I'd like to hear people's perspectives on the relative merits of Marklin's Z scale track VS. MicroTrains Z scale track with the integrated roadbed. Am I correct in the impression that Marklin has more turn radii and a greater selection of turnouts? My little experience with Marklin track is that, unless soldered it comes apart too easliy... ie. while cleaning. How does MicroTrains track hold together?
Randall, First the main difference between Marklin and any MTL track is MTL track is smaller about code 50-52 and Marklin is code 55. MTL ties are much closer together giving a more prototypical look. This also applies to MTL Micro Track. All Micro Track is patterned after Marklin. So they are interchangeable, say, in a track plan/diagram. MTL has no plans that I know of for a 145 degree curve. They have copied all other tracks except curved turnouts and the troublesome Marklin double slip switch. No crossovers yet. Soon there may be a track/rerailer grade crossing track. Also, MTL has hinted at a track for a bridge. Bridgetrack with more ties perhaps? Micro track is what you've seen in my photos. http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/6936 You will see that it can be ballasted and best of all, even on a table top the track will not come apart. Most serious Z scalers use MTL flex track and usually Peter Wright turnouts. Some use MTL turnouts and just raise the flex to the turnout level. Me? I've done both. You add ballast and no one know the difference. Marklin's financial problems coupled with 35 year old track design is a good reason to go with MTL. m2cw. Cheers, Jim CCRR/Socalz44
Hello Randall, Track choice seems to depend somewhat on what you intend to model. The Micro Trains track tends to be favored for North American modeling. Peco and Marklin track seem to lean more towards European modeling. For modules I'm working on one uses MTL flex track, another uses MTL sectional track and the third use Peco flex in hidden areas and MTL flex in visible areas. Here are some links that might be helpful, in case you haven't already seen them. Newbie stuff - TrainBoard.com Ztrains: Micro-Trains Micro-Track Ztrains: Z Scale Basics: Available Track Pieces
Good one Joe, made me laugh. ALthough not really discussed is price, MTL beats marklin. Another issue is what is going on with marklin? JD
I'm currently creating a simple 2 X 3 layout to take to shows to demonstrate my items for sale. I'm really happy with the MTL track (and I'm not saying that because I sell it). I like how well it goes together and stays together. It was perfect for a project like this. I'm no scenery expert but I'm fairly happy with the results so far. Still lots to do! Todd
Sorry Joe, but family members can not enter the contest nor vote. You are disqualified I'm afraid, however, you are correct in liking MTL track best. You have impeccable taste. )
Personal opinion...... MTL may be more American prototypical sleeper spacing, but prefab ballasted track will never be used on any layout that I put together. Tried it in N scale and it's a PITA to get looking nice ( the ballast looks as phony as it can get and trying to get granular ballast to adhere to it, is almost impossible until you have put too much on ) and conducts high pitched sound way to much, so you get allot of hiss that detracts from other sound.
Well you wont have to hear that proto high pitched hiss in Z scale. As for ballast, it's already hard enough finding proper Z scale ballast. Arizona Rock & Mineral does a pretty good job but still, you sometimes have to sieve. .
Not sure what you mean by "Most serious Z scalers use MTL flex track and usually Peter Wright turnouts." I am one of those "not serious" ones who use Peco and Maerklin tracks. Where do you have your numbers from?
All, I guess that it commes with what you to do and what your skill level is. I have been quite happy with Märklin track for my 'German' layout. For my US switch puzzle I started handlaying track. I use Micro engineering code 40 (unwheathered) and wooden and PCB ties from Fast Tracks. I simply glue the track work to the wooden ties with epoxy with a very small gab inbetween but without track connectors. Every piece of track has its own feeders. Ballasting is done with woodland N-scale ballast. It is extremely time consuming to install but hey it is a hobby.
Knut, I'm a member of more North American Z sites than you are and a moderator of one of them. In my 10 years of Z scale modeling I've had my eyes and ears open so that I may give advice when asked. I think no one knows the exact numbers of any track usage. By serious I meant that, but didn't think I had to express, that our hobby is made of of many folks with different skill levels. I call myself a serious Z scaler, but I am quite content to challenge myself with MTL Micro Track. But some of the modelers I know wouldn't touch the stuff. They are on a different "level" of modeling than I choose to be on. They use hand laid track, Peter Wright turnouts, Peco, MTL flex. I take my hat off to them. Most of the people I know of this level of modeling are of course in North America. Naturally they tend to use what is most available for them. Some actually use Peco. Peco is getting as hard to come by as Peter Wright turnouts. Now many folks are using Fast Tracks turnouts. The point is these folks are much more 'serious' than the fellow who buys the Marklin Walnut starter circle. That was my point using the word serious. Take out your Walnut set and put in on your kitchen table, then compare that with this: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/6936 If you don't understand what I'm talking about after viewing the above, then obviously you and I aren't communicating on any level. Cheers, Jim CCRR
Jim, A different level also includes 'realism'. I don't think there is anything pretty, neat, cool, or whatever you want to call it to miles of spaghetti rails with parallel tracks and lots of turnouts to the same loops. It doesn't look real and you rarely find it in real life. That's not a criticism, but my style of modeling compared to other's styles are vastly different. Some like to watch trains run round and round to nowhere, while I like my trains to run through vast areas of scenery, (often like real life) That's why your layouts look so much more real than the smaller layouts with miles of track. Size does matter in this scale and many don't have the luxury of having a large room or area to build an empire. You're fortunate to have that room. I have modules which allow me to 'spread' out, but that option still isn't as nice in many ways to the 'empire' that can be built given enough space. To each his own. As for me, give me the land mass to travel through......I'm with you on this one )
Hey Knut, I think what Jim was eluding too was that some modelers, my self included, tend to stray to some harder track installation techniques that yeild fairly good prototypical results. The MTL snap track system is pretty darn good stuff, and is designed to be rugged and take many setups and tier-downs without getting messed up. Marklin's track will do this to, but only so many times before the ties begin to have problems, and the little nob and clasp connectors at the track ends break. Both track systems are great for both entry level hoddiest, and advanced modelers. When Jim talked about "more serious" modelers, i think he was refering to folks who preminanty install their track, and finish balast it in. This does not mean you have to use one of the flex tracks or hand lay. Some modelers like Jim, prefer to work with track like the MTL snap type, and do a great job of finish balasting it in, and weathering it. And there are modelers like myself who take it to the next step up and work with MTL flex track and Fast Tracks handmade turnouts. This is a bit more work, and requiers a lot of time and patents, but the results are worht the time, if your into this sort of thing. Then there is the next step up of modelers like David Smith and Robert Ray that hand lay code 40 track. These guys and the others like them, are definatly the "serious modelers" that we can all agree have taken Z track as far as it can go at this time, and are producing some of the finest to scale track yet achived in our scale. So being a "serious modeler" is all a matter of ones passion and desire. Just because you dont hand lay track does not make you serious. Tony B... Wasatch Z Club
Hi Randall; I guess by now you see just who hot a topic this is. My view on track is that for a neophyte in Z the z-scale roadbed track from Micro Trains or its Japanese equivalent from Akia (aka Plus Up) is almost bullet proof when it comes to running trains on it. It can be used on a table top then taken down and put away or it can be used to build a layout. I come from Nn3 where we use the same track gauge as Z. Originally we had no options but hand laid. No question it works but takes time and skill but you are not held in check by the cookie cutter like track pieces and switches can go where you want them and can be shaped to your plan. Today with Fast Tracks jigs and tools hand laid is quite easy to achieve but still takes work. Next up is the Micro Trains Flex or Peco Flex and Wright turnouts not quite as flexible but in the right hands you won't know it from hand laid with out allot of study and knowing the product. However there is a difference in the tie spacing between the two products so if you know this you can tell one from the other. Many using flex use Wright turnouts and others use Marklin, Micro Trains or hand build them. Then we have the cookie cutter track. Marklin has been around for quite awhile and so it has the best selection of track pieces but it is not as easy to put down and get running as the roadbed version from Micro Trains. The reason I say this is unless you have really level surface and are careful when laying the track down not to drive spikes or nails down through the center of the ties hard enough to cause the rail gauge to pinch you might just do better the first time with the roadbed track as it is stiffer and more rugged and you can get away with allot less attention the first time around and still get it so you can run trains quickly and reliably. My own layout has a mixture of all three but is mostly Micro Trains now with the recent expansion. While I use the MTL roadbed track I do not stick to the cookie cutter pieces as I cut the sections available to get what I need to make it work but in the end for realism in a scene the Flex with Wright turnouts produce some really good results. When all is said and done it really come down to how well you lay your track as to the results you get. Some members of our group can make anything look good and run well and others less so. From my observations the west coast Z-scale groups have the best track work on average. Anaheim in 2008 was a real eye opener for me. I have not seen a modular group in Z anywhere else to match them. That is not to say there are not good modelers elsewhere, just that in 2008 they produced what to me was the best modular layout in Z of any NMRA National show I been too since Cincinnati. Cincinnati was spectacular for size and allot of firsts for me. cheerz Garth
Since the original question is between Marklin or MTL sectional track, with the intent on taking it apart and setting it up again later, I think the MTL track is a better choice for you Randall. We have a club member who assembles his MTL track at every show to run trains, then takes it apart and put's it away. The MTL track with roadbed sits well on a table top, assembles easy due to their easy to align track roadbed joiners, and holds together well. To use the Marklin track in this way would take longer to assemble because of the care required to align rail joiners. Marklin track can be setup quickly and easily enough, just that it is even more easily done using the MTL track. I have all brands of track on hand, and lots of it too, but when I need to setup a test loop, I pull out my MTL sectional track. What track do I prefer? For a home layout code 40 handlaid track is the preference, and for modules I prefer code 55 MTL Flextrack and Peter Wright turnouts ballasted in place.
One thing that has be alluded to, but not stated outright is that Marklin does have a wider variety of track sections. It has more Make up track sections, stubby track sections, a 13 degree crossover track, some isolating circuit tracks, etc. That being said, MT Micro Track is still relatively new and MT does have plans to introduce more sections. And, as Garth mentioned, most of the smaller pieces can be made by cutting the MT track to fit. at Ztrains.com there are several articles in the "Z Scale Basics" section that deal with MT Micro track. Including the following that shos how to cut sections to fit: Ztrains: Z Scale Basics: Three Notch Railroad Dan S.
Well, put, I couldn't have said it any better. Me and you both work to seriously try and make the MT track look better! That said I like the MT track for consistant geometery that is seems to keep. I've worked with Marklin and MT flex. I like the looks of the handlaid track but right now I am not that talented to try/do it yet.
