Missing pieces from Kato Track Library

[Grumps126]

Hi

I am trying to input the HO Kato Black River Juction Layout but have found several pieces missing from the Library.
The Kato piece numbers are 2-110, 2-190, 2-191, 2-192, 2-193, 2-211, 2-212, & 2-290 which come with their respective turnouts. Please advise if these will be added to the Library?

Thanks

[David]

I've been investigating a bit, but there doesn't seem to be any further info on these items, except that they might be alternative part numbers for S61L/R, R550-3.5, R550-15.5 and S97.

Apart from the track plan you mention, do you have any other (preferably better!) references?

David.

[Grumps126]

The best reference is page 53 of the Feb 2007 issue of Model Railroader; PDF copy attached.

[Steve Raiford]

Some of Kato HO turnouts are shipped with extra short pieces of track. Kato does not document this for the US market, but I did find it documented by a UK supplier, MGSharp Models. I have no idea about other markets.

I could not find reference to the part numbers in the magazine article, or any information on the dimensions of those pieces. However it appears that all of the extra track pieces that are sometimes shipped with turnouts are indeed in the AnyRail Kato HO Unitrack library.

Steve Raiford

[David]

@Steve: this is indeed one of the sources we used, and with that some of the prints on the back of the part's packages.

I'm not sure that the parts coming with the turnouts are numbered in a specific manner. So we decided to use the geometric coding as Kato uses them in their own examples.

There's one naming error: S97R should be S97. This will be fixed in the next release.
I'll also put some geometric examples on our website.

It's a challenge to make the layout as proposed by The Model Railroader fit! It seems to be hand drawn, and the parts are not to size. This can easily be seen on the 90 degree curve at the bottom right (on page 53 of the 02/07 issue) where the segments have different sizes.

David.

[Grumps126]

Hi David

Here is the other reference from Kato's own web site for their layout package p/n 3-0680. I was considering the purchase of this kit but wanted to ensure I could make some minor modifications by having a "wye" set-up between the staging yard tracks for reversing purposes.

I purchased Anyrail software to prove this out before purchasing the Kato package. The software is a dream to work with but I too can not seem to make a fit with the various pieces in Library after spending many hours of trying variuos combinations. May be I am missing something. I agree with you that the drawing may be in question but Kato do not provide a track listing on their website other than the picture they include.

Steve can you tell me where I am going wrong.

Thanks Guys for your help.
Doug

This software is great. You can test to see if any ideas you have for changing layout will work ahead of time, especially with Kato Unitrack.

[Jeff]

I believe that a little of Grumps' confusion is because the referenced layout in Model Railroader magazine was never designed for Unitrack. It was done, as ALL their layouts are, with parts spec'd from NMRA generic standards, in order to make sure that no matter what track system you use, you can get close enough to the design to be able to work out small inconsistencies yourself, during construction. That may be over-optimistic of them, but given the number of different, incompatible tracks out there, it is the only thing they could do. Maybe MR should switch to publishing AnyRail layouts, so people could download and modify them to fit their own track/space, but until then, you're on your own.

[David]

I've put the example geometries for H0 Kato Unitrack on our website.

Go to the examples page, and scroll to the bottom to find the link.

David.

[Steve Raiford]

Doug

Rest assured you are doing nothing wrong. Let me summarize several thoughts, some of which have already been expressed in this thread.

1) The original "Black River Junction" probably was an idea in someone's mind, then it was converted to Kato Unitrack, and then hand sketched for the magazine. Therefore the magazine article does not show precisely the end result when built.

2) The part numbers used in the magazine are not what Kato usually uses for the various parts. Translation can be done, but will be time consuming and will incorporate a certain amount of guesswork as the magazine article gives no dimensions.

3) Sectional track in AR draws more precisely than it physically fits together. Said the other way around, what may look like it won't fit in AR actually will fit together quite nicely on your real layout. If fact Kato acknowledges this and promotes it as an advantage of the Unijoiner design, claiming, correctly, that slight misalignments can be absorbed by the Unijoiner design.

This is NOT a fault of AR, but is a byproduct of compromise for the manufacturer attemting to define and produce a finite number of available stock pieces to fit together in an infinite number of configurations.

4) As you have seen, Kato sells a track package to build this layout, so I would be very confident the layout can be built with the package as sold. Usually purchasing a "package" will save you a few dollars, and will eliminate the need to make an extensive shopping list.

5) Of course you will be able to make modifications however you want.

6) If you find that the stock library does not have the parts you need, you can modify any existing stock part by shortening it. You could also incorporate some sections of flex track. Now your layout options are unlimited.

Hope this helps.

Steve Raiford

[David]

As an addition to what Steve said:
It is possible in AnyRail to simulate this wiggle room the real track has.
To do so, uncheck the 'Autoconnect' box in the settings tab.
Now, you can put down track any way you want. AnyRail will connect the track as long as the tolerances (that can be set in the same tab) are met.

In general, the best approach is to first add all the track with autoconnect switched on. Just ignore the gaps.

When all that is done, switch autoconnect off, disconnect a stretch of track, and rotate the loose stretch 1 or 2 degrees. Most example plans will fit if you do that in two or three places.

David.

[Grumps126]

Hi All

When Jeff said confused he was right. As a newbie to Model Railroading I have much to learn. Thanks Steve for pointing me in the direction of MGSharp as they have one of the best sites for getting detailed information and pictures on Kato Unitrack (much better than Kato's site itself). I now have a much better understanding of the pieces included in the various switch packages and the Kato geometrics. I have been able to convert the Kato part number given in the Model Railroader to the appropriate "Symbol number": 2-110=2-111=S94, 2-190=S61L, 2-191=S61R, 2-192=S97, 2-193=S149, 2-211=R550-15.5, 2-212=R550-3.5, 2-290=R867-10. Therfore, all the pieces are in the Library; my appologies!

Unfortunately, the Anyrail Kato Unitrack Library uses a mix of part numbers and symbol numbers to identify the pieces which lead to some of my confusion as a newbie plus I made matters worse by selecting English units of measure. Lesson learned.

David you are right that this layout must rely on the tolerances to allow every to fit. Another lesson learned.

Thanks All for your assistance in this matter.
Doug