Hello boys;

I've got this small mountain of M-track from three different time periods ready to hit the layout.
Of course the really crummy stuff goes in the tunnels.
Do I;
1. Sort them out and lay them in different locations for a more consistent look?
2. Don't sort them and mix em up like I always do?
3. Does anybody care?
4. Am I nuts for asking?

Mikey

Personally, hide the worst if possible but I agree you don't want troublesome track in difficult places.

I would definitely aim to keep the track as similar as possible and try to transition from one appearance grade to another so, sort them first by colour tone and condition. But that's just me.

The main thing is to ensure you use a straight edge when laying the track. In real life very rough uneven track only happens on low grade secondary lines or in third-world countries and I've never seen anyone model those intentionally! Inadvertantly yes but surely not by design.

I used the newest first and then colour matched sections of the remainder. If you look in the real world (at least in Australia) the track bed colour changes in different areas of the line.

Ah, ok, well that's a slightly different question.

Out of interest, can you post a picture showing the underside of the same tracks?

The far section without the visible supports is the newer style.

Here's a chart of the various styles through the years. I believe there may be a couple more variations not shown but this is a reasonably accurate guide.

M-track through the years

Image from page 62 of the Mikado 50 Jahre Märklin H0 book

I guess it comes down to what you personally find most visually appealing. Me, well I'm pretty OCD (actually CDO, in order like they should be), some would say anal-retentive ,.. I use matching pegs when I hang out the washing, I don't deal well with "shades of grey" or ambiguity, ie something is either on or off, right or wrong, left or right etc. Yep, causes me some real grief at times.

On the other hand, in my line of work (technology servicing) it can be a real bonus. Something is either functioning correctly, or it's not. No in-betweens. "Close enough" is usually not good enough. Sigh. Where was I?

Oh yes, so go with what you like and probably to some degree what you think visitors to your layout would like.

You know, I never thought for the longest time that it was true that train toits just "Let It Fly".

I'm sure that track maintenance crews must have been very cautious around passing trains.

Or tomatoes.

Hey, I wonder if Faller makes these.

Do not eat.

Hi Utkan,

I think you need a herbizide train:

VB Vollon&Brun 1950s


Regards

Markus

Mikey

I am just completing my third layout using mostly recycled M track from a number of sources. In addition to the difference in styles many sections had plaster or paint on the sides. I did what I feel most others would do, throw out those that were damaged and used the rest without sorting them. Also, when the track had undergone the final change and was running well, I added ballast to the sides using a mix of brown and gray ballast to match the color ( or colors ) of the M track sections . They did not match too well but the end result was pretty good as the photograph below shows.

TEX