What is with Kato Unitrack sleepers?

[kuro68000]

Because I was following a book I went with Unitrack for my current layout, but I have been disappointed by the position of the sleepers (rail ties in US English). When you join two sections of track you end up with two next to each other and it looks odd. With Tomix Finetrack they are spaced correctly. What are Kato thinking? Seems like an odd decision.

 

Otherwise I find Unitrack to be okay, fairly reliable but some of my points needed a bit of improvement to run smoothly. Some very careful bending with pliers to make everything line up fixed some derailment issues I had. I think overall Finetrack looks better out of the box though.

[Nick_Burman]

Kato just copied the practice found in some lines of tucking two sleepers under a rail join. Prefectly prototypical for Japan, provided you know where too look for it.

 

 

Cheers NB

[bill937ca]

Just out of curiosity, Nick, do you have an example?

[westfalen]

A quick look through my holiday snaps turned up this example at Myōkenguchi on the Nose Railway and an extra wide wooden sleeper under a join at Ogōri on the Nishitetsu. Every railway seems to have their favorite way of doing it.

[The_Ghan]

mojo,

 

I tend to agree with you.  Despite the examples of double sleepers being used, it doesn't always look good on a layout.  I think the problem is it draws your eyes to the joints in the tracks.  N-scale fishplates are always oversized and with double sleepers as well at 248mm centres your brain quickly sees the pattern of small parts.  I guess the most prototypical way to go is flex and ballast buy hand.  But if you're wishing you'd gone Tomix my advice is to get on with it.  The longer you delay the more your decision to go Kato track will annoy you.  I've made several bad decisions in my 18 months of N-scale modelling.  They've cost me hundreds of dollars, probably, but also time.  I've learned that I enjoy the hobby more if I just cut my losses and get the right stuff.

 

Thankfully, I'm a Tomix man.  I spent a good three months researching and visiting model railway shows before taking that decision though.  My biggest concern with going Tomix was supply.  Thankfully I met a guy in Sydney, Doug Coster, who had the time on the day to teach me a few things, including where to buy the stuff on line.  At that time, it was my intention to stick to Kato "DCC Friendly" models too.  It's convenient, but it didn't last.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[kuro68000]

Thanks Nick and westfalen, I didn't know they did that in Japan. Seems like a more rural thing, all the main JR and Keisei lines I normally travel on don't do it, but I'll make a point of looking for more independent railways to photograph in future.

 

The_Ghan (is that Japanese onomatopoeia?), I will stick with Kato for now because that is what the book uses and I already have the track laid and partially bedded under some plaster cloth. Being my first attempt I deliberately chose a rural setting so I could practice landscaping and weathering, and because the book explains everything quite well (when I can understand it). The layout is also a Kato standard one (they have a completed one at the showroom in Tokyo) so I figured it would be well "supported" in the sense that there are other books and more examples to look at. Being able to examine it at the showroom sold it to me.

 

I see it as a learning process so that afterwards I can do a more urban one with the skills I have developed. Once I know what I am good at and not good at I should be able to design it around that. It will also give me a chance to develop some electronics.

 

Er, but, yeah... Tomix in future. Well, except for the Unitram stuff which I can't resist.

[The_Ghan]

... The_Ghan (is that Japanese onomatopoeia ...

 

Hi mojo,

 

Not quite mate.  The Ghan is arguably the most famous of railways in Australia.  You can read a bit about it here.  My avatar is actually a derelict loco from that train.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[linkey]

... The_Ghan (is that Japanese onomatopoeia ...

 

Hi mojo,

 

Not quite mate.  The Ghan is arguably the most famous of railways in Australia.  You can read a bit about it here.  My avatar is actually a derelict loco from that train.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

 

Poor ol' Commonwealth Railways GM locomotive left out to rust cause they couldn't get her taken back to the nearest loco yards for repairs.

[westfalen]

... The_Ghan (is that Japanese onomatopoeia ...

 

Hi mojo,

 

Not quite mate.  The Ghan is arguably the most famous of railways in Australia.  You can read a bit about it here.  My avatar is actually a derelict loco from that train.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

 

Poor ol' Commonwealth Railways GM locomotive left out to rust cause they couldn't get her taken back to the nearest loco yards for repairs.

That's not a GM, only a pommy diesel would be worth leaving to rust in the desert.

[bill937ca]

Thanks Nick and westfalen, I didn't know they did that in Japan. Seems like a more rural thing, all the main JR and Keisei lines I normally travel on don't do it, but I'll make a point of looking for more independent railways to photograph in future.

 

The Nose Railway near Osaka is an affiliate of Hankyu.  That`s not really rural.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nose_Electric_Railway

 

 

 

[kuro68000]

I found an example on a JR line in Tokyo...

 

[westfalen]

To be realistic the Kato concrete sleepered track pieces should have a wooden sleeper at each end.

[The_Ghan]

To be realistic the Kato concrete sleepered track pieces should have a wooden sleeper at each end.

 

Yeah!  Cheap!!!

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

 

PS: West, any chance of you coming down to Sydney on 17/2 for drinks with a few of us Sydney members?

[westfalen]

To be realistic the Kato concrete sleepered track pieces should have a wooden sleeper at each end.

 

Yeah!  Cheap!!!

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

 

PS: West, any chance of you coming down to Sydney on 17/2 for drinks with a few of us Sydney members?

I think they do it because the wooden sleeper is more resilient and able to take the pounding of the rail joint better than the concrete ones.

 

Not much chance I'm afraid, I'm available for duty AM all that week which means I could start work any time from midnight to midday, and I'm going on an ARHS boat cruise on Moreton Bay the evening of the 16th sailing alongside Queen Mary 2 as she leaves Brisbane so when I get home from work on the 17th I'll probably go to sleep until the 18th.

[The_Ghan]

Bloody Queenslanders!!! 

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan