zenpharaohs
Fri, December 26th, 2008, 11:51 AM
My son got a model train set for Christmas; he has a couple other model trains already, so it's not the first. These are "O" gauge trains (the size). Of the two main companies that make these (Lionel and MTH) the reputation is that MTH makes a bit better trains and cars. We had never tried MTH track yet.
It turns out that MTH "Realtrax" track looks really nice, but is not quite so easy to assemble compared to Lionel "Fasttrack" (which we have experience with). You can get an idea from these quotes:
I can't believe how hard RealTrax is to assemble. I made sure everything is aligned and it still took an amazing amount of force to assemble the track. I would lube the joints, but I don't want lube on my carpet. Has anyone come up with a good, foolproof, way to assemble the track without in inordinate amount of force....
I hear you Earl. I like the looks of it once it's together, but it's a nightmare to put together. I think this is especially true for the newer stuff (on the bright side, once it's together, it's together... no clips needed)....
I tried out the track assemnly it was almost impossibe to do. I had to modify the track with a few cuts, etc. and then it worked well....
I just purchased about four hundred dollars of the stuff and it is much harder to assemble than the older stuff I have....
Seems like MTH tightened up the tolerances a bit to keep the track together better (but in doing so made it much more difficult to actually get together in the first place).... (http://ogaugerr.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/57660482/m/3991019)
You get the idea. I found these beacuse my wife came to me after failing to assemble the tracks with my son early Christmas morning.
And the tracks were actually a hard to get to go together when I tried. I looked on the internet and found that page (which includes a hint about angling the track first which helps slightly).
Having satisfied myself that there wasn't some non-forceful way to put the tracks together, I applied force. Now I don't do a lot of grip work per se, but I row and pull deads, etc., and my grip is not that weak.
I would say that I used about 75% - 85% of my grip and forearm strength max to get the track pieces to go together. So yeah, definitely impossible for my wife and son. :rolleyes: On the other hand, Daddy comes off as the hero :whistle: Just another one of those unexpected situations where having extra strength comes in handy.
It turns out that MTH "Realtrax" track looks really nice, but is not quite so easy to assemble compared to Lionel "Fasttrack" (which we have experience with). You can get an idea from these quotes:
I can't believe how hard RealTrax is to assemble. I made sure everything is aligned and it still took an amazing amount of force to assemble the track. I would lube the joints, but I don't want lube on my carpet. Has anyone come up with a good, foolproof, way to assemble the track without in inordinate amount of force....
I hear you Earl. I like the looks of it once it's together, but it's a nightmare to put together. I think this is especially true for the newer stuff (on the bright side, once it's together, it's together... no clips needed)....
I tried out the track assemnly it was almost impossibe to do. I had to modify the track with a few cuts, etc. and then it worked well....
I just purchased about four hundred dollars of the stuff and it is much harder to assemble than the older stuff I have....
Seems like MTH tightened up the tolerances a bit to keep the track together better (but in doing so made it much more difficult to actually get together in the first place).... (http://ogaugerr.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/57660482/m/3991019)
You get the idea. I found these beacuse my wife came to me after failing to assemble the tracks with my son early Christmas morning.
And the tracks were actually a hard to get to go together when I tried. I looked on the internet and found that page (which includes a hint about angling the track first which helps slightly).
Having satisfied myself that there wasn't some non-forceful way to put the tracks together, I applied force. Now I don't do a lot of grip work per se, but I row and pull deads, etc., and my grip is not that weak.
I would say that I used about 75% - 85% of my grip and forearm strength max to get the track pieces to go together. So yeah, definitely impossible for my wife and son. :rolleyes: On the other hand, Daddy comes off as the hero :whistle: Just another one of those unexpected situations where having extra strength comes in handy.