Why Railroaders Choose Plastic Roadbed Track

February 5, 2006

Roadbed track has the advantage of having a reasonably realistic appearance without the mess involved in adding loose ballast and then having to glue it. The disadvantage is that roadbed track is more expensive than standard track. Another drawback is that the various makes of roadbed track are not always compatible with each other. Also, you are limited by the modular set track nature of the roadbed pieces.

Roadbed tracks are particularly good on temporary model train layouts because they are generally more stable. If you intend to set up a model train set on the floor (not recommended), then roadbed track is the better option because it is slightly raised up. If standard train track is put on the floor, especially on carpet, then no matter how clean you think it is, grit, hairs, fluff, cotton and things you never knew were on the floor will get inside and ruin the mechanism.