A few thoughts.
I am a member of the European Train Enthusiasts club and there I hear a lot of the same debate about the advantages of 3 rail Marklin system (actually stud rail) AC vs 2 rail DC HO scale. In Europe there are plenty of manufacturers, clubs and modelers in each, so it’s not like one dominates in the HO market share. In general, the Marklin system 3 rail trains can handle tighter curves and of course there’s the reverse loop issue, but it’s not like there are huge differences between the two. Yet, people will swear by one or the other.
In general I would say a lot of our people from Europe had Marklin 3 rail as children and just stuck with it. Some of our guys from the US got into Marklin because they were impressed with the advanced digital systems and easy to use track system, which is more like fastrack or other 3 rail roadbed track systems. I guess my point is that people tend to stick with what they know, or gravitate to what impresses them.
Now, back to O gauge. I do have both 2 rail and 3 rail trains. In fact, I used to run my 2 rail trains on a carpet central and they did fine. I got into 2 rail after using 3 rail for years because I wanted more realistic looking trains. I was already used to dcc, so that was also an easy transition. What I haven’t done is invest As heavily in a 2 rail layout as I originally intended. Why? It wasn’t for lack of product, but There just isn’t a great selection of readily available track or clubs with with the ability to run DCC. You can buy ready to run digital 2 rail trains if you preorder, which is already a requirement for high end 3 rail. However, when it comes to clubs with modern layouts and buying off the shelf track the supply is pretty short compared to 3 what 3 rail modelers have.
