No this isn’t asking why anyone would do it or what it is. I know good an well. This is a post to show why TO do it. The great Frank Ellison with his Delta Lines was a true pioneer in model railroading. He wrote many good articles over his years and his layout and techniques are a huge inspiration to me. I’m even on the friends of the Delta Lines yahoo group. The question of why outside 3rd rail came up and a fantastic response was posted in Frank’s own words from his book from 1952 called “Frank Ellison on Model Railroads”. Once I read this quote, I had to find the book and did, paying a pretty penny for it. Although Frank modelled in outside third rail and his writing is aimed at it, it is equally as applicable to any 3 rail based layout and I thought I would share his view on why 3 rail. I hope many of you will appreciate it as well.
A subchapter entitled, “About Outside Third Rail” (page 97) is followed by
Frank’s take on the subject:
"It seems to me that, in their laudable zeal for perfection, some good-intentioned folks have overlooked the physical laws and seek to regiment all thinking into one ideology. This is especially true of advocates of two rail wiring, for no unbiased analysis of third rail has been published since 1942 - nearly 13 years. Third rail has been damned by silence - intentionally damned.
All of us certainly prefer two-rail’s better appearance. And in elementary layouts with but a small and simple loop and a few simple turnouts, it is easier to string a pair of wires than to build a third rail. Beyond this point, however, two-rail circuits become progressively incomprehensible to many men, as constant repetition of explanatory literature testifies.
I admire the many fine two-rail circuits that have developed through 15 years of experimentation. But two-rail is still complex for the non-technical man, and I do not believe that the mere absence of the third rail itself is suffic
Well…you’re preaching to the choir, here I think. This is a 3-rail board (with apologies to the AF folks), so I kind of doubt that anyone here needed 14 paragraphs to convince them that 3-rail is okay.
Wow, was that ever long-winded. Obviously written by guys who enjoy the sound of their own fingers typing. It could have been lots more compact. I’ll give it a shot: “Use the three-rail system because it’s much easier to wire than two-rail.” There, I fixed it. Next!
One another tangent: The only thing that all other train modelers ever bring up about Lionel, and three-rail, is the 3-rail. And if that’s the best they can do, I don’t care.
I like to read more about what Frank Ellison thought about model railroading. I have some wartime Lionel magazines with his articles on modeling and the Delta Lines.
I don’t think so; I believe that it is a toy-train forum. Toy trains include those that run on three rails, like Lionel, Maerklin, and pre-war American Flyer, and those that run on two rails, like Lionel 2 7/8-inch and some OO-gauge post-war American Flyer, and all wind-up trains, for examples.
Thanks for the post and thread!! I totally enjoyed reading the article, and your comments.
Its unfortunate others have to have such condescending comments, I mean after all, you could always stop reading and jump to a different thread. Why put a guy down?
A lot of us model railroaders today are following in Ellison’s footsteps. The Hi-Rail flow chart starts with him. I enjoy reading about him, and found the DELTA Lines article in CTT this past year was one of the most enjoyable.
With 3 rail it’s easier to lick the outside and inside rail to get a buzz. Like licking a 9 volt battery t see if it’s good. Who needs a multi tester anyway.[(-D]
When J. Lionel Cowen went into the train business in 1900 his first, hand built power rail car was on two rail track. When he went into production he wanted to be “realistic” with Center Third Rail.
Starting in 1895 to its being outlawed by Connecticut in 1906, The New Haven Railroad was electrifying with “Center Third Rail” both in the Boston area and from Hartford CT to New Britain, Berlin, and Bristol, totaling 32 Route miles. In 1900, 3 rail was the “Wave of the Future”. The New York Central went with “Outside Third Rail” for entrance into New York City.
Don, are you sure about New York Central’s “Outside” third rail? Here is a picture of their first electric locomotive, which used an overhead third rail. It explains the tiny pantographs seen on so many prewar model locomotives:
Just my [2c]: Not too long ago, now, I stepped out of the 2-rail ‘HO’ world into the 3-rail ‘O’ world and, specifically. the “Classic Toy Train” world. In my mind, right or wrong, the classic toy train was a ‘toy’ train running on a 3-rail track while the smaller 2-rail stuff was more for a ‘modeler’ than a ‘player’ which I am. (I do, however, admire 3-rail ‘O’ modelers’ layouts and the talent and time devoted to their projects.)
Bottom line, I wonder if “really matters” if one just enjoys the hobby.
PS. Come to think about ‘real life’ trains: My New York City Subway System runs on three rails. [:)]
It’s Third Rail. The small “pantograph” on the top of the New York Central and New Haven locomotives (including the NH EP5 “Jets”) was to bridge the gaps in the Third Rail such as going through the switches in Grand Central Station (Terminal). Note the Third Rail Pickup located just ahead of the Drivers between the drivers and Pilot Truck.
You’re quite right, Don. I imagined that, running mostly in tunnels into and out of Manhattan, an overhead third rail would not have been so difficult to install for the NYC. I found an article with considerable detail about the whole affair, which even mentions the influence of these locomotives on toy trains: http://alfredbarten.com/oldmaude.html
Four rails are not too many for the London Underground:
