redjimmy1955 posted:While these astute gentleman have given you much to digest about 2 rail control systems, consider that 3 rail has that ridiculous looking black center rail which DOES prominently stand out. I live with this on my layout...never looks correct....and i still wince whenever i run the trains. I vote that you go to 2 rail....it's more realistic.
The 3rd rail...that is what got me to thinking about 2 rail in the first place. Maybe if I had started with O back in the day the 3rd rail would not bother me as much as it does, but I started with HO and am used to seeing 2 rails. Since I run a carpet layout right now, the 3rd rail sticks out like a sore thumb to me. I can't ballast my carpet! 
I love my Lionel Legacy Southern Crescent Steam engine..the whistle smoke, the sounds, etc, but I just can't get around the center rail. I can live with the lobster claw couplers...but have already started looking into converting my 3 rail freight cars to 2 rail...
I have been talking to my wife about all of this...her eyes glaze over I am sure. I told her I was going to buy some 2 rail stuff and try it out. She said, I thought you were leaning in that direction anyway.
I even thought about going back to HO...but the beauty of 2 rail o scale is if I decide to run my HO (I am going to add a decoder in at least one engine), I can use whatever DCC system I buy to run my HO if I ever wanted. Just swap some wires from one track to the other.
Not sure how this thread (because I asked many questions) became a DCC systems thread, but I am enjoying it immensely.
