@MainLine Steam posted:As I try to decide what 3R track type is best for me I am drawn many different ways. I want reliable operation, the thought of a Brass Steam Loco de-railing and taking a dive gives me cold sweats. But I would like it to look scale. Since I don't (presently?) plan to run tinplate, probably don't need to accommodate super big flanges. Although all my items are about 35-15 years old, I noticed, just like everything else in 3R, there is no standardization. By this I mean the wheel profile on K-Line Passenger cars is different than Weaver Brass Steam Engines. For that matter the Drivers have a different Profile than the tender wheelsets.
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Reading lots of posts and talking to others Gargraves seems to be the choice. The good, practical, reliable, relatively cost effective solution. I am a car guy, and at one point owned a Chrysler Minivan. However like that, though it got the job done, the look just doesn't get me excited. Unlike other cars I have owned, never had anyone come up and say cool car!
I have a few comments and photos regarding your post's first and seventh paragraphs. (I snipped out the other paragraphs to condense this reply a little bit.)
I was a project manager for 40 years, so I'm used to looking at "needs" and trying to reach an attainable solution. Your first paragraph's "needs" for "reliable operation", avoiding derailments and looking "scale" are a bit tough considering 3-rail's center rail and the small market of track manufacturers in 3-rail. You may want to consider what gets you to what I used to call "an 80% solution".
Regarding "reliable operation" and avoiding derailments, my last layout (2007 - 2019) used Ross sectional track and switches and a few long Gargraves straight and uncoupling/unloading tracks. All those items were embedded in Ross Roadbed which provides for countersinking about half the tie's height.
- In the 12 years of that layout, I never had a derailment with my mix of Lionel post-war locomotives, post-war/MPC/modern Lionel, Weaver, MTH, RMT and Atlas rolling stock or PS/2 MTH locomotives.
- One piece of rolling stock, a Lionel "BNSF Icicle" reefer, had a shoe on one truck that liked to split a switch, so it became a "shelf queen after the second time that problem occurred.
Regarding looking "scale", by painting the roadbed gray before installing the track and ballasting later, I achieved what I wanted--a 90% solution. (A 100% solution would have been no center rail at all, but then that would meant abandoning 3R and my legacy locomotives and rolling stock.)
Regarding the O-gauge track market size, economics and small number of manufacturers, I would be shocked if any of those manufacturers would consider creating another track line beyond what's available today.
I hope this info is helpful.
