On your layout do you act like the third rail is supposed to be there and weather is like normal, or do you try to cover it up as best you can?
I have seen techniques where the center rail is weathered with the ties and ballast using the same shades. The outside rails are given different shades that stand out. Looked pretty convincing.
If only the 3rd rail could be made out of clear plastic with a thin flat strip of metal on the top.
Embrace the third rail - it is what makes us more liberated than the HO guys …
I say ‘wear it with pride’! Let that third rail stand out just like it’s brethern… [:)]
To me the third rail looks natural as I grew up with O gauge trains. The advantage of three rail is that you don’t need costly relays to do a figuire 8 or a reverse loop, guess that is what Bob K. was getting at.
Lee F.
Yea, the prototype looks naked without that third rail. Track gangs would have a much easier job with electrical had the real railroads gone with three rail.
You know, I’m so used to the third rail that I don’t even think of it as “wrong” anymore, don’t even notice it as being anything out of the ordinary. Now, 2-rail O gauge…THAT’S wrong [:P]
Embrace your inner third rail…
…there’s always 2 rail O gauge…
I have always lived surrounded by full-scale three-rail. In NYC, the subways are all three-rail. I live 300’ from a Long Island Rail Road track which is three-rail. My only problem is they don’t have the third rail in the right place: down the center of the track!
This is just so wrong! I stand with those who say “celebrate the 3rd rail.” Supposed to be toys, ain’t it?
Texas Pete
I embrace the 3rd rail too. it just looks wrong without it.
When I kick back and watch my trains snake through my layout, I don’t even notice… I don’t paint my rails, which I kinda like when I’m “night” runnin’, and the tracks appear to be silver ribbons that reflect the available light.
David Vergun, who hasn’t posted for a while, hand-laid his track, using tubular rails for the outside and copper wire soldered to the heads of brass brads for the middle. He later switched to radio control and gave up the center rail entirely. It might be possible to find his earlier posts describing his technique.
Personally, I prefer to see the third rail as I implied in my second post. My first post was aimed at the question raised. I can tolerate another person’s tastes.
My great uncle gave me (dad I think, really) my first train for Christmas when I was two. The third rail has always been there and it is as right as rain.
As others have pointed out, O gage started as toys. That third rail gives license to run neat things like the #45 missile launching locomotive and shoot at exploding boxcars.
A HO scale mile long coal train is neat to see at a train show, and I appreciate the work that goes into one. But all it does is go round and round.
This got me thinking of a new invention. “3rd rail hiding goggles”. I made my first pair but they made my stomach feel weird after I put them on. Makes the cat look strange too. Buy my wife, oooohhhh baby!
Heres another point yes the 2 railers have there dcc but can they stop there new engines anywhere on the layout and uncouple them from where there sitting NO! go ask them. thank 3 rail for that ability[:D]
2 rail is fine but not for me I normally don’t notice anything wrong to me 3 rails is supose to be the way Like I mentioned in spf a couple of weeks ago to the AF posters theres "just something wrong and been quiet up to now but your missing your center rail LOL "
Got my first Lionel at the age of 4. A couple of years later I was returning home from Northern Wisconsin by train (departed Wausau) with my two older sisters after a visit with my grandparents. I couldn’t figure out why the train tracks only had 2 rails. I have been confused ever since.
Jack
LOL I agree, I’ve seen many HO scale layouts that are really decked out with scenery, long trains, the whole nine yards. It’s very impressive, but I’m always glad to get back to my O scale trains that make noise and actually do stuff!