I need a little help getting started in 3 rail AC model railroading. I have been an HO scale model railroader for 30 years and I am also a conductor for the Canadian National railroad so I do know a thing or two about trains. However I know very little about 3 rail AC systems.
My first question is what brand of track should I use? I currently have an oval of Rail King nickle silver track to run my odd assortment of Lionel equipment around the christmas tree. The Rail King track appears to work well but it is very difficult to put together.
What other products are available?
Should I stick with Rail King track or convert to a different brand?
Should I use track with Nickle Silver rail or should I use steel rail?
Do track products using steel rail still rust like the classic tubular rail made by Lionel?
I would prefer a track product that features realistic T-rail similar to the profile of real rail and molded roadbed and ties. Any sugestions would be greatly apreciated…
Take a look at Atlas O’s track Scott, very realistic and easy to work with, the only draw back of non steel rail is older Lionel locomotives with Magnetraction wont have the magnetic traction assist. I use lionel tubuler on my overhead layout and havent had any rusting problems on my track, just dust from sitting unused all summer while we are out on the boat and not running trains.
–Lionel Tubular -027. Cheapest to purchase, not so realistic. K-line makes affordable 027 separate power switches. Avoid Lionel 027 remote switches. They only work off track power and not very well with conventional loco low voltages.
–Lionel Tubular -031. Less cheap to purchase and still not molded in roadbead.
–K-line snap track. Sometimes available cheap at hobby lobby (50% off this week), much easier to assemble than 027 and 031 tubular. Molded in cross members more realistic and more durable than tubular but still no molded in road bead. Snap track can be cut in half to make tubular transition piece set.
–027, 031 tubular and snap track easy to cut to special lengths.
–Lionel fast track. Easy to assemble but loud. Not the widest selection of track. Relatively expensive with nice molded in roadbead. Very noisey relative to MTH track. Very durable, great for floor running layouts. No dead spots in between tracks.
–MTH realtrax. Easier to assemble than tubular, but harder than snaptrack or fastrack. Molded base does a better job of reducing wheel on rail sound. Connectors on ends often break. You can be sure of needing to fix a few joints anytime you reset up a relatively large (more than 16 pieces) layout on the floor (I run a lighted caboose around to find the open joint and then add a jumper wire).
–Any track can mate to anyother track if you are willing to cut a straight track in the middle to make two transition tracks. You might need to add wire jumpers across the open rails (unless the end of a power block) and you will probably need to shim up the tracks to the same height.
–I live in Houston and have seen no rust on my tubular tracks after 5-10 years. However, track stored in an attick for several years will rust for shure! I keep my track air conditioned inside my house.
Pay attention to the switches and how well different brands of cars and locomotives track through them. I have had VERY good experience with Atlas O switches, not so good with Lionel O72 and Gargrave. I would avoid GarGrave switches completely now.
…Their present situation (Bankruptcy/receivership) should make one wary about a significant investment in their product… Will you be able to get it a year from now? Who knows…
CTT’s current issue has a great article by Ray Plummer on how to convert remote 0-27 switches to fixed voltage, so that there is no more sluggish operation.
Also in the same issue, Kent Johnson (of TV fame) has a tip on how to simplify the wiring on a Lionel uncoupling track-controller.
Gargraves track is very realistic, can be purchased with your choice of plastic or wooden ties, blacked out or natural center rail, etc, and is pretty reasonably priced. No molded in roadbed.
For a large permanent layout, Gargraves track and Ross switches are an excellent choice. Ross switches are smooth, very reliable, and rugged. They are probably most expensive but the low cost of Gargraves track (which has the same rail profile as Ross) makes up for it. Atlas is another good choice but their switched aren’t as good as Ross and their track is more expensive than Gargraves. Gargraves has been around since the 50’s so it fits the tradition.
For a quick toy like set up, Lionel Fastrack is an excellent choice and can be quieted by filling it with carpet foam using a hot glue gun to adhere it. The hot glue peels right off should you decide to remove it.
Then their’s the old stand by: Tubular track. It is cheap, plentiful, reliable, and easy to work with but not as realistic as modern day track systems. You can quiet it by sticking adhesive weather strip under the metal ties and slide balsa wood ties under it where it lacks metal ties. For switches, Lionel 022 switches are reliable and work OK. K-Line makes good switches in larger radiuses for tubular track. Unless you can find some old postwar Lionel 711 072 switches, stay away from modern day Lionel 072 switches with plastic bases. They are junk.