Cont...
Before embarking on building my current Wienie Train layout in my purpose-built out-building, I seriously considered just poop-canning HO and going directly to 3-rail, for I was dead certain that I could handle, and thus enjoy, the larger and more forgiving traditional 3-rail trains far longer than would be possible in HO. (This was discussed at length in my "The Tangled Webs We Weave" thread here at OGR.)
You see, I'm a "life planner" type. That is, I way overthink things. (That tendency can be good, or it can be bad.) So, in view of my "life planning" tendency, it should come as no surprise that I way overthink model trains, too, often times to the point of "analysis paralysis". Alas, it is what it is, and I've learned to make peace with my thought algorithms that I can't seem to change. (Hard coded, I suppose.)
So, even though I seriously considered going direct to 3-rail, when it came down to the nitty-gritty, for better or for worse, I decided to go for a "Last Hoo-rah" type HO train layout. The first plywood was cut in the middle of February, 2019, and by the middle of July of the same year, 100% of the track was in place and said track was 100% was functional. I now had a partial dual level layout on my hands with 132' of mainline in place, all yards, town tracks, etc, and all was fully operational. Layout up and running, I've been building and running Wienie Trains ever since.
But that 3-rail thing just hasn't gone away. It will not just silently sail off into the night. Which pretty much brings us to "now".
What, exactly, you may wonder, has caused this HO modeler for right at 58 years to decide to indulge in 3-rail again?
Well, it was more than one thing, really, but let's consider the most poignant:
* Over the decades I've been blessed with rock-steady and skilled hands. I can work with tiny .012" drills (and smaller), tiny files, etc, and produce models in smaller scales that I'm satisfied with. In the past, I have kit-bashed and scratch built contest winning models.
* Further, over those decades, I've been plenty fine with small trains and small rails, in fact, I preferred them over larger "scale" type trains.
But something has become apparent, and this has gotten my attention:
* At 68 years of age, I note that my hands aren't as steady and dexterous as they were, say, two years ago. Nothing I haven't been able to deal with and find ways to stabilize my hands for fine work, but this is something that is a bit disconcerting, nonetheless.
Because of that, my life planning nature reared its head with an eye toward my life long hobby of miniature trains. (I want to enjoy model trains for as long as I possibly can.) In view of the above, I began to wonder just how many more years would I be able to fully enjoy dealing with small, delicate, exacting, model trains? 10 years? 8? 6? Do you know?
Neither do I.
SO, I've decided to get a safety net under me: 3-rail. Therefore, I've made the decision to start acquiring the Postwar and PW-type trains that I have been thinking about acquiring "someday". However, instead of "someday", I've made the decision to start NOW. That way, if/when the above "small-trains-aren't-fun-anymore-but-instead-they're-frustrating" syndrome hits... I will have a good collection of 3-rail with which to re-imagine my model train future. Thus, you now see why the decision to allow myself the fun of 3-rail again.
Concurrent with this decision, as recently as a week or so ago, I intended to simply run my 3-rail trains on a small oval on the kitchen table for testing purposes (or relaxation running) when the need arose (or mood inclined), and call it good. I would face the "3-rail layout" issue if/when that time comes.
But that has changed. I now have a plan that is much more immediate for a 3-rail layout.
However, that is another installment for this thread that I'll eventually get to.
'Ya know... at 68 years of age (and counting), I really don't think floor running would be good idea!
(Above pic from "The Bantam Book".)
To be continued...
Andre