O Gauge Track set up

I put all three in.  The way I see it-the more pins the better chance for good contact.

When you buy the track NEW, the 3 pins are all on the same side of the track. When the track is used, sometimes a pin will come loose and stick inside the other piece of track it was connected to. No biggie, except when you go to put the track back together. Then you either have to find the matching pieces. You also can run into the problem of poor electrical flow throughout the layout due to a loose pin, and rails that are not tightly engaged with the track pin.

This is one disadvantage of making temporary layouts with tubular track. You need to pull pins and recrimp loose open rails for a snug connection. When making a permanent layout, you want to make sure all connections and snug for the same reason. Not impossible, just one that comes with the territory of using tubular track.

Thanks  I always put the three pins in on the same side but when I saw dikfferent I questioned my own judgment.  Many Thanks  Brien

Yes, always three pins.  If you were missing a pin in the old days, you substituted a finishing nail.

Three pins on one side.

Flyer "O" used the "2 & 1".  In this way, to switch tracks left/right, you only had to move center rails pins.  I could never figure out why Super "O" wasn't done this way - it would eliminate pulling/switching pins entirely as with FasTrack(for which the narrow "mating" center rail pins were developed).

I still have a couple of finishing nails in my collection of extra pins. I may even have a couple still in use.

Excellent tip  Thanks  B....