Scenic Ridge I'm new. "To everything!"

[DVAN48]

 I put this in the "N" section too. But I'm new to model railroading and this forum' and have alot of questions. I just bought the Scenic Ridge kits (all 3) and I dont like the atlas track. I want to convert it to the EZ-Track system. Do they have a track pack kit that matches or is similar to the "Atlas Track-Pack" or at least the same size track pieces? I would appreciate any help and any extra advice of any sorts someone would like to give? Thanks.

[Doneldon]

DVAN-

I'm not at all certain that posting an HO question on the N site will yield any information which is better than what you'll get by posting on the scale involved, in this case, HO. Plus, multiple posts on the same subject do NOT yield more, better or faster information. They just irritate the people on the various boards.

Bachmann cannot legally sell a direct replacement track set for the Atlas Scenic Ridge kits because that would be, essentially, theft of intellectual property. However, there is no reason at all why you can't take a list of the Atlas pieces to your LHS, online hobbyshop or ebay and purchase the same elements. There may be a very few pieces which you'll have to cut to fit but I would expect that Bachmann has a comparable piece for every Atlas piece. What may cause a few problems is turnouts. I've not made a detailed study of the geometry of Atlas vs Bachmann turnouts but I would expect them to be similar enough that only minor adjustments may be needed, if any. However, I have a question for you: Why do you want to do this in the first place?

Atlas track is a perfectly good product. Buying the Atlas kits and then replacing all of the track is a very expensive way to build a model railroad as you will never sell your Atlas track (it's now used whether you used it or not) for what you paid for it. If you like the roadbed attached Bachmann track (EZTrack), return your Atlas kits to where you purchased them, buy one of Kalmbach Publishing's excellent track plan books (or check Model Railroader on line), and build the set up you want. You can certainly modify any track plan which appeals to you so it best satisfies your needs and wants. In the alternative, keep the Atlas track and mount it on cork roadbed. That won't be very expensive and it will look pretty good even if you don't apply additional ballast (the rock that drains the track and holds it in place).

Whatever you choose, welcome to model railroading and good luck building you empire.
                                                                                                                                  -- D

[mhampton]

I'm not at all certain that posting an HO question on the N site will yield any information which is better than what you'll get by posting on the scale involved, in this case, HO. Plus, multiple posts on the same subject do NOT yield more, better or faster information. They just irritate the people on the various boards.

Woodland Scenics sells the Scenic Ridge as an N Scale layout.  I don't know if there's an HO version or not, but I don't think so.  I gave at least a partial answer to his inquiry in the N section, but this is not just an HO forum here.  The title I clicked on said "General Discussion" so this was fair game here.

[Doneldon]

this is not just an HO forum here.  The title I clicked on said "General Discussion" so this was fair game here.

Mike-

That's exactly correct. However, the second posting under "N" then became superfluous.
Just take a look. People (you and I) are responding in two places. Does that really make
a lot of sense?
                         -- D

[NarrowMinded]

 

[jward]

comparing the at;as track pack to the ez track pieces available it would appear that you can't build this layout without major modifications.

there is no ez track equivalent for the atlas 9.75r curves.

the atlas 11r curves are close to the ez track 11.25r curves.

the geometry of the atlas and ez track #4 switches is completely different. the atlas switch is designed to replace either a 5" straight or 19r curve section. even a cursory examination of the ez track switch shows that the curved side is completely different than a 19r curve section.

i am not telling you that you can't build this layout with ez track. but the layout you get will be significantly different than the one woodland scenics supplied the templates for.

[mtk130]

Considering length of time since last post and more selections of radius for bachmann, has anyone tried of can confirm using ez track could work for scenic ridge n scale? One poster did a rework for river pass ho using ez track on cad and it did fit the plan fairly close. I forget the poster Id but perhaps he can do this scale & layout 

[jward]

Bachmann has yet to come out with the track pieces necessary to build this layout as it was designed, or reasonably close to it. My original comment on this subject still stands. You can redesign it using EZ track components, but it will be significantly different than the original.

Specific areas of concern: the Atlas switches used are designed to be drop in replacements for a standard 5" straight and a standard 19" radius curve. EZ track switches take up far more space than those used in the plan. Likewise, the smallest radius EZ track curves are 11.25" which take up far more space than the Atlas 9.75" radius curves called for in the track plan.

Perhaps you could come up with a workable substitution using one of the track planning programs like AnyRail or SCARM?