2-rail carpet fun

I've heard the stories: TMCC is only for 3-rail; DCS doesn't work on 2-rail; you can't run those big flanges on 2-rail track; you can't use 2-rail track on carpet. None of them are true. It's all about doing your homework.

Remember several years back when we ran a DCS 3/2 in 2-rail mode under DCS while running an Atlas 2-rail TMCC engine at a TCA meet in Arcadia? That was impressive especially given the size of the loop. Been looking at 2-rail ever since. At some point I need to get a loop of Atlas 2-rail curved track.

I love it! What ever it takes to go 2-railing!

ncng

Amen brother! I love it too! I like the way the rails and track sink a little under the weight of the train. Very realistic. 

I did not know you could do this.  Thanks for showing us the way!

This is not new.  In the 1970s one could, for under $20, get a C-Liner, three freight cars, and a loop of snap track, all in 2-rail O Scale, and if one had a transformer, one could have a carpet railroad about fifteen minutes after opening the box.

For scale model railroaders, there are only two reasons for big flanges and three rail track: Nostalgia, or prior investment.  The only one that makes sense to me is nostalgia - one hobbyist has posted that, to him, O Scale simply does not look right without the center rail.  Investment considerations are what you do when you buy stocks.

Yeah, I read that too. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but I believe that the person who said that is in the minority.

I think by and large 3 railers have accepted the 3rd rail and it doesn't bother them. I would bet that when JLC changed from tinplate to die-cast if he gotten rid of the center rail at that point in time there would be no one today asking for a center rail to be added down the middle of the track like the track the tinplate trains ran on.

Well, maybe if there were a lot of hardcore drugs involved...

Even I run 2-rail trains on the carpet but I use MTH Realtrax (with the center rail removed). But I have started buying woodworking tools & hopefully in 2016, I could have my tracks at least 6” off the floor.

These are just my opinion,

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

It has been my oft expresed opinion that O Scale will not take off until a person can walk into a store and purchase a complete 1:48 2-rail Trainset, that will contain a loop of track,   power pack, and a fairly detailed engine, a few cars and a caboose (or an EOT Device..LOL). Seems that is accomplished on other scales. Why not O?

I'm aware of the aborted AHM efforts in the early 70's with their horrid couplers, etc.I don't think Atlas had complete trainsets with their 24 inch radius curves and nicer engines and cars.

Dan Weinhold

naveenrajan, that is really cool. Do you use the Realtrax with the solid rails or do you prefer the hollow rail? How hard is it to remove the center rail? I guess you don't have any turnouts, correct? 

I have been using MTH Realtrax with solid rails on the carpet, irregularly since 2007. I used to run HO trains from an Atlas starter set on the carpet when I first got into model trains 10 years ago but the track did not have a roadbed & the trucks started picking up carpet fibers even though I only ran the trains occasionally. So when I got into O-Scale, I went looking for track sections with roadbed & MTH Realtrax met my needs. But since I leave some sections of track always on the floor, some of the mating plastic tabs on the sectional pieces break off & I need to keep replacing the sections every few years. Realtrax with solid rails are getting difficult to find & so recently when I needed to replace some O-82 curve sections (the largest curve that MTH offers in Realtrax) I had to buy some with hollow-rail. I have not used the hollow-rail sections yet but they look similar to the solid-rail except from the open ends.

It is not difficult to remove the center rail. I remove the copper tabs under the center-rail from the underside of the roadbed & pull out the center-rail with pliers.

I use 1 or more 10” straight sections on either side of each O-82 curve & I use a pair of MTH Illuminated Lock-Ons on either side to connect my DC Powerpack.

I was working on 2-railing a Realtrax O-72 switch & used Evergreen Plastics strips (0.080” X 0.188&") to prevent the 2-rail wheels from derailing. It worked mechanically & I was able to roll Lionel Husky cars with Protocraft 2-rail trucks & Golden Gate Depot 2-rail passenger cars without derailing & whenever I get the time & the tools, I plan to complete the electrical connections in the switch.

These are just my opinion,

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

Here are some recent photos of the Realtrax O-72 switch with the center-rail removed.

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

Running on carpet is a well proven way to jam up mechanisms.

Sorry, I don't buy the need to purchase a trainset to get into any scale/gauge combination. All the components are there for making a start in O scale US.

The real starting point is your baseboard. That determines what options you have.

regards

Bob

Well in that case I'm glad I didn't ask for permission or clearance ahead of time! My son and I may have missed out on a fun time!! LOL

Naveen, you know it's amazing how much better the Realtrax looks even though the tabs that hold the center are still there and visible! Thank you very much for the information.

I think not being able to buy an O scale 2 rail train set is only a small part of the problem. Even if such a thing were available it wouldn't suddenly make 2 rail more popular. IMHO, the problem is a combination of all the myths that perpetrated throughout the hobby about 2 rail, the lack of publicity (I got into O gauge in 1996 and it took me about 4 years to find out 2 rail actually existed) and (as bob2 always says) the fact that the center rail has nothing to do with the minimum radius for a locomotive. If locomotives were offered with the same compromises as 3 rail to handle tight radius curves that would help too.

Thanks for the compliments. I like Realtrax but I would rather have a layout with typical 2-rail track with wide curves as I have the room for a maximum radius of 72” radius. But at this stage in my career, it is likely that I would have to relocate as job needs dictate & cannot have a permanent layout. After seeing Brian Huang’s modular layout at this year’s Galesburg Railroad Days, I am looking into making a modular layout (72” X 30” max sections), that could be stacked over each other when not in use that I could take with me if I had to move. Maybe when I get closer to retirement, which is still almost 30 years away, I might build a 2-rail layout similar to the ones I have been admiring on these forums.

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

I think there only two ways to go...either have some kind of layout or setup so you can run trains, or go without, and sit on the couch reading articles or posts about other people having fun running their trains.

If the best a person can do is a carpet central then so be it--it beats the snot out of nothing!

Jeff C

Looks like a blast, I miss the carpet central empires of my youth.  A good vaccuuming prior to operation helps with carpet stuff into the gears.  Using track with a built in roadbed helps also.  I have seen carpet layouts built up to test track plans prior to building the actual benchwork.  Just wish my father had been into the trains like I was and still am.  Mike