Is ME the only company that offers rail for hand laying track? Are there any others?
Jim
It has been a real long time since I have seen any other companies offer individual rail. It appears that ME is the only one left now. You could try a goggle search. You could also try a search on the Walthers site.
Not that Walthers is the definitive source of all model railroading products, but their product line is pretty extensive. So, I did a search and turned up nothing on their web site other than ME.
About half of the track on my three deck layout is handlaid (I prefer the prefab for staging and hidden areas) and I used mostly ME rail with the hand laid. I have some rail from other sources, but the past few years, ME has been all I could find. My guess is the “market” isn’t interested in a small audience.
Bob
ME seems to have most of the market pretty well wrapped up. I’ve been searching for a source of Code 172 rail and just can’t find it anymore. I found an S scale company that uses it but they have it made for them and weren’t interested in helping get acquire any bulk rail. I asked ME and they don’t have it and won’t make it. They don’t make any of their rail in the US. It is all made for them in Asia which was disappointing to hear. They also sell their rail to other companies.