Unitrack, Flex Track, and Platforms

Well, I've been distracted quite a bit by my position on the local Board of Education.  I had to vote to close a school, which was difficult, and unpopular, and has taken a lot of time away from other activities.  But I have been thinking a bit about my layout and other items.

I started to research track bed - Cork vs WS Foam.  Basically, cork is old-school, tried and tested, and well liked.  Foam is newer, but has adherents.  I started leaning toward foam as it sounds easier to get started and potentially will last longer.

But this lead me to a reconsideration of my track.  I had been planning on using Atlas flex track and snap switches, which are DCC friendly.  But the work involved in laying track, ballasting, etc. got me to consider Unitrack by Kato instead.  It has the advantage of being easy to use, and there are ways to wire it that avoid soldering, which is something that would save time and trouble.  It also has the advantage of being able to be broken down and reused - something that as a noob I find attractive.  So I'm still thinking this through.

I also spent some time looking for platforms.  I found some that may work well from Walthers.  I want the landings to have mock staircases to a pedestrian tunnel.  Trainboard.com is very helpful for this kind of advice and I'm just starting to participate there more fully. 

Anyway, things are moving slowly, but my birthday is coming up, and depending on the goodies I get, I may be able to make some real hands on progress.

TTFN