Hello everybody,
I am new to this forum and I have a question about starting a layout for HO scale trains. I have many trains in HO, brands including Bachmann, Mantua, Tyco, and Walthers. Expect I would like my layout to be 1970s themed, with materials made by companies back then. However, I understand that the older stuff less less quality, but I already have replaced crummy horn hook couplers and other things to make them better. But as far as they layout goes, I do need some help with at least getting started. I have several hobby shops nearby me that are very helpful, but i thought it would also be a good idea to try something different.
Thanks very much,
Sebastian Marconi
It would help if you stated what type of help you need. You said that you have hobby shops need by so you much live in a city. Why don't you go to your local library and check to see what kind of book they have on model railroading. It can be a great help. By the way, Welcome to the forum.
What are you looking to find out, chief?
Thanks for your reply! It would be great to know how to add fake grass and a road. I already saw some great ways to use a roadbed made out of cork for my track, and I have buildings. I am also just 15 years old so I don't know much, but I am a life long train lover!
You're welcome RFF89!
A great place to look/search is YouTube-pictures worth 1,000 words and all that. There are also many good books available on scenery, track laying, maintaining locomotives. Just about all subjects.
Like your enthusiasm.
Sebastien - a 70s themed layout with 70s era stuff sounds like a lot of fun. While you are contemplating how to proceed, consider that the focus in that era was action accessories/fun/colorful not necessarily prototypical railroading. You mentioned the couplers - yes I personally use 99% knuckle couplers - but horn hook/NMRA/X2F couplers were the coupler of the day then and believe it or not, they work quite well. I have a Tyco passenger consist that I retained the horn hooks on, simply because they will never run together with anything else. One car is a transition car - or to explain - it has a knuckle on one end and horn-hook on the other. That may be a good way for you to run older rolling stock together too without the trouble and expense of converting everything to knuckle couplers....and it would be authentic!
There is a TON of older 70s equipment at train shows, flea markets, ebay, yard sales, antique stores. Some in exccellent condition. The biggest obstacle to your plan as I see it is what was mentioned earlier - the older stuff, especially Tyco and Bachmann for example - had some horrendous pancake motors. So perhaps you could retain the old shells and upgrade the drivetrain with a more current Athearn Blue Box or Bachmann Plus/Spectrum? Just a thought.
Above all keep it fun, don't take it too seriously....and enjoy!
Everything above holds true, if you were using older equipment though, and I know it is not exactly proper to say so here but if you insist on running equipment from the 70's, I would advise Locomotives from AHM/Rivarossi over Bachmann and tyco, simple truth is that in those days, the Bachmann equipment was highly prone to failure, in stark contrast to today's offerings.
Quote from: Irbricksceo on March 19, 2014, 11:09:35 PM
Everything above holds true, if you were using older equipment though, and I know it is not exactly proper to say so here but if you insist on running equipment from the 70's, I would advise Locomotives from AHM/Rivarossi over Bachmann and tyco, simple truth is that in those days, the Bachmann equipment was highly prone to failure, in stark contrast to today's offerings.
Athearn Blue Box diesels were the creme de la creme of diesels in those days with AHM and Rivarossi and poor second. I just gave away around a dozen of the Athearn F7A, GP7/9 and SW7(1500) and PA diesels.
Cheers.
Roger.
Is that so? I never owned a lot of older Athearn equipment however the RS-3 I had used this awful Rubber band drive that gave it two speeds, 0 or 300 mph. I am by no means calling you a liar as one example does not speak for a whole line, however I do think one should watch out for these, beyond just the speed issues, the bands would wear away and any you obtain could have bands that have disintegrated.
Quote from: Irbricksceo on March 20, 2014, 12:49:56 AM
Is that so? I never owned a lot of older Athearn equipment however the RS-3 I had used this awful Rubber band drive that gave it two speeds, 0 or 300 mph. I am by no means calling you a liar as one example does not speak for a whole line, however I do think one should watch out for these, beyond just the speed issues, the bands would wear away and any you obtain could have bands that have disintegrated.
Never even knew Athearn made an RS-3, let alone a rubber band drive one until the rtr model release a few years ago. If they made a rubber band drive it must have been pre-1970 as that's when I started to model North American and the only decent RS-3 was the cast metal and later plastic Hobbytown model. A quick Google doesn't turn up a rubber band drive RS-3 Blue Box model.
In the 1970s the Blue Box range that I owned was the F7, GP7/9, it had details of both models and had the over wide hood, the SW1500 (Actually a good model of a SW7), the GP35 again with the over wide hood, and finally the PA. They also made a Baldwin switcher among others. My RS-3 models were Hobbytown models, which I still have.
Cheers
Roger.
Quote from: Irbricksceo on March 20, 2014, 12:49:56 AM
Is that so? I never owned a lot of older Athearn equipment however the RS-3 I had used this awful Rubber band drive that gave it two speeds, 0 or 300 mph. I am by no means calling you a liar as one example does not speak for a whole line, however I do think one should watch out for these, beyond just the speed issues, the bands would wear away and any you obtain could have bands that have disintegrated.
No, there was not an Athearn RS-3..... but regardless, I should have been more specific: I was not suggesting using the older "rubber band" drives, but the later Athearn "blue box" drives had flywheels and geared trucks that are identical to Athearn's current RTR. These are plentiful on the second-hand market.
Sebastian-
Welcome to the hobby and this forum. I think you'll find that model railroading, and its second cousin, railfanning, are great life-long hobbies. I've been at them for nearly 60 years and I still learn new things.
I must say that you impress me in having already determined that the old horn hook (aka X2f or NMRA) couplers leave something to be desired. In addition to looking much better, knuckle couplers, and especially those made by Kadee, are the way to go. Installed correctly, they will last virtually forever.
I do have a question to clarify my understanding: By "I would like my layout to be 1970s themed, with materials made by companies back then," do you intend to use models made in the 1970s? I ask because there is a lot of outstanding 1970s era merchandise made now. Current models have two advantages over the ones made back then. First, they run more reliably and, second, today's models have superior detail. The older models are certainly available for lower prices, but you might find that you need to spend anywhere from $4 to $9 to bring older freight cars, for example, up to current operating standards. Unfortunately, you'll still have that older detail level. I'm NOT trying to tell you what to do -- one of the prime directives of model railroading is that the owner of a model railroad gets to do whatever s/he wants to do on his/her pike, no matter whether somebody else likes it or not -- but I do want you to understand both sides of the trade-off in choosing to run older models. It is certainly possible to bring the older ones up to date, both operationally and in appearance, but it can get expensive in terms of both time and money. That can be especially true for locomotives.
I must admit that I envy your access to real hobby shops in your area. Having the expertise and merchandise at hand is a real help to a model railroader. There are two hobby shops in my general area, but each is a ways to go and they both sell everything at full MSRP. And there's only one where they actually know anything about model trains.
There are at least four ways to go to put some grass on the ground. The easiest is to buy a sheet of scale grass at a hobby shop and glue it to your model railroad. This is convenient, easy and reasonably affordable, but the colors are too bright and too uniform. If you look at real grass, you'll notice that there are variations to the color because of different grass species, weeds and textural differences mainly due to how high the grass is. Also, except where grass runs up to an actual block like a sidewalk or edged garden, grass doesn't suddenly stop like the grass sheet does. The second way is to buy some short-napped fake fur at a fabric store and then clip it where you want shorter grass, and spray paint it two or more shades of green. This can look pretty good when done carefully and it will nestle down into your terrain very well, but you can ruin the effect if you get too much paint on the fur. You can also do this method with dyes if you start with very light-colored fake fur. A third way to go, and this is the most commonly used, is to paint your terrain surface with either a medium gray-brown or a medium gray-green and then use dilute white glue to attach what's called "fine ground foam" from your hobby shop. You can vary the coloration and depth of the ground cover to get a pretty good effect. It's no accident that this is the method preferred by most modelers in all scales. The last way to do this is to use an electro-static grass applicator. This is kind on neat. You spread (brush) diluted white glue over an area on your model railroad, attach one wire from your applicator to the wet glue and then sprinkle fake grass from the applicator (in several lengths and colors) onto the wet glue. The applicator gives the grass fibers an electrostatic charge which causes them to stand up in the wet glue. When the glue dries, you have very convincing grass. The applicator is rather expensive but you can make one for less than $10 with a bug zapper and a tea strainer. If you want to do this, do a Google search for "static model railroad grass."
Truth be told, all of these methods have both good and not-so-good features. I think it's safe to say that many (most?) model rails use more than one method on their pikes. You might want a terrific lawn around the houses on your layout but don't need so much detail, or such a well-maintained lawn around your industries or in the background. And once your grass is in place, you might want to go back with coarser ground foam to add some texture, weeds or shrubs. And, of course, then you'll need trees! There are lots of ways to do this, too.
There are (I know you won't be surprised to hear this) many ways to make roads, too. Some of that depends on whether you want dirt, gravel, black top or concrete roads. You'll probably want more than one kind. For example, you might want a main street in a town to be concrete but it's okay if the side streets are blacktop. Country roads might be dirt, gravel or black top, and highways might be concrete like Main Street or black top like the better rural roads. Dirt roads can be made with actual dirt from your yard (strain and bake it before you use it on your railroad) or with scenic materials from one of your LHSs (local hobby shops). The LHS is a great source of materials for gravel or black top roads. I sometimes use the sticky stuff they sell for track, painted dry wall mud, the back of roof shingles or 3M Tri-M-Ite abrasive paper for black top. Dry wall mud, the gray backs of white-face cardboard or styrene sheets can be used for concrete streets. Don't forget to add stripes -- yellow ones between lanes going different directions and white between lanes going the same way. Be sure to add appropriate repairs, expansion joints, ruts, cracks, potholes, dark shadows from dripping lubricants and manholes to give your roads some street cred. (Sorry. Sometimes I just can't stop myself.) It's the details which will sell your roads, not the basic structure. In fact, that's true of most of things we model.
I hope I've given you some ideas about your road and grass questions. Feel free to try different methods to find the ones you prefer. That will be just like the prototype, that is, the real world. Take a few minutes to look carefully at some real roads and you'll see that they are all a bit different, even roads made from the same materials. And none of them will be perfect so don't expect perfection from yourself. Perfection is the enemy of model railroading because it is unachievable and trying to obtain perfection takes too much time. Plus, it will ruin the fun. Oh, you can't be too careful with your track work and coupler mounting, but give yourself a break on the other stuff.
Please keep us informed about your progress.
-- D
Quote from: Irbricksceo on March 20, 2014, 12:49:56 AM
the RS-3 I had used this awful Rubber band drive that gave it two speeds, 0 or 300 mph.
Irbrick-
I'm sorry to hear that your old Hi-F drive RS3 could only go 300 mph. There must have been something the matter with it. We had a Hi-F Athearn Geep which went so fast it would jump the track on the curves, fly out the window, do two or three laps around the world and land on our friend's model railroad down the block. Some times it would land just right so it was on the rails and everything. If his railroad was running the Geep would accelerate again, take off and come home after another visit to space. That's why we always turned our layout off when the Geep went out the window.
-- D
RRF89, pass on the AHM, old Bachmann, Tyco, Life Less (Like) and old Athearn Blue Box locos like the ones Brick is referring to. People forget or overlook that Athearn produced locomotives known as "Blue Boxes" over a span of decades. Of course ones with rubber band drives are going to stink. But their latest version, made during the '90s, before producing the Ready To Roll series, had very good reliable motors and running qualities if a little effort is put into them. To say all Blue Boxes are created equal is the same as saying all Bachmann locos are created equal, simply not true. Another reliable "old brand" of loco you could look for from the '70s era are Atlas. These are the ones made in Austria by Rocco or made in Japan by Kato. I know jward did not have good experiences with the Katos, but both Atlas types are widely known to be very reliable runners.
Coincidentally, I just renovated an Athearn Blue Box SDP40 loco for a friend at work who is getting his son involved in model trains. This thing was made between 1966 and 1970. It now runs as quiet as anything I have that was made currently. The drawback to it is that is has brass wheels, hard to clean compared to nickel which is much easier to clean.
I made a mistake by the way, I meant RDC-3, not RS-3, two very different pieces of equipment! But I second that Atlas is a decent brand, still are in fact. A tip though, when buying, be wary of the dreaded "As-Is for parts"
I agree w/your warning Brick. Only in cases where one is looking for parts, should that descriptor attract any interest for the listing. I will add, the more pics of an item, the better-front, back, center, underneath, port, starboard...for the buyer to have a better chance of knowing what they are getting. The larger number of photos can also reveal the item is not as it is advertised, in make or other ways.
I recall that Roger has an excellent way of making roads using material from Michael's craft stores.
Quote from: Irbricksceo on March 20, 2014, 12:49:56 AM
Is that so? I never owned a lot of older Athearn equipment however the RS-3 I had used this awful Rubber band drive that gave it two speeds, 0 or 300 mph. I am by no means calling you a liar as one example does not speak for a whole line, however I do think one should watch out for these, beyond just the speed issues, the bands would wear away and any you obtain could have bands that have disintegrated.
athearn never made an rs3 until after their product line was merged with roundhouse a few years back. they most certainly never produced one with a rubber band drive. and for the most part, anything with a rubber band drive in it is 50 years old or more. the exceptions would have been the rdc cars and the porter hustler which for some reason retained the rubber band drive well into the 1980s. geared athearns were solid performers in their day, and with aftermarket regear kits could be made to run with a scale top speed comparable to the real ones.
ahm on the other hand put out some of the worst of the worst. the comment about having only two speeds, stopped and supersonic could certainly be applied to the ahm rs2 and c liner. honestly, I would rather run anything tyco ever made than one of those two ahm diesels.
Very Interesting, though as i said, I made a mistake and had an RDC, not an rs-3, I am surprised about that of info about ahm as in the past, before I had to get rid of my train stuff and start anew, I had a few AHM and Rivarossi items that ran great.
I grew to hate the A.H.M. PRR RS2 that I got in the train set I received one Christmas and later grew to hate the A.H.M. GE Center Cab I bought at a Kaybee Toy Store. If not for making a C&O Athearn F7A Super Gear my next purchase, I probably would have stayed interested instead in gas powered COX model airplanes.
WHAT??!! A 1970s railroad? No (GASP) steam?? Perish the thought...
Rich C.
Rich, if I had my way, no layout would have no steam! there is something glorious about the movement of a steamer.
Quote from: electrical whiz kid on March 24, 2014, 07:00:55 PM
WHAT??!! A 1970s railroad? No (GASP) steam?? Perish the thought...
Rich C.
My original GER was 1970s, all diesel, all freight.
Then Bachmann issued the Spectrum 2-8-0.
Five or six of them later, the GER was backdated to 1958s.
All the post 1958 diesels, freight cars, vehicles, buildings and building details and even building lettering was replaced or removed and and non 1958 item was removed. The GER was set firmly in 1958. And this was before the Spectrum range was increased. I was so impressed by the Spectrum 2-8-0 I would have stayed in 1958 even if the only steam I had the was Spectrum 2-8-0. No other rtr plastic steam came close to that 2-8-0, it set the bar for all future HO rtr plastic steam to a new high.
Thanks Bachmann.
Cheers
Roger.
why not the 1970s? all the coolest diesels were in service, somewhere, in concentrated quantities no matter how rare they were. stuff that the railfans to-day drool over we took for granted because they were so common. short cars were still common, you could actually see the cars and trucks on the autoracks, and you never knew what would be pulling the next train. it's a far cry from to-days unit trains and look alike widebody diesels. I just wouldn't use 1970s train set diesels on the layout.
Quote from: jward on March 25, 2014, 08:29:05 AM
why not the 1970s? all the coolest diesels were in service, somewhere, in concentrated quantities no matter how rare they were. stuff that the railfans to-day drool over we took for granted because they were so common. short cars were still common, you could actually see the cars and trucks on the autoracks, and you never knew what would be pulling the next train. it's a far cry from to-days unit trains and look alike widebody diesels. I just wouldn't use 1970s train set diesels on the layout.
Good points, which is why I originally chose mid 1970s. Railroads equipment was still, in the majority, from the steam age. Most freight traveled in 40ft boxcars, trains had cabooses, there were still steam era roundhouses, coaling towers, water towers in existence, TOFC was just getting into it's stride with trailers on 40ft flat cars, containers were rare, 50 ft cars were in the minority, most reefers were still ice reefers, cars had ACI labels, roof walks were just coming off so you could have cars with and without them. GP9s, GP7s, F units by the dozen, lots of Alcos, RS-2s, RS-3s FAs etc., etc.. Newer power was the GP30, GP35, GP40, Alco C-424s, M636 etc., etc.. Yeppers, mid 1970s was a good time.
However, I like steam so 1958 won. :)
Back around 1970 I had an AHM (Rivarossi) FM C-Liner. It wasn't a bad runner after it had broken in. It would run at reasonable speeds, but its top speed was always way too high. Just don't run it full throttle.
The main problem it had was the traction tires caused a slight wobble. It only drove through the rear truck, but pulling the short trains on my little HO railroad was no problem.
The industry standard back then was the Athern (now called "Blue Box") line. These had all-wheel drive and pickup, but most lacked flywheels.
I think it is unfair to draw HY-F (rubber band drive) locos into this discussion. With the exception of the "Hustler" and the RDC, this drive system was obsolete by the late 1960s.
I did have a Hy-F Geep. Like the C-Liner, it would run at reasonable speeds if not run at full throttle. Hy-F drive was not all bad: it was smooth and quiet, had no gears to get jammed up, and would run in consist with any geared loco. The drive bands could be replaced with regular rubber bands if you took care in matching sizes.
Les
jward, the question really is, "Do I want to model this:-"
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/rogertra/Great_Eastern/DSCF0498.jpg) (http://s94.photobucket.com/user/rogertra/media/Great_Eastern/DSCF0498.jpg.html)
"Or this: -"
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/rogertra/Great_Eastern/DSCF0381.jpg) (http://s94.photobucket.com/user/rogertra/media/Great_Eastern/DSCF0381.jpg.html)
You can see which I preferred. :)
obviously I prefer that emd switcher. but then again, where I grew up I was exposed to numerous shortlines which used them exclusively for motive power. nothing like seeing 3 or 4 of them hauling a coal train.
Quote from: Railfanfanatic89 on March 19, 2014, 08:12:47 PM
Hello everybody,
I am new to this forum and I have a question about starting a layout for HO scale trains. I have many trains in HO, brands including Bachmann, Mantua, Tyco, and Walthers. Expect I would like my layout to be 1970s themed, with materials made by companies back then. However, I understand that the older stuff less less quality, but I already have replaced crummy horn hook couplers and other things to make them better. But as far as they layout goes, I do need some help with at least getting started. I have several hobby shops nearby me that are very helpful, but i thought it would also be a good idea to try something different.
Thanks very much,
Sebastian Marconi
Sebastian.. I sent you a e-mail to your yahoo check it out... Being I am in the process of building a Railroad myself I am 2yrs into my layout build & just made it past the 70% complete mark... I have included a Link to my Photo Bucket album for you look @ my layout & maybe you can get some idea's...
http://s35.photobucket.com/user/maintrackbrian/slideshow/........
Sabastian... I am modeling a little bit more modern stuff late 80's - 90's - 00-04 than you are... But I think I can be of great asset to you & helping you build your layout. Also like you I have a lot of Building's on my Layout I built towards the year era my locos I am running.....
HI. With all the great replies above, I still don't know if you mean that your layout itself will be a "That 70s Show " themed .. Or, that you actually want to run model equipment made in the 70s, also. If so, then I guess you understand that it all will be analog not digital (DCC); that you'll wind up putting blocks (gapped/isolated sections of rail to park trains in while another is rolling via toggle switches). And that you accept no sound .. OR, do you mean theme is '70s real railroading (early Amtrak days of a moosh mosh of colors and rolling stock and colors of). If it is just the era you want, not how trains are controlled, I really suggest you buy state-of-the-art digital ( DCC on board, DCC/sound or DCC ready (DC analog engines with plug under shell where a decoder is added in order to make it DCC, having bought a DCC throttle such as NCE, Digtraxx , lenz, etc. )..Believe me, DCC once over the initial costs, is a lot simpler to hook up than old analog due to never needing to do tons of wiring under layout for those blocks I mentioned and other things. You are young enough that you'll eventually most likely want to go DCC in future. So may as well go there now and simply buy 70s type equipment and buildings...........
Everybody-
I notice that we've had nothing new from the OP for a while. I wonder if we've lost him.
-- D
Whether it's DC or DCC, if the equipment does not run properly, there is no FUN ;)
Doc, perhaps the OP is just reading and taking it all in.
If you are going to build a DCC-operated railroad, don't expect to save much effort on wiring over a DC layout. DCC is more sensitive to continuity than even a DC layout. Voltage drop is a main consideration also. Model railroad rail is not a very efficient conductor compared to wire.
So you are going to wind up needing buss wires paralleling both rails under the layout, with feeder wires off the busses every three feet or so. You will obviously need a DCC-type power pack, plus decoders for each loco. Compare this to the cost of control equipment for DC: DPDT switches for each track block. These can either be purchased individually from a place like Radio Shack, or in a handy little control panel from Atlas for $8/for 4 switches. These panels can be ganged to provide as many DPDT switches as needed.
You will still probably want some isolated track blocks anyway, for programming locos and providing parking places that do not have current running through them.
When DCC was introduced thirty-some years ago, it was greatly oversold on the idea that an entire model railroad could be wired "by attaching two wires to the rails". In real life, to overcome continuity and voltage drop problems, you are going to need probably as many feeder lines as a DC railroad.
Can't you wire a DCC layout with two wires? Sure, if you are willing to accept the limitations this requires. The same can be said for a DC layout.
DCC requires a constant 18 volts or so on the rails at all times. On DC, if you are not moving a loco, the track receives no power. This, to me, is a safety advantage to DC. DCC requires decoders that must be programmed, and the power pack and decoders are involved in a circuit that cannot be checked by eye. Yet this is held to be more user-friendly than DC, apparently because of the simple logic involved in wiring a reverse loop.
If you are going to build a 70's model railroad with 70's era model locomotives, I can see no advantage of going with DCC. Most 70's HO locomotives were pretty crappy (except for Athearn and Atlas), and probably are not worth upgrading to DCC. You will wind up putting a lot of money into marginal locomotives, and they are not going to run any better for it. If you do go with DCC, I suggest you buy modern model locomotives (with DCC decoders installed) that are models of 1970's locomotives.
Either way, prepare to spend a lot of time "down under" getting power to your tracks. You might even find that part enjoyable. I do.
Les
My previous railroad layout had somewhat of a 1970s theme to it, mostly with rolling stock, accessories and buildings:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1.0-9/p417x417/1463905_10200663742554242_146853642_n.jpg)
As I am interested in vintage HO train products, that was a given. Except the only 1970s locomotive I used on this layout was that Tyco diesel switcher, the older version that used Mantua's little (and effective) motor instead of the crummy "PowerTorque" pancake motor. (Though I may get a Tyco "Chattanooga" or Santa Fe 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotive, mainly for collecting purposes; it's nicely detailed, but it has a "PowerTorque" motor that was placed in the tender car.)
If the OP reads this, if you're going to do a 1970s layout and you have brass track, I DO NOT recommend using it. Most model railroad manufacturers in the 1970s just used brass track (including Bachmann), and while it can be a good electrical conductor, it oxides rather quickly and often requires a lot of maintenance. Steel is a little better, but still not as good a conductor as nickel-silver (I know AHM and Tyco both offered steel track in the late 1970s; Bachmann didn't start making steel track until around 1982 or 1983.)
If you want traditional tie-and-rails sectional track for this "70s" layout, I recommend getting new Atlas Code-100 nickel-silver track. Even older locomotives will perform better on it! Otherwise (particularly if you aren't going to be using any of those old "action" accessories that require conventional track) go with Bachmann's nickel-silver E-Z track.
You would be better off getting a Bachmann 2-8-0 instead of the Tyco. That is if you plan to run it.
Wiley, I agree with your recommendation of nickel silver track, but not that steel is better than brass. Also, brass is the best conductor of the 3 metals but needs more maintenance than the n/s as you pointed out.
I'll add this for anyone who looks to buy track off a place like EBay. Watch out for the clowns who list what is really steel track, as nickel silver. It amazes me, how many I find that do, yet I never find any seller who lists nickel silver track as steel. Gee, I wonder why ::)
Quote from: RAM on March 30, 2014, 03:40:25 PM
You would be better off getting a Bachmann 2-8-0 instead of the Tyco. That is if you plan to run it.
For running on my layout, I do plan on getting a Bachmann Consolidation. I know Bachmann made a nice Santa Fe 2-8-0 Consolidation locomotive in the "Bachmann Plus" line in the '90s. (Or maybe once I get more cash I'll get the Spectrum version instead!)
And jbrock27, when looking for track on eBay I always look closely at the pics to see if it really IS nickel-silver. Usually I would tell by the color of the rails:
Gold, copper or rust-colored: Usually brass
Completely silver: Steel
Pale-gold and shiny: Nickel-silver
At least with Bachmann's E-Z Track it's easy to tell the nickel-silver sections from steel!
Though if you're simply replacing the track from an old train set (doesn't matter if it's Bachmann or Tyco or whatever) and you want to still use snap-track, then just get this:
(http://www2.gpmd.com/imagel/a/latlu0088.jpg)
If the set came with just a circle or a 45x36 oval of track, this is a decent upgrade; you get a nice 54x36" oval with passing siding, except the switches are manual (you can upgrade them to remote switch machines though.)
It connects using terminal joiners; just hook them up to your set's power pack (if it still works, or a new and better power pack), put the locomotive and cars on the track, and you're ready to go!
"This" somehow did not come through. Would like to see what you meant to show though.
I understand what you are saying about looking at pics on EBay, but oh, if only it were that easy. Sometimes the pics are too far away, the resolution on the camera stinks, the flash on a camera changes the look on the coloring of what is being taken in the picture, etc, etc. I am glad you are wary and know what to look for. I was just putting a word to the wise out there as there are many cretins on EBay who sell track. For me, when in doubt, the magnet test is the best and cooperation or lack thereof helps me weed out the rotten eggs (Sellers). Unlike Pops, I am not worried about being blocked on EBay; plenty o' fish in the sea as they say ;)