this set makes creating and testing grades very easy, but the set up, while still easy to do, isn't as quick and easy as described. each pier has 3 pieces, that fit very snug so assembly is a little tougher than anticipated but not hard. they were great for large or small grades, but don't put them too far apart or too close together, both have their flaws when you actually run the train. And make sure to adequately plan your grade! while these are great for getting up to a good height, you can't just put the whole pier set in place and expect it to make the pull upwards if they aren't spread over a good enough distance. For example, going from a flat level to the highest pier takes a vast range to successfully make the pull upward when there are multiple cars on your train. And I built one of my flat cars myself, and (this was my first hand made car) it was too heavy to make the pull upward in a shorter distance. So, very much a rookie mistake, but these piers can easily help you find a potential problem and a resolution, it just takes a little time and patience adjusting the piers where they need to go. All in all, it's great for getting your grades set up and tested.

These piers are great once assembled...however, I would not fully agree with the description which states Fast and easy assembly and trouble-free set up. Each pier is assembled from three pieces of plastic, which fit together tightly - making it a little tricky to make sure one is assembling it correctly when trying to figure out the first one. We were afraid we'd break something if we pressed too hard, but it turned out that pressing hard was what was needed in order to complete assembly. (We bought this as a stand-alone set several months ago, and never did figure out how to put it together. Then we got a second set of the same piers in with the EZ Track Accessory Set - once we had two sets. we were less afraid of breaking a piece, and our additional experimentation is what provided success! If the instructions had said This is a tight fit and may require some significant pressure to assemble that would have been useful. The instructions also state: Pivoting track bracket for best support of track incline. This was confusing information for a person who understands the difference between a pivoting mechanism and a rocking/tilting mechanism, because it affected how I analyzed how the pieces needed to go together. It turns out that the clever mechanism rocks or tilts to accommodate the changing incline of the track, but it does not swivel back and forth. Once this is assembled it's great! We set it up with a few pieces of track and it all looks great...