New guy with questions

Joe,

Just wondering if you have considered O gauge 2-Rail?  Now would be a good time, before you have to much money invested in 3-Rail.

Jim

Jim,

Yes, I did consider 2-rail but space is at a premium and 3-rail track works a little better for me right now. I'm not making a huge investment in track right now (unless you ask my wife!) and once more real estate becomes available I may switch. My primary interest is in small branchlines and industrial areas so the amount of equipment I buy is usually on the lean side. I've adopted the "less is more" approach and both my modeling and the fun factor have significantly improved! 

Joe 

Joe,

Yea, the space thing is what keeps some folks out of 2-rail.  Other times, some of us get heavily into 3-Rail and then find it difficult (financially) to make a change to 2-Rail.  For others, the third rail doesn't really matter.

I've also adopted the "less is more" approach as well.  I've decided that I would have fewer, more detailed trains than lots of less, detailed trains.

Jim

I myself started into 2Rail O because eye surgery and other medical considerations made HO simply just too tiny.

With that said, I have branched into three rail scale when I realized just the simple fact that the available room I have is all I get. (Thanks Wife!) I have a specific plan which will be built and it is possible with Ross Track and some MTH/Atlas track as well.

As far as the big Lobster Claw and center rail, I have quit worrying about these. I just want to make sure that the Claws are metal, not plastic.

Also I did purchase a few RMT Beeps as a pair (The Cancer one units) and saw that they use a tether to share wheel pickups and other goodies ... it motivates me more. I might get a few more plus the caboose just for the **** of it... but will have to wait until next month.

Two rail is great, but when your engine needs 48 to 54 inch radius just to get around and you have only 0-88 or so to turn around in... you go three rail.

I do keep some two rail stock on hand for thinking to convert to 3R someday.

Compared to what we had when I was a child, today's O scale with all it's offerings in 2 and 3 rail is possibly the very best I have ever seen.

The future is bright. My thoughts are my own, as a practical matter 3R scale works for me right now.

Jim I highly suggest you look at MTHs premier line scale wheeled locos they have fixed pilots and mountings for Kadee couplers.  They are very nice locos!I also switched from HO and could not stand the huge couplers and swinging pilots. I am thinking about one day switching over to 2 rail but for now I am 3RS and loving it! It is a perfect size and the detail and heft of the locos and equipment are particularly nice!

Hi Joe,

as mentioned, MTH's makes a scale wheeled version with fixed pilots and you need to install your own Kadee type couplers. These engines have several benefits.

*Fixed pilots

*Made to accept O scale Kadee type couplers (you install)

*Ships with Scale wheels

*You have the option to swap out the Scale wheels for Hi rail wheel set, best of all it takes

   a whole three minutes to do.

*Your diesel can run either 2-rail or 3 rail with the simple "flip of a switch" on the

    engine, which takes a whole 10 seconds.

*You have an engine that has awesome sounds, protoypical models,  that can be used

   while you're in 3Rail, and if you ever decide to go 2 Rail, you already have your motive

    power. Sounds like a win/win for you.

*Most all of MTH's premier line of rolling stock made in the last few years feature Kadee

   mounting pads for those wanting to go with scale couplers. MTH product search on their

   website will list if the pads are on it.

*There was some talk awhile back about MTH working on a new scale size coupler. ??

Be aware that those who want fixed pilot engines generally pre order to ensure they get what they want. Production is very low.If you don't pre order, they can be a bit hard to locate at times.

Good luck.

Keep us posted on how your doing

David

Thanks everyone for the response and advice. I do have a couple Premier line diesels on pre-order so that will make converting to 2 rail a little easier should I elect to go that route in the future. Anyone have any advice on how to remove the couplers from the trucks of my current RailKing GP9 and RS3 and convert them to fixed pilots?

Joe

Joe,

I have converted both engines you speak of to Kadee couplers.  I'll take a look at what I did and get back to you.  It wasn't hard, but once done can't be undone without buying new trucks (I think I had to cut off some parts on the truck itself that held the big coupler in place).

More later.

OOPS!!!

My GP9 was an Atlas GP9, sorry.  I'll get back on the RS3.

Here's 4 photos of my Kadee/fixed pilot conversion on the MTH RailKing RS3:

I don't recall what the pilot looked like prior, but I'm sure I had to cut off the old mounting "tongue".

I made a 1/8" styrene shim (bottom piece in last photo) and glued it to the pilots, it almost looks like an additional step when assembled.  the ends of the shim are slotted so they form part of the steps.

Using the handrail holes, I drilled #4-40 clearance holes thru the pilot assembly and drilled and tapped #4-40 holes in the ends of the engine body (I suppose you could superglue them on instead).

I then made shims for the Kadee coupler boxes, drilling clearance holes to attach it to the pilot and drilled and tapped holes to hold the coupler box in place.

I used 4-40 hex-head screws, but as I was taking this apart to take photos I decided to replace them with 4-40 button head screws when I put it back together (easier to assemble).  The screws are available from MicroFasteners.

Hope this helps.  The button head screws look nicer and can be fastened using an allen wrench.

Bob,

Thanks for the info, it's just what I'm looking for. I wouldn't think that there'd be too much difference between the RailKing RS3 and GP9.

Joe

Joe,

I was trying to figure out why I put that shim/spacer under the pilot and I think I remember why.  If you don't, it'll be sitting too high off the rails and won't look right.

i just bought two septa beeps from the septa store in philly.  they are really cool.  i only have a small area.  

It's funny, but the 3-rail track doesn't bother me at all.  If I hadn't already had a load of 054 switches when I moved my layout upstairs I would have used 072 minimum.  Full length passenger cars do overhang, but not enough for me to get upset over.  As long as nothing derails on the 054 stuff I'm satisfied with the small engines I have.  My GP9 and NW2 go round 054 with ease, the E7 needs 072, so it stays out on the outer loop of my layout for now.

Joe, the Atlas GP9 was just as easy to modify as the RS3 was.  I've also modified my WBB E7, MTH 2-8-0, and 0-6-0, all were easy to do.  The only thing I still have the old style couplers on are an old Lionel Scout 4-4-2 and the 3 cars I have with it sitting on a display shelf.  I also have 2 MTH passenger cars that are painted for Seaboard Air Line that are not prototypically accurate and I'm on the fence about selling them.

I thought I would have more trouble accepting the 3 rail track than I have. So far it doesn't really bother me. I'm glad to hear that 4 axle diesels can handle O54 track and switches because that is what I'm using as my minimum. I don't much care for anything newer than a GP35 (think "Slow Trains Down South" diesel style!) and my steam interest is limited to small switch engines so hopefully the O54 minimum will be okay.

I'm looking forward to converting my engines as soon as I can muster the courage. The funny thing is I've torn apart countless numbers of HO scale engines, installed DCC decoders, sound decoders, speakers, you name it, and for some reason I look at these O gauge engines like they're speaking a foreign language! This weekend is "put up or shut up" time. As I've told many friends "we are model builders, if we break it we can fix it." I sure hope that's true.

Joe

Joe,

I think you're feeling the same thing a lot of us have felt, the idea that all O gauge is collectible.

I never gave HO a thought about being collectible when I was in it and it didn't take long for me to get over that notion and start hacking my first O-scale engine apart to make it look like something I wanted.

I think the one thing that still makes me a little nervous is the fact we're working with AC and all the DC electronic gadgetry tied into these engines.  I even went thru an apprenticeship in electronics when I worked for Uncle Sam, but that was back in the 70s and early 80s and I've forgotten most of what I learned.

If you're like a lot of us 3-Rail Scale folks collectibilty is way down on the list (although if the manufacturers keep listening to us about wanting more scale fidelity) we made have our minds changed for us in the future.

But for now, these mass-produced, electronics-filled trains are fair game as far as I'm concerned.

3rd Rail/Golden Gate Depot/Sunset Models, Atlas and Weaver make some very nice scale items, MTH and Lionel seem to be on the same road, but have a ways to go before we can count them in 100%.  I would say pre-war Lionel is probably one area I'd leave as is, if I had any of it, but anything made this century can be expected see "The Dremel" at any time

Since I'm going to be removing the pilots and permantly attaching them, this would be a good time to shave off the molded on detail and replace it with new parts. Where/who would be the best source for these parts? I've got the Precision Scale diesel catalog but am wondering if there are any other manufacturers out there making decent detail parts.

Bob, I'm not a collector either (I like to weather things) and I think you hit the nail on the head about the electronics. I'm more afraid of that than any thing else.

Joe

Joe,

Look at P&D's site:

http://pdhobbyshop.com/show_su...B%20Scale%202%20Rail

I haven't done a lot on removing/adding detail on my RS3 as I didn't have the desire to have to repaint it afterwards.  Maybe someone will chime in about diesel parts.

Thanks for the info Bob. I don't mind doing a little painting, I model the Southern so the color scheme isn't real complicated.

Joe