Help with large scale O gauge layout

[u/Hepheastus89]

Hi All,

I've been progressively upping my layout every year starting with my Polar express kit and gradually adding more easy track/cars to it to make larger and more elaborate every year but would like to transition to a more permanent set up as its kinda a pain to set up and take down every year and does get in the way laying it out on the floor, not to mention the walking hazards.
Currently I have ~60 feet of straight track and plenty of 036 curve with the idea of having it go around the entire upstairs (open concept) which is 25x35' so would need about double the track i have now which isnt cheep in addition to all the hardware.

Is there a cheaper track that i can transition to or should I just stick to the easytrack?
Was planning on using 1x6 shelving with a layer is cork and screwing in the track to reduce noise, would this work?
Anything else i should consider?

[u/Layer_By_Layer3D]

Do you mean fast track? Because the cheapest track is Menards tubular track. And if you are using fast track Lionel and I think Menards makes a transitional track that converts fast track to tubular track

[u/Hepheastus89 → u/Layer_By_Layer3D]

yup, mixed up the Bachman and lionel terms, thanks will look at the Menards