Is PECO Setrack good?

[Trainnoob]

After careful thought I've decided to user Setrack over Flextrack simple because my layout is to small for PECO Flextrack.

 

I am considering PECO Setrack, but I want to know what several things.

 

1. Is it reliable

 

2. Is it durable

 

3. Is it generally value for money.

 

Any advice and opinions are welcome.

[ELTEL]

I have used Peco set track on a couple of NG layouts in past with no issues

Terry 

[ITG]

I’ve used it selectively (for tight curves in hidden areas). It’s a perfectly good product imho, but of course the main compromise is on radii. Even if you are forced to use tight radii on curves, it doesn’t mean you have to accept the tight radii of set track points, and the resultant wider track spacing that forces on you. Depending on what stock you plan to run, some configurations of multiple set track points in a consecutive row may cause running problems, particularly if reversing a longish train. Streamline points are wholly compatible with set track so you can mix and match. Plus, there’s a wider variety of shapes and sizes available.

There’s also the question of live frog v dead frog, which again, set track gives you no option but the latter.

I’ve never priced it up, but I suspect small pieces of set track which add up to a metre length, will be pricier than a metre of flexi. 

Edited November 4, 2021 by ITG

[Trainnoob]

1 minute ago, ITG said:

I’ve used it selectively (for tight curves in hidden areas). It’s a perfectly good product imho, but of course the main compromise is on radii. Even if you are forced to use tight radii on curves, it doesn’t mean you have to accept the tight radii of set track points, and the resultant wider track spacing that forces on you. Streamline points are wholly compatible with set track so you can mix and match. Plus, there’s a wider variety of shapes and sizes available.

I’ve never priced it up, but I suspect small pieces of set track which add up to a metre length, will be pricier than a metre of flexi. 

But it's easy to bend around my small layout. I have been told Flexi Can't be used on a 6x6.

 

I assume you wouldn't tell the difference if the Setrack is connected to the streamline track.

 

 

[ITG]

1 minute ago, Trainnoob said:

But it's easy to bend around my small layout. I have been told Flexi Can't be used on a 6x6.

 

I assume you wouldn't tell the difference if the Setrack is connected to the streamline track.

 

 

That’s why one may use set track for the sharper curves, but flexi elsewhere. No, you cannot tell difference. 
PS. I just edited my earlier post. Read again, there are other factors

Edited November 4, 2021 by ITG

[Trainnoob]

As much as I would love to use Flextrack, I am heavily reliant on 3rd and 2nd radius curves and apparently flex track can't be bent that far without compromising it's structual integrity.

 

[Pandora]

I would recommend you research  Kato Unitrack, Unitrack is available in N and HO, Unitrack is  durable and  reliable, especially the method of track joints,  as for value for money,  more expensive than Peco,  but you can shop around using Ebay and Amazon,  the Kato Track sets are better value, nothing else on the market better than  Kato in my opinion

[Trainnoob]

4 minutes ago, Pandora said:

I would recommend you research  Kato Unitrack, Unitrack is available in N and HO, Unitrack is  durable and  reliable, especially the method of track joints,  as for value for money,  more expensive than Peco,  but you can shop around using Ebay and Amazon,  the Kato Track sets are better value, nothing else on the market better than  Kato in my opinion

I have seen this product before and I believe it is a brilliant track system, but since it's code 83 I'm worried that like code 75 old stock won't run on it, Plus it sits really high of the board so it doesn't look so good with scenery, which is where I plan to make up for having unrealistic track geometry.

Edited November 4, 2021 by Trainnoob

[Kris]

Kato track is good / better than Peco Settrack  if you want to constantly reimagine your track or don't want to secure it to the baseboard. Peco track is far more flexible in terms of layouts when you want to secure it to the baseboard. Remember that you can combine Peco Settrack with any Peco code 100 track giving you access to a far greater range of points and crossings.

[kipford]

 

 

Quote

 I am heavily reliant on 3rd and 2nd radius curves and apparently flex track can't be bent that far without compromising it's structual integrity.

You have been misinformed somewhere. Code 100 Flexitrack works perfectly well at 18" (2nd radius) and above. The photos below shows layout I built for my son which used 18" radius on all the tight radius curves and medium streamline points. I have also used it down to 15" (1st radius) on a club Thomas layout.

m

[ejstubbs]

1 hour ago, ITG said:

Streamline points are wholly compatible with set track

 

I'd disagree with that.  Yes, at the level of connecting Setrack to Streamline points they're compatible, but the turnout angle of Streamline code 100 points is only 12° whereas Setrack is based on 22.5° turnout angles (with a few exceptions in both cases, although the underlying geometry is consistent within each range).  That's not an issue when using Streamline points in combination e.g. to form a crossover, but if you want to use a turnout as part of a curve then you need to do a bit of surgery to a Setrack curve, or use a bit of flexi, to get the overall curve to the angle you want.  For example, to make a 180° curve incorporating a Streamline turnout you could cut a 45° Setrack double curve down to 33° so that, in combination with the 12° point and three more 45° Setrack double curves you get the full 180° curve.  However, the resulting 180° curve still won't fit properly with the rest of the Setrack geometry, so you'd almost certainly end up needing to do more trimming and udging to get it all to work.  Also, the Streamline points don't conform to the Setrack geometry for straight track, so even in the case of a crossover you end up needing to cut bits of straight track to length to get a proper fit within the overall Setrack geometry.

 

IMO Setrack curves are a useful if you're building a layout mainly from Streamline points and flexi but you need some curves of smaller radii for which flexi doesn't work well.  But starting with a Setrack-based layout plan and substituting Streamline points in to the design is inevitably going to result in a fair bit of re-jigging of the design and/or surgery to some of the Setrack (ask me how I know).  In my experience, substituting Streamline into a Setrack-based layout plan is not straightforward - it's certainly not a case of simply substituting Streamline points for the Setrack ones - and you typically end up with what is effectively a Streamline-based design which happens to use Setrack for the tighter curves.

 

Yes, Setrack has its disadvantages but for someone embarking on their very first layout and who's got a Setrack-based design that they're happy with, recommending that they use Streamline points instead is almost guaranteed to end up with it taking a lot longer for them to get trains running, with the resultant risk of loss of enthusiasm and disillusionment with the whole thing.  Far better IMO to build a layout that has trains running on it, and use the experience of that as a guide towards "better"* ways of doing it in the future.

 

* I'd be willing to bet that there are as many if not more Setrack-based layouts out there, that their owners get plenty of enjoyment from, than one might expect based on the discussions within the RMWeb "bubble".

Edited November 4, 2021 by ejstubbs

[wasdavetheroad]

Another vote for Kato HO Unitrack. I have been collecting track for several months as the supply can be intermittent. Many will think the prices eye wateringly expensive with a 867 radius turnout being about £60. For the you get several pieces of ballasted track including a 10 angle return curve to make a siding etc and, for me, the point motor is contained in the ballast base and looks a precision job with gold contacts. There are 8 curve radii from 370mm to 790mm,  with 4 pieces in the pack for a 90 degree curve. There are also 490mm and 550mm turnouts with a manual version for the 490mm and for the 867mm as well. The 550mm has just been announced and is a re engineered product so not many details so far. Track centres are 60mm for the 550mm and 867mm turnouts but 75mm for the 490mm. You can take an exacto saw to them as long as you don't touch the motor area. You can also mod the straights and curves  and I have just made two length with a 2.5 degree curve at about 2000mm radius.

 

BTW I hate wiring so will only wire the points and have radio controlled battery powered locos

 

Might start a topic about how the 16 foot train set construction is going with how to mod the track etc.

[Chimer]

1 hour ago, kipford said:

You have been misinformed somewhere. Code 100 Flexitrack works perfectly well at 18" (2nd radius) and above.

 

As you have shown, but it does require extra care to keep the curves smooth, especially if you have to join two pieces of flexi somewhere around the curve.  Whereas set-track curves are dead simple to lay and in my experience perfectly reliable 

 

1 hour ago, ejstubbs said:

 

I'd disagree with that.  Yes, at the level of connecting Setrack to Streamline points they're compatible, but the turnout angle of Streamline code 100 points is only 12° whereas Setrack is based on 22.5° turnout angles (with a few exceptions in both cases, although the underlying geometry is consistent within each range).  That's not an issue when using Streamline points in combination e.g. to form a crossover, but if you want to use a turnout as part of a curve then you need to do a bit of surgery to a Setrack curve, or use a bit of flexi, to get the overall curve to the angle you want.  For example, to make a 180° curve incorporating a Streamline turnout you could cut a 45° Setrack double curve down to 33° so that, in combination with the 12° point and three more 45° Setrack double curves you get the full 180° curve.  However, the resulting 180° curve still won't fit properly with the rest of the Setrack geometry, so you'd almost certainly end up needing to do more trimming and udging to get it all to work.  Also, the Streamline points don't conform to the Setrack geometry for straight track, so even in the case of a crossover you end up needing to cut bits of straight track to length to get a proper fit within the overall Setrack geometry.

 

IMO Setrack curves are a useful if you're building a layout mainly from Streamline points and flexi but you need some curves of smaller radii for which flexi doesn't work well.  But starting with a Setrack-based layout plan and substituting Streamline points in to the design is inevitably going to result in a fair bit of re-jigging of the design and/or surgery to some of the Setrack (ask me how I know).  In my experience, substituting Streamline into a Setrack-based layout plan is not straightforward - it's certainly not a case of simply substituting Streamline points for the Setrack ones - and you typically end up with what is effectively a Streamline-based design which happens to use Setrack for the tighter curves.

 

Yes, Setrack has its disadvantages but for someone embarking on their very first layout and who's got a Setrack-based design that they're happy with, recommending that they use Streamline points instead is almost guaranteed to end up with it taking a lot longer for them to get trains running, with the resultant risk of loss of enthusiasm and disillusionment with the whole thing.  Far better IMO to build a layout that has trains running on it, and use the experience of that as a guide towards "better"* ways of doing it in the future.

 

* I'd be willing to bet that there are as many if not more Setrack-based layouts out there, that their owners get plenty of enjoyment from, than one might expect based on the discussions within the RMWeb "bubble".

 

And I wouldn't really disagree with any of that, except to say that the incompatability issue is more to do with track spacing than turnout angles - 2" for Streamline, 2.625" for Set-track.   For a double track system, set-track radii require set-track spacing, so set-track points conform to that (and using Streamline points involves lots of jiggling).  But for a single track set-up, using set-track curves (cut short if necessary) for tight bends and Streamline points and flexi everywhere else will work perfectly well and (imho) look much better due to the reduced turnout angle.

[RJS1977]

I wouldn't say using streamline points to create a crossover between tracks at Setrack spacing requires a *lot* of jigging - just cutting a short straight piece to fill the gap is sufficient. With regards to points on curves, if you're using Setrack on the curves, then any points forming part of the curve should also be Setrack so that the radius matches.

[RJS1977]

I've no experience of Kato Unitrack but I would certainly say Peco Setrack is better than Hornby as the plastic point frogs are much smaller. Additionally, it also tends to be cheaper, and is made in the UK, so the money you spend on it gets put back into the UK economy rather than the Chinese one.

[Chimer]

12 minutes ago, RJS1977 said:

I wouldn't say using streamline points to create a crossover between tracks at Setrack spacing requires a *lot* of jigging - just cutting a short straight piece to fill the gap is sufficient. With regards to points on curves, if you're using Setrack on the curves, then any points forming part of the curve should also be Setrack so that the radius matches.

 

Contrariwise, I reckon using a larger radius Streamline point as the last 12 degrees of an otherwise set-track single track curve would count as a desirable transition to the following straight.

[ITG]

For a first timer, collectively we may have succeeded in providing almost too much info - albeit accurate and correct - when compared to the simplicity of the questions in his original post. Perhaps one way for him to get a perspective on the different look and geometry of set track v streamline points is to compare paper templates. Streamline points templates are downloadable on the Peco website, although I’m not sure about those for set track. Maybe a kind local model shop would simply photocopy an actual one (I did that myself at one point ).

[BR60103]

I used Streamline on a 2'x4' OO layout with no problems (well, I had to stay with short cars).  This was 50 years ago; they may have changed something since.

Peco used to show the track tied in knots.

 

Streamline and Settrack are compatible for running; the geometry is to different standards.

 

[DCB]

I find Peco far better than Hornby.   I mercilessly mix Peco code 100 streamline with Peco  set track. Both are Nickle silver these days.   Flexi is better for large radius and small radius , set track is less prone to dog legs and kinks in the 1s to 4th and 33" radius range they are supplied in.  Points wise neither takes less space than the other, the streamline short turnout is longer than the set track but gives narrower track spacing, he Streamline Y is a lot smaller than both the Set track short turnout and Set Track Y point.  Big advantage of Streamline is the live frogs, but you can convert set track points to live frog.  While doing so its worth reducing the track spacing down to streamline standards.   Basically you need a track cutter if you are short on space because an inch here and an inch there can make all the difference between two coach trains and three coach ones, Some famous small layouts, Rev Awdrey's Ffarquar for instance only had a run round long enough for two very short coaches. 

The real choice is between Code 75 (or N gauge 55)  Streamilne and the chunkier code 100 version.  If you go code 100 mix and match, cut set track to length, use set track rail in flexi sleeper base, bend set track by cutting webs between sleepers, and where you need dead straight rack use set track long straights as they stay much straighter than flexi track.

[Chimer]

7 hours ago, DCB said:

...... and where you need dead straight track use set track long straights as they stay much straighter than flexi track.

 

That's so obvious, and yet I've never considered it ...... thanks DCB!

[Neil P]

I'm using flexitrack and streamline points to make the trackwork look natural, but 2nd and 3rd radius Peco settrack for the sharp curves at either end of the layout (my layout is only 4 foot wide). It's the best of both worlds and they work fine.

[kevinlms]

Is Peco Set Track actually made by Peco in the UK? At one stage it was made in Austria for Peco.

[AndrueC]

First off, do not use Settrack for straights. Use Streamline for those. Far more cost effective and they are entirely compatible with each other.

 

Otherwise Setrack worked well for me but my layout is barely a year old. Only criticisms I'd have is that for N scale:

* Turnouts are first radius. My 4-6-2 Queen Elizabeth can negotiate them but only one at a time.

* Turnouts - over centre spring can only be removed from underneath and Cobalt-SS motors at least won't budge a turnout with it in place. So plan ahead. I did plan ahead but my plan was 'I'll never get to the point where I want to install turnout motors on this layout' and I was wrong :-/

 

Other than that I can say that laying the track out was a breeze and working to the fixed geometry of Settrack helped a lot. My next layout will be Streamline however. It's just more realistic. But the curves are going to be interesting

Edited November 6, 2021 by AndrueC

[KingEdwardII]

2 hours ago, AndrueC said:

But the curves are going to be interesting

I tackle the curves using a design program (XTrackCad in my case) followed by printing out 1:1 and pinning the sheets to the baseboard and laying out the curves on top. Once I'm happy, I remove the sheets and proceed to ballast etc.  

 

The design program allows for curves that are not arcs of a circle - i.e. ones where the radius varies and allows for appropriate lead-in and lead-out sections when transitioning from curves to straights. Doing those mandrauically I would find tough. Of course, flexitrack allows for pretty well any curve radius you like, unlike Settrack.

 

Yours, Mike.

[PaulaDoesTrains]

10 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Is Peco Set Track actually made by Peco in the UK? At one stage it was made in Austria for Peco.

 

I think you're a tiny bit out of date. PECO have been making track, including Setrack, at their factory in Beer, Somerset for a long time. They also have a second site at Buddly Salterton where they manufacture their Wills, Ratio and Parkside products. They make all their injection moulds in-house (something Hornby were incapable of doing) using two vertical CNCs - a Hurco and a Roeders - and an EDM machine. They're now starting to use robot automation to help with the assembly of track. All of this is well documented in various videos on YouTube.