# some newbie questions



## Cradle (Dec 19, 2009)

well i've always been a big fan of model trains ever since i was 5-8 yrs old when my dad had a N track on id say a 4x8 plywood piece.... nothing fancy but basic and nice, im going the H0 route myself

so now that im getting a bit older  and have kids of my own i'm gonna try to get into all this stuff more but need to find out a few things first

- 2 rail vs 3 rail tracks are there any major pros/cons? i'm leaning towards a 3 rail setup at this point but found a 
Modern Orient Express consisting of German DB class 218-218-6 diesel, 2 Pullman cars, and DSG sleeper. Made by Lima for $110 that i'm a bit interested in but it's a 2 rail train.


- Power converting... this is my main issue i dont know anything about, im originally from germany so i'm gonna go after the german train theme most likely marklin and/or fleischmann although i know the power output here in the states is much different then in europe so i suppose there are transformers made by these companies to power the trains? i would think since i seen several people on this board run marklin

if i was to cave and get a bachman or atlas kit, i couldnt run marklin/fleischmann trains on it could i?

sorry for the dumb questions but im gonna do more research these next few days and get to know the setups better


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Cradle said:


> well i've always been a big fan of model trains ever since i was 5-8 yrs old when my dad had a N track on id say a 4x8 plywood piece.... nothing fancy but basic and nice, im going the H0 route myself
> 
> so now that im getting a bit older  and have kids of my own i'm gonna try to get into all this stuff more but need to find out a few things first
> 
> ...


easier to explain with a answer copy and paste thanks to Frank; 

I'm sorry to say that only Marklin makes track compatible with the Marklin 3 rail system. Even Marklin's track is not truly 3 rail. It's 2 rail with a system of studs representing the third center rail. Hornby and Trix (Great Britain) used to make 3 rail HO/OO track into the 1960's but the switches were not really compatible with Marklin. 3 rail HO track was never made in the United States as when HO developed here it developed as 2 rail. I guess you could make a layout for Marklin out of 2 rail track with spiking down a separate center rail or a series of studs down the center of the track. This used to be done in Britain in the 1940's and 50's and was called stud contact track. Peco (Britain) still sells this contact strip. 

The center rail or studs needs to be higher than the running rails so that the center collector shoe on the locomotives can clear the running rails on switches and crossings.
The problem is that both 3 rail HO and stud contact are really old technologies from the earliest HO models. 3 rail has really gone out of favor as realistic model railways developed. Only toy train systems (Lionel, Marx, O gauge) made that type of track in the United States. Marklin kept the system as they had such a huge following in Europe. Other model train manufacturers dropped 3 HO rail in the 1960's. A search on the Internet brought no results of any other alternative 3 rail HO track. I had thought there may have been some manufacturers in the former East Germany, but was unsuccessful.




I don't know to much about HO 3 rail.

Tank?? HO 3 rail?


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## Cradle (Dec 19, 2009)

cool thanks, after looking at germantrains.com and rocousa.com i found out the power issue wouldnt be a problem, i'll probably start with a digital start system and add on to it as time goes by.... im still 2-4 months away from buying anything major so that might change but im trying to stay away from bachmann/atlas and do strictly marklin products as they have a wide selection as well of my liking

but things are starting to make more sense after i read through some threads and a few sites


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Your on your way.
Stick around and........................,

Post us on your progress.

Now I don't know much about 3 rail for HO. There might be other stuff out there. I'm sure someone here knows the answer. 

I just Googled a little help for you.


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

as far as power outlet 110V here and 220V in europe, if you find that an issue and your European powerpack is of older type and can't adjust automatically there a plenty of travel adapters to chose from. check your dollar store. 

while 3 rail provides for easier wiring in complex layouts (since polarity becomes not an issue) personaly i don't like 3 rail design. i find that even marklin's stud solution (the only "3 rail" i know of) is grabbing to much of my attention. another thing is that most Marklins run on AC as far as i know. if i ever get to get my grubby hands on a marklin i will try to remotor it and install decoder to run on DCC anyways. that might be fun.

but regardless, there are other german manufacturers out there. Piko makes conventional 2 rail stuff in HO and i hear that after restructure they stepped up their quality far (ii had their set back when they were east germany government owned ). but i'm afraid one will need to travel to europe to get these as i'm not aware of any import to the states going on





EDIT:
huh , what do you know. i think i had this locomotive, but in different color scheme


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## Cradle (Dec 19, 2009)

cool thanks for all the help, ill check out piko and see what they offer 

i do have relatives in germany still so getting my hands on the stuff shouldnt be a problem but the shipping cost might not be too good haha


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## Cradle (Dec 19, 2009)

well i did some researching all weekend lol, pretty much have my first layout in mind now... i was going to go with a marklin starter set but found a good priced roco digital one that comes with a bigger oval and a loco i'd actually want (db class 218) unlike the marklin (class 146.1)... once i begin ill make a project thread think till i order im gonna buy a building or 2 that i can put together till i make the order for the actual set which will be start of january.... thanks for all the help


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