbed!

 

Anyway, even for temporary "floor layouts", the final choice is ultimately up to the individual. But I would definitely recommend some form of roadbed track, especially Japanese or European. I have noticed that the roadbed track ranges from Bachmann and Atlas (I think it was Atlas....) look very plasticky, especially as they are basically standard set-track pieces slotted into a plain black or grey roadbed section, and unlike Kato or Tomix, there is no attempt to color the ballast realistically.

[kvp]

Kato Unitrack is more robust, but because of this, the roadbed is thicker, the rails are thicker and it's more out of scale. Tomix Finetrack is more fragile, but the roadbed is thinner, the railheads are thinner and the rails are more prototypical, not to mention it has more track and turnout types. The prototypically correct track fixing and the turnouts using real blades are much more fragile and not really child safe..

 

The general idea is that Kato Unitrack is better for floor layouts and small kids, while Tomix Finetrack allows the construction of better looking fixed layouts and more complex and nicer trackwork. (including combined tram and bus layouts) One more interesting note, that Finetrack could have the same problems as the prototypically more correct Peco code 55 tracks, namely some cookie cutter wheeled older rolling stock might bounce on the tracks and turnouts. Kato rails and turnouts support these very old trains better, similarly to Peco code 80.

 

ps: European roadbed track has two types, cheap kid safe and nicer looking but still playtime. Both types are worse than any japanese products, but this comes from the old philosophy of using hand ballasted track for real (fixed) layouts. This also comes with the usage of either above sufrace turnout motors or complex 3rd party underfloor solutions. Maerklin is the only european manufacturer who has a tradition of supporting floor running with good quality roadbed track, but their main scale is H0.

[Welshbloke]

Weirdly I think either is better than DIY ballasting "bare" track.

 

I've seen Unitrack which has been permanently laid and then painted/weathered, as well as being bedded into the landscape with a bit of greenery. The ballast looked great - much better than I could achieve in a reasonable timescale with loose ballast and watered-down PVA glue to fix it. Plus you have no problems with ballast and glue gumming up the pointwork.

 

Painting the rails does wonders for hiding their over-scale height too, or at least making it less obvious.

[railsquid]

In an attack of masochism I've embedded my Finetrack in conventional ballast, like this:

 

 

though it's certainly very handy to be able to leave the points as-is, unless you look carefully they don't stand out much at all (or spots where I've missed ballast or it's come away). For the main part of the layout I'll be using mainly Unitrack and certainly won't be doing anything like this there otherwise I'll never finish. What I do notice from looking at pictures of fixed layouts in magazines etc. is that quite often ballasting is pretty minimal, but unless you look carefully it hardly stands out - given the other intense detail present in most layouts, the eye is easily distracted.

[E6系]

Hello,

 

I agree that Kato is more rugged, but I would not use the word "fragile" to describe Tomix track.  The product is quite robust.  My 10 year old nephew runs his 3 loops and 4 sidings on the floor, and packs it away at the end of each weekend.  He has no broken any parts, yet he is not so gentle and is sometimes a little careless.

 

However, some people report that the Tomix turnout motor does not always leave the rails in the correct position, but I have not experienced this.  Otherwise, I cannot find any reason not to use Tomix.  The range is superior and I find the extensible track piece that slides from 70 to 90mm in length an excellent solution for joining track between baseboards.

[Welshbloke]

That's not unique to Tomix, mind. I've noticed that the Kato #4s sometimes don't throw properly if you use the hand lever on the side (trick is to flick it quickly rather than sliding it). They seem ok when powered, presumably as the solenoid is a bit snappier than my trying-not-to-knock-it-off-the-table manual handling.

[kvp]

When thrown electrically, not enough power (voltage, current, pulse time) can leave both types half way. The same is true for manual handing, when the pushing power is not strong enough in the middle.

Edited November 2, 2015 by kvp

[ToniBabelony]

I'm a fan of Tomix because of the immense range of sectional track and the easy geometry. I'm also a fan of Kato tracks because of the overall better look on them, the Unitram concept with 25mm center distance, and the replaceable Unijoiners. Still in an overall battle, for me, Tomix comes out as the winner. Having used Kato a lot in track planning at a friends', it's very limited in its use, because of the lack of various points.

[wazzd]

 

I have the old Tomix brown track just enough to make a double oval with a passing siding and the double crossover, I also know many with Kato track. I like the Tomix, the only problem I have is finding any in Australia!

 

[kvp]

The old Tomix track is not really fine quality, for example the turnouts look like Kato unitrack ones and the old control system is just like any european one, not the modern technology used for Finetrack. The selection is track pieces is also lower than for modern Tomix Finetrack.

 

 

It's actually cheaper to get new tracks from Japan (in Europe, some sellers do stock it with acceptable prices).

 

and the replaceable Unijoiners

Some newer Tomix tracks do have replacable joiners, but sadly not all of them. This is a big plus for Kato. (part of why it's better for the floor)

Edited November 2, 2015 by kvp

[Martijn Meerts]

I have a bunch of Unitrack, Finetrack and Peco code 55 track. Unitrack I use for T-Trak modules, Finetrack I used before, and is now being used on my fathers semi-permanent layout, and Peco I'm using for my own layout.

 

All in all, I do prefer Peco, but it's a lot more work to build a layout using them. However, for a large layout the flex track is great because you can make some really nice sweeping curves that just aren't possible with Unitrack of Finetrack.

 

I do have to say, the older Finetrack turnouts (where the frog is partially plastic) can really cause issues. There are several on my father's layout which cause derailments. The issues have been fixed in the newer ones though.

 

With regards to stepping on stuff, I've stepped on all of them without them getting damaged. The Peco track regularly has stuff lying on top if it (only when the layout has no power of course) and it handles it perfectly well. I know I shouldn't put stuff on there, but it happens :)

[Welshbloke]

Bit of a resurrection, but this seems the best thread for this:

 

Can anyone tell me how much of a difference there is in rail height between Tomix and Kato track? I'm eyeballing one of the Tomytec station kits but would like to know how it'll look next to my Unitrack. Obviously I can make a shim to lift it slightly if needed, but was curious whether I'll need to.

[kvp]

The answer is in the kato conversion piece which has a roughly 2 mm insert under the tomix track. (Tomix rail height is around 10 mm)

 

For station platforms, you might have to consider the different track distances and that some platforms have spacers towards the tracks to prevent them getting into the loading gauge and this could be tricky when the ballast widths are also different.

[Welshbloke]

Well, the one I was looking at is the little single-sided commuter platform, as I reckon it'd be great with my 17m stock. So track spacing won't be a problem. Kato don't really make any short platforms, and I'm looking for something to go with the CV track packs on table top layouts. Does occur to me that if the CV packs are doing well they should probably look at some matching buildings and platforms.

 

It sounds like I could improve matters by using a 2mm high shim under the platform. If I left a notch on the track side that should take up the extra width in the Kato ballast base compared to the Tomix.

[Ochanomizu]

Hello Mr Welshbloke,

 

Please allow me to assist you with dimensions of Tomix track.

 

Firstly, the height of Tomix track is 6.5mm to the top of the rail.  I think that is ¹/₄".  I cannot measure Kato track because I do not use.

 

Please consider the following image.  The Kato track is on left.  Tomix track is second from left:

 

Please consider the image below. Kato track is on right.  Tomix track is centre:

 

Please remember that Kato and Tomix also have different track spacing, which might also affect your chance to use Tomix platform with Kato track.

 

I hope this information is useful.

[railsquid]

Well, the one I was looking at is the little single-sided commuter platform, as I reckon it'd be great with my 17m stock. So track spacing won't be a problem. Kato don't really make any short platforms, and I'm looking for something to go with the CV track packs on table top layouts. Does occur to me that if the CV packs are doing well they should probably look at some matching buildings and platforms.

 

It sounds like I could improve matters by using a 2mm high shim under the platform. If I left a notch on the track side that should take up the extra width in the Kato ballast base compared to the Tomix.

 

I'm away from my track but with the right vertical adjustment and horizontal spacing this should work fine.

[railsquid]

Hello Mr Welshbloke,

 

Please allow me to assist you with dimensions of Tomix track.

 

Firstly, the height of Tomix track is 6.5mm to the top of the rail.  I think that is ¹/₄".  I cannot measure Kato track because I do not use.

 

 I get 6.4mm for Tomix and 7.2mm for Kato,  both measurements might be off by +-0.1mm.

[Welshbloke]

Thanks all, looks as if some measurement of Tomytec platforms next to Kato will be needed (in order to pick the right thickness of shim to go underneath).

 

Kato really ought to think about some structures to go with the CV track packs. Their standard platforms are all designed to suit a 248mm track grid, with a minimum of 744mm for a reasonable-looking station (two end pieces plus a centre one). Meanwhile most of the plans for the compact track range consider 248mm to be a long straight!

[Ochanomizu]

 I get 6.4mm for Tomix and 7.2mm for Kato,  both measurements might be off by +-0.1mm.

 

Hello,

 

Really?  There is less than 1.0mm difference?  I do not own Kato, so cannot make a measurement.  The photos look very deceptive then, don't they?  For such a small difference I guess the next question is whether the Tomix platform can get close enough to the rails, given the large amount of ballast on the Kato track?