Tom J Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 This FiNetrax stuff looks really nice indeed, but looking at the website the range has apparently not expanded for a while, and posts on the forum on the site are not eliciting replies. I am really impressed with what I have seen (took me a lot of searching to find a picture of it next to some Peco track - the manufacturer will sell the product best on this image alone!) but I don't have the confidence to go with it. No catch point or slips probably rules me out. For a system like this to work, you need to reach critical mass in terms of components for someone to cast their lot 'all in'. Looks like for the current project it will be Peco for me, but another chance to use this may emerge. I hope the project doesn't become like Scott's last trip and fail to survive by the narrowest of margins, with success almost in sight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 I agree, apart from being easier and cheaper to just build the stuff from parts (for me in any case), there really is a lack of track options in the fiNetrax range. It looks great but there really aren't many layouts that you can make that will only need left and right hand basic bullhead points, I need flat bottom as a basic starter for 10. The beauty of hand built track is that you can make your plan flow. Hard to do that with basic geometry. 10 out of 10 for effort but unless a complete system can be acquired then it will be difficult to get modellers to cross over especially since the points require a degree of skill in building them and in which case the interested people are likely to just build their own track as I do. Having people (Tom I look at you) resorting to having to use Peco track makes my face do this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike Posted December 10, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 10, 2015 Tom Personally I would forget Peco! Once you put the two next to each other I would never go back! Finetrax already has more choice in points than Peco in terms of size/radius. I'm not sure where Wayne has got to with slips, non-working catchpoints could be modelled with some off-cuts of rail. Wayne is looking at FB track and points for next year. Cheers, Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Well Mike that does sound promising. I haven't been following what's available from fiNetrax of late as I really don't need any track at the moment for Burton on Trent but come Millers Dale revival time there may be more interest from me and more options from Wayne. Of course I would have to weigh up costs to build v cost of Waynes points. It may end up being better for me to just use copperclad again or cobble up points from the 2mm Associations easitrac system if I fancy chairs on my points and the like. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom J Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Having people (Tom I look at you) resorting to having to use Peco track makes my face do this I know, can feel the heat from here! I have made my own copperclad pointwork in 'OO' back in the day. The results were lamentable. There is no way I can scale that skill level down to 'N' in a hurry. We need results quickly. For me (bearing in mind the current project is being built with my seven-year-old) FiNetrax would be a step up from Peco rather than a step down from hand building. At that, it needs to be accessible. I love the way the FiNetrax looks. It reminds me of the first piece of C&L 'OO' track I bought many years ago. It looks like proper track. I feel sure when I do my next project for myself, which will be single track, Scottish and bullhead, and not time-critical, I will give it a try, but I think I will have to use Peco this time, and live with its limitations. Many fine layouts have got away with using it. I want to support this new system, but although it's within spitting distance, it doesn't yet (quite) meet me where I am. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanders Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 No catch point or slips probably rules me out. For a system like this to work, you need to reach critical mass in terms of components for someone to cast their lot 'all in'. There may not be any catch points explicitly listed, but you could just take a turnout and cut off the bit from just before the frog onwards... Also it may not have expanded recently but I notice the website has been re-done recently, and there's a statement on the front page that Wayne has "big plans for 2016" and that we should "expect new and exciting product releases soon!", which is a rather emphatic statement that he intends to continue to develop the range. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanStock Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Things having moved on here, I now agree with Cav. The FiNetrax looks very good but there are still constraints with turnout geometry. I've got my head round soldered turnouts now and find it easier than the FiNetrax ones. Will be interesting to see what the latest improvements to the system bring. FB rail is another need here, partly because French railways largely use it (but also some bullhead, which bizarrely they refer to as "double-mushroom" rail...) and partly because some of the flanges on continental models are still coarser than over here, much to my surprise. So I will be going the FB soldered route from now on. It's a difficult decision - as others have said, Wayne's system isn't yet quite at the stage where it makes possible the full range of track that people bothered enough by such things to consider buying it would probably want. I do hope he gets there with it, though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom J Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 I think your final paragraph sums up my thoughts very cogently, Ian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted December 10, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 10, 2015 This FiNetrax stuff looks really nice indeed, but looking at the website the range has apparently not expanded for a while, and posts on the forum on the site are not eliciting replies. I am really impressed with what I have seen (took me a lot of searching to find a picture of it next to some Peco track - the manufacturer will sell the product best on this image alone!) but I don't have the confidence to go with it. No catch point or slips probably rules me out. For a system like this to work, you need to reach critical mass in terms of components for someone to cast their lot 'all in'. Looks like for the current project it will be Peco for me, but another chance to use this may emerge. I hope the project doesn't become like Scott's last trip and fail to survive by the narrowest of margins, with success almost in sight. Wayne has said that there are changes coming soon to the range. http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=3280.780If you go back a couple of pages you will see a little more as well. It is possible to build a trap point with the components that are available. I built one with spares from point kits. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wherry Lines Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 (edited) One must remember that Wayne also has a life and family. Sometimes, products will be slow to market. Edited December 10, 2015 by Wherry Lines Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanStock Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Ah! I was wondering where Wayne had gone... All looks very promising indeed. Might make me think again about the soldering except that I personally still have the issue with continental flanges. It seems they will run on code 40 with no chairs but it's tight. Still this is a problem specific to me and hopefully Wayne's latest developments will be just what's needed to get the range fully off the ground. The easier tie-bar solution has to be the best news. Still wondering how he is managing to do all that and still reduce his prices though... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike Posted December 10, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 10, 2015 Things having moved on here, I now agree with Cav. The FiNetrax looks very good but there are still constraints with turnout geometry. I've got my head round soldered turnouts now and find it easier than the FiNetrax ones. Will be interesting to see what the latest improvements to the system bring. It's a difficult decision - as others have said, Wayne's system isn't yet quite at the stage where it makes possible the full range of track that people bothered enough by such things to consider buying it would probably want. I do hope he gets there with it, though. I'm not entirely sure that if you have mastered soldered point construction that you are Wayne's target market! I think people have to be realistic here about the possibilities of a stock range as well. As I said earlier Wayne already offers more choices of geometry than Peco. The only things missing are catch points (how many people actually use them and if you can build one of Wayne's kits then knocking up a dummy catchpoint should be no problem) and slips. So really only slips... Peco also don't provide a huge choice of geometries or FB track/points! Wayne is a halfway house between full building from scratch and Peco - actually that is unfair to Wayne as Finetrax looks so much better than Peco that the two are not really a fair comparison. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Ben Posted December 10, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 10, 2015 Hi all, I've built Finetrax and 2mm soldered rails as well as Easitrack. Although I can solder TBH I don't especially enjoy it, and in my view the Finetrax is very well designed and thought out. I accept that for the time being the selections are a little limited but they won't grow without support, and the points that are available are a perfectly good basis for lots of interesting track layouts. Having said that, Wayne already does a variety of turbouts and diamond crossings, and has already said that slips are cooming in the New Year. I admit I haven't tried this, but having observed that lots of sidings are still laid wiht bullhead track I think Peco concrete track for the mainline, with Finetrax for sidings etc, could be an interesting compromise... cheers Ben A. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanStock Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Yes, I contemplated that. The Peco plain track isn't too bad and a few experiments suggested that the two could be married without *too* many compromises. The problem comes with the Peco turnouts... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Russ (mines a pint) Posted December 11, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 11, 2015 I have made my own copperclad pointwork in 'OO' back in the day. The results were lamentable. There is no way I can scale that skill level down to 'N' in a hurry. We need results quickly. For me (bearing in mind the current project is being built with my seven-year-old) FiNetrax would be a step up from Peco rather than a step down from hand building. At that, it needs to be accessible. I love the way the FiNetrax looks. It reminds me of the first piece of C&L 'OO' track I bought many years ago. It looks like proper track. I've been watching the finetrax stuff with a huge interest - like you say 4mm copperclad is do-able just but there is a lot of faffing & swearing and getting something that works doesnt always come round first time. It is something that should really catch on - as it is a true kit in that you just put it together like a wagon kit , to my mind the various ways round offered as kits weren't really kits they were just enough scratchbuilding materials to end up with a point if you could build it right . - understand a mk 2 version is now offered with some of the specialist chairs moulded in the base and ready-made switch tiebar assembly (www.britishfinescale.com/product-p/finetrax-turnout-b6.htm ) also think they are doing the right thing by getting the product right before going for a mass of range/geometries as it will mean less problems in the future? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wherry Lines Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 I have a mk2 version of a B8 point. I haven't look at it yet, but I can post a photo of it this evening. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Higgs Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 (edited) Hi all, I've built Finetrax and 2mm soldered rails as well as Easitrack. Although I can solder TBH I don't especially enjoy it, and in my view the Finetrax is very well designed and thought out. I accept that for the time being the selections are a little limited but they won't grow without support, and the points that are available are a perfectly good basis for lots of interesting track layouts. Having said that, Wayne already does a variety of turbouts and diamond crossings, and has already said that slips are cooming in the New Year. I admit I haven't tried this, but having observed that lots of sidings are still laid wiht bullhead track I think Peco concrete track for the mainline, with Finetrax for sidings etc, could be an interesting compromise... cheers Ben A. Personally I think unless you are very good at ballasting, then the Finetrax will just make the Peco look crude. And there is no issue with using 2mm Easitrac for the concrete sleepers on plain track. My take is different as I have the skill required to build copperclad points, and it is actually a lot quicker to build than points with plastic chairs. Not as good looking mind. I will be surprised if ever see flatbottom point kits as rail clips are so tiny they would not be structurally sound as separate items. I would never go back to building plain track using copperclad though. Life is too short! Chris Edited December 11, 2015 by Chris Higgs Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wherry Lines Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 This is the mk2 version of a B8 point straight out of the box. This is what is says on the website: This is the new 'Version 2' kit which includes pre milled Switch Blades & some chairs pre-installed into the base (slide chairs, etc). The switch blades are now soldered directly to the tie bar by the builder in situ - no need for any filing jigs or switch plates! The crossing frog comes as a pre-made casting that simply locates into holes on the base - all the hard work is done for you! You can see the pre-formed sleeper base, cast frog, various lengths of rail and the spurs holding the chairs P1000780 on Flickr The sleeper base now features some pre-moulded chairs. The rest of the chair positions are marked with holes in to which the chairs are located. P1000782 on Flickr These are the chairs. They are incredibly small! P1000783 on Flickr 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Russ (mines a pint) Posted December 12, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 12, 2015 That's great Simon, out of interest there looks to be less webbing on the mk2 version? - that ought to mean re-moving and adding gentle curves should go in its favour, I do agree with many that the cast frog would look better with a C&L rail type pre-made frog - that said in this scale it is less obvious - as many who choose 'handbuilt' OO over the EM and P4 variants of 4 mil it is the sleeper spacing and point geometry which make the most difference, there comes a point at which the trade-off between 'looking right' and being 'actually right' comes and most who want things actually right are prepared to do their own to achieve that.You'll need tweezers to handle those chairs right enough! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGR Hooper! Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Has anyone tried running the Hornby-Arnold 5BEL on finescale track? I came across this website http://www.britishfinescale.com/and I'm very impressed with the track. Has the most basic requirements with (as I've seen) more planned to come. However fiNtraX seems to use Code40 rail. And Arnold being a European manufacturer seems to have pizza-cutters. Well okay they don't look so back, but still looks quite big. Anyone tried running their 5BEL on finescale? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Robert Shrives Posted December 12, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 12, 2015 Hi , Having now built 10 of the mk1 points for myself and Warley N group I have a couple of M2s on order and await arrival -so pictures are very gratefully observed ! For chair handling get a short length of rail - say 2" / 50mm and deburr file a little curve on bottom and use as a handle to hold chair whilst using a blade to cut from sprue. I then fit unglued into hole on sleeper and slide rail into whole length before gluing - any slight tab from cutting out chair can be done once glue set with a very sharp blade It is also useful to put black felt tip pen on rail head to ensure it goes in right way - it slides much easier the right way up - just like the real thing. Flat bottom will be good and I suspect a fully 3D printed base is the way forward as the clips and baseplates will be too small to mould - peco for comparison is large but with rails part in sleepers a reasonable fudge achieved but Wayne`s current range shows where it will go in the near future. Catch points a real doddle using parts from a kit anyway - I have made single and double bladed from mk1 offcuts thanks to Wayne for that. Also for Broadwater junction at the club we discussed fitting code 40 cosmetically for traps but as these would be closed all the time felt it only pointed out the "error" all the time, nobody has commented about lack of traps on exits to loop or trailing catches at entrance to loops in the 3 years of exhibiting, and no don`t start now please ! As ever go on you know you want to ..... Robert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wherry Lines Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 I came across this website http://www.britishfinescale.com/and I'm very impressed with the track...However fiNtraX seems to use Code40 rail. British Finescale make finetrax. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeharvey22 Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 (edited) The current edition of Model Railway Journal No. 243 has a 7 page well-ilustrated article by Mick Simpson on assembling a 2FS Easitrac point. Much of the advice about handling small components is directly transferable to FiNetrax, and echoes what Robert Shrives has written above. Edited December 12, 2015 by mikeharvey22 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanStock Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 I've not tried the 5BEL but I have used Arnold French outline items. They just about cope given the chairs holding the rail above the sleepers. That said, I thought they were also coping with Easitrack FB until I stuck some down, at which point the rigidity kicked in and the bumping noise told me I was wrong. I haven't stuck any FiNetrax down to know whether the same thing would happen. This is why I've decided to go with soldered/copperclad track now. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bri.s Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 There's a selection of videos on youtube showing a group of people building the easitrac points Not finetrax ,but like said above similar to build Brian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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