BachmannTrains SnapFit EZ TRACK LAYOUT EXPANDER SET NICKEL SILVER Rail With Grey Roadbed HO Scale, Medium

The “Bachmann HO Trains Snap-Fit E-Z Track Nickel Silver Layout Expander Set” is a welcome addition to any of the Bachmann basic train sets that come with only 36-inch diameter circular layout tracks. The Expander set adds 12-pieces of “Snap-Fit E-Z Track” (either black or gray roadbed) to your basic train set some different layouts can be assembled. Included are a pair of left and right powered turnouts (commonly and INCORRECTLY called “switches”); 9-inch straight track (4-pieces); 18-inch radius curved track (4-pieces) and 2 Hayes bumpers (to put at the end of short stub tracks or sidings off the main line.)The "Snap-Fit E-Z track" system is designed especially for young (or us older) people to easily align and push the tracks together and they snap into place making it immediately usable on floors, carpets or wood platforms without much hassle. For a more realistic look, the tracks are Nickel-Silver and don't rust or get tarnished as much as the old brass rails did. The set also comes with an easy-to-understand, illustrated manual that offers tips on building your first layout and adding scenic effects.Looking at Bachmann "Snap-Fit E-Z track" (gray roadbed) prices here on Amazon, a pair of turnouts are listed at $52.99; 4 each 9-inch straights are $13.53; and 4 each 18-inch curves are $13.40, a total of $79.92. This Bachmann Layout Expander set is $53.52 – a savings of $26.40 – and that doesn’t include the two bumpers! I think this is clearly an addition you’ll want to get if you’re getting a basic train set by ANY manufacturer since the tracks are standard HO gauge (the distance between the tops of the rails) and WILL mate – although not LOCK – interchangeably with any Bachmann HO “Snap-Fit E-Z Track” pieces. You also might want to get the “Bachmann Trains E-Z Track Connector Assortment” set which comes with 10 pieces of various short track segments that will be needed in some layout designs so that your trackage assembly is “true” and not “crimped” or “stretched” causing your trains to derail.

Nice and easy assembly for my train project. Highly recommend.

This allows for a better layout and options. It's priced good too and great for kids young and old alike! Quality construction.

Good quality product if you're looking to quickly expand an existing loop of the EZ track. By itself, it will not create a complete loop of track. If you're expanding a simple-kid friendly layout, this is a good choice, the sections can easily be attached and detached and the plastic base allows you to operate a train on almost any surface, including soft carpeting. The gray roadbed (standard with the Nickel Silver track) is a passable stand-in for ballast (esp. for children), but you'll need to work hard to add detail if you're incorporating it into a realistic diorama or layout. Switches for EZ track are fussy and will require tweaking depending on your rolling stock. Some of my rolling stock pass the switches just fine, others derail. This problem has been noted on numerous EZ track reviews here and elsewhere and remains a problem with the switches in this set.

Switches don't always leave the track set right, it vibrates if you hold the button for more than a split-second and causes derailments. Tracks themselves are finicky, had to tune them with mini pliers and a file to get to run smooth. Better to set the straight part for you mainline so you can run trains faster, express outside track or whatever does it for you, because running through a curve at speed has a way higher chance of derailing. I like being able to snap the track together, and I don't have to nail down and cut and solder a bunch of flex track only to find out my layout won't work. EZ track simplifies what you can and can't do in the layout, and undoing/redoing it is really easy just like the name. Sometimes tracks and joiners don't match up, though, fingers get pinched, and the sizing makes it hard to do good layouts without 3" and 4.5" pieces because the curve out is longer than other 9" curves in the set. That seems like a ploy to sell more little pieces since you need a 3" to make up the extra space made by the longer curve. The straight part is the same as any 9" part, so replacing a switch with a straight 9" is always an easy swap, just configuring a bypass or figuring out how to connect back into the mainline can be a lot harder than you might think. Overall pretty expensive for what you get, and the new "bumpers" are 15 feet tall by scale and don't look realistic at all. Old sets actually had realistic bumpers that you can buy now separately for $14 a pair. If you go with plastic formed trackbeds of any kind, just know you are entering a sales scheme. Flextrack systems are about $2 per foot, EZ track is easily 2x as much, but more than half as simple. The trade off is worth it for me. It's is a great way to start into the hobby, but soon the limitations of a glorified kids toy become painfully apparent. Caveat emptor, if you have any serious aspirations you might want to start at a higher level of track.

I was making some changes to my layout and I needed a couple more switches and four more 18" radius pieces and when saw this set it had what I needed plus some straights and the cost was less then if I bought the switches and curves separately. As I use mostly ez track on my layout it was an ideal solution.

worked great for initial track but now he has switched over to flex track for scenic NDak and mountain layouts.

Good track. Nice starter set.