Still more on track

Wow, do I feel like a newbie...

I dropped in to browse at one of the larger hobby shops in our area yesterday -- my first visit in a very long time, and first ever in their new (to me) location. And I took a look at the Atlas Code 83 flex track. I had no idea...

Boy, this is not your father's Atlas.

The subject came up because I have a very cheaply purchased IHC 040 switcher boxed away with flanges that well exceed the RP-25 standard. I asked the guy in the RR dept of the store about replacement drivers or grinding them down. He's who steered me to the Code 83.

And the price, at under $5 per 3-foot section if bought in lots of 10 or more, is very appealing to my Inner Scotsman. At $1.66 a foot (less than that actually) it's a lot cheaper than the Shinohara and notably cheaper than the ME track, too.

I don't think I'll use CV hand-laid track after all.

I might try a hand-laid CV turnout, though. I see by the Walthers catalog they're about 1/2 the price of a standard turnout by any of the Mfrs, including Atlas. I'd be willing to try one.

So I'm not 100% sure if I'm ready to abandon Code 70 track entirely. (As the store guy pointed out, I could use it on spurs and sidings, which would be prototypical.) But the temptation to go to Code 83 is definitely there.