@catnap posted:I’ve never seen a 3-rail layout look as good as 2. Track work is what makes a layout and 3-rail loses all day, everyday by default. Turnouts look especially awful in 3-rail.
I politely disagree. If you are comparing only the track then yes 2 rail will always look better (meaning more accurate to the prototype).
I have seen some incredible 3 rail layouts. When you compare the entire layout you can't simply say, "Well the 2 rail layout is better because it doesn't have the center rail." The layouts must be judged as whole complete unit.
I remember many years ago I went to see Peter Kruimer's 3 rail layout. Peter's layout was complete with full scenery, many scratchbuilt structures, some weathered rolling stock, and some really cool scenes. Peter told me about a guy who lived not too far away from him who was a 2 railer. This guy thought his layout was better than Pete's solely because his layout was 2 rail but his layout was just track nailed to a wood platform. No scenery, no structures, no weathering, no roadbed, no ballast, no scenes, etc. As much as I like 2 rail there was just no comparison between the two layouts. Pete's layout was 1,000 times better.
All Opinion.
