@Dave_C posted:It’s funny Pete. Back then most of the critique from non 3 railers was the middle rail. I had many visitors say how real my layout looked. To bad it has that middle rail. Real trains run on 2. No one ever mentioned anything about the huge couplers or the floating pilots on diesels being a bad look.
I've had similar experiences. I was fortunate enough to present the layout at the RPM meet last year. A number of 2-rail HO folks attended and paid me what I believe is the best compliment you can get - "would you consider going to 2-rail O?" While flattering, the real cost of such a conversion would be tens of thousands of dollars for a mid-large layout.
As to solving the "perfect 3-rail track", that is a very difficult technical and aesthetic problem. Previously, I noted my use of GarGraves / Ross track and Ross / Curtis switches. Back when I was making those choices, I was intrigued by the Atlas solid rail offering, but the price was out of my reach. GarGraves was the economical choice and looked pretty good, too (especially with ballast). Tubular (of any variety or make) was never going to get my vote. K-Line had a viable option until they fumbled the future.
Of course, over the past 5 years all of the major track brands have increased their prices, some of them astronomically.
MTH produced a great looking product called Scale Rail which had the lowest profile, but they never seemed to fully commit to it. There were some serious production shortages and gaps in curve and switch sizes. I recall the "stud rail" offerings early in the 2000s. In fact, I thought OGR was interested in either producing or marketing it (my memory might be incorrect here). It seemed like a very intriguing product, but then completely disappeared from view.
All in all, I think there's a lot of risk in the idea.
George
