Large Scale Central

Review Llagas Creek Track

Well I don’t know how many people have worked with Brian the new owner of Llagas. I figure I would offer a review of the product and the company under the new owner. First Brian is an excellent communicator and genuine nice guy. He was easy to work with and wanted to get my order right. My order was a pretty large one. 300 feet of aluminum code 250 assembled track with the 1:20.3 ties. I also ordered 14 switches, extra rails, and rail joiners. With out expecting it he automatically gave me a discount since it was a decent sized order.

I have received all but the switches. The track is all that I expected. Ties have the narrow gauge feel and size, they are staggered so they have the narrow gauge feel. Joiners are joiners what can you say about them.

Now here is the best part. It just so happens that the switch builders parents are heading my way. Well this required giving him my phone number. Well the switch builder, Daniel, calls me to clarify exactly how I wanted the wyes built. So I worked with him and for no extra money he is making the yard wye so that it has both diverging tracks match the other #4 switches I am using there which is requiring him to make a custom frog. The other will be built to match #6 switches. Also they put the throw on the curved side standard. But he asked if I wanted any of them on the straight side which in the yard makes more sense for me. No of the custom work is costing me anything. Then we got onto the topic of weathering the rails. Well he suggested that he does it ahead of assembly which makes it way easier for me. So a few extra bucks he is going to weather them for me. I will use the same paint to weather the rest of the rails.

So while I haven’t received the switches yet (week and a half) I can say that I am very pleased. The customer service is excellent and the willingness to customize things at no extra cost is great. Daniel has a lot of pride in his work and that of Llagas Creek and wants to make sure the customer is getting exactly what they want. He suggested that if anyone need custom work for special applications to let Brian know and they will build the turnouts so that you get what you need.

The only thing I could offer as criticism is that they aren’t the fastest. But this was made clear up front and is not a real problem. Plan ahead and expect to wait a bit on large orders. I will update further once the switches arrive.

I have had great results with them. I’m only doing 30 ft at a time- bulk rail and tie strips (no switches) but they are very prompt in delivery. Also, if you frequent Facebook, Daniel Smith posts often and does some incredible work. A very talented fellow.

Brian is a breath of fresh air to Llagas Creek. Great customer focus, and very high quality on all products. I ordered a number of turnouts. the most complex was a 10 ft radius with an inside 8 foot radius turnout which is excellent. Daniel certainly does excellent work. I do have a word of caution for anyone who is using Berlyn wheels on their cars. One of the changes that occurred in the transition of ownership was to replace turnout frogs built up using rail with metal cast metal frogs. The frog castings have more detail, however the flangways are too narrow for the flanges on Berlyn wheels. There are two options for this problem; file the flangways to allow the Berlyn wheels free passage, or ask Brian to have Daniel build up frogs from stock rail (an extra cost).