# will af run on mth 3 rail track



## dicgolfer72 (Dec 4, 2015)

according to my manual 


it states that af trains will run on most 3 rail o track as well as the af 2 rail 
(with proper wiring of course)


I'm picking up this layout (for a steal at 150$ )





and want to give it to my dad to run his af s scale on 

its supposed to be a mth rail king set 
should be o guage 3 rail right ?


if the af manual is correct I assume I can run the af trains on that track as long as I wire the transformer to the outer rails 

or am I going to need to rip up all the track and lay fresh af track


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

The manual is referring to prewar American Flyer which is O gauge and runs on 3 rail 1.25" gauge track. Your trains are postwar S gauge and run on 7/8" gauge 2 rail track. Sorry, they are not compatible.


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## dicgolfer72 (Dec 4, 2015)

I assumed so 
but in the manual is refers to using your 2 rail af train set on your existing 3 rail layout 
so I thought it might work
was not sure if the width of the track was large enough difference to allow them to work or not 


oh well guess ill be ripping up that 3 rail track and installing some good ol af 2 rail 

hmm on second thought maybe not
anyone know if the new mth 3 rail will hold the old Lionel and Marx 3 rail trains 
my dad does have a Lionel and Marx o guage set 
if it will accommodate it,
ill just lay a af oval inside or outside the mth 3 rail then he can run both 

the engine in the layout I'm buying is dead and not worth it to me to spend 100$+ on a new Lionel or rail king engine


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

If you are referring to the paragraph on page 57 that is for the accessories like the talking station, semaphore, water tank, etc.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I blew that picture up and I can't really see a third rail?

What number is the train?

RailKing items are identified with item numbers that begin with "30". RailKing Rugged Rails items begin with "33".
M.T.H. S Gauge trains are M.T.H.'s newest product line first appearing in 2013. These smaller models run on S gauge 2-rail track from any manufacturer. M.T.H. S Gauge items, including our S Gauge S-Trax track components are identified with item numbers that begin with "35".

Do you know,or can you ask for a number?


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

A second look, Maybe it is 3 rail?
The center rail is black.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

The trains and track are 3 rail. Regarding the question about MTH track compatibility with old Lionel and Marx engines the answer is it depends. The track itself is fine, the turnouts may pose a problem with old spur gear engines. There are Lionel and Marx experts that can provide a definitive reply. 
The reason for the 3 rail comment on page 57 is toy train history. In 1946 when the first S gauge Gilbert instruction manual was written and published the installed base of S gauge was zero, all the toy trains in kids homes were 3 rail O or 3 rail standard gauge at the end of 1945. American Flyer called standard wide gauge. Gilbert really wanted those with 3 rail O to purchase the new accessories in their postwar catalogs.


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## dicgolfer72 (Dec 4, 2015)

sorry for some reason my browser would load this page as blank for the past day and a half 


got the layout torn down(took 2 hours at the guys house ) and brought it to my dad 

turns out the engine is perfect and runs like a champ 
the track was just super dirty 

my dad loves it 

now we just have to figure a way to incorporate a American flyer rail set into the existing layout and he will be set (we will probably have to add 4 inches to each side of the layout )

this is it setup quick on his pool table 
mom saw what we were doing and nixed it quick so now its setup in the storage room 






once we get the af track and his af engines add to it ill post a update

with the engine running and all the buildings I got a smoking deal at $150


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## Dave Farquhar (Feb 20, 2013)

AmFlyer said:


> The trains and track are 3 rail. Regarding the question about MTH track compatibility with old Lionel and Marx engines the answer is it depends. The track itself is fine, the turnouts may pose a problem with old spur gear engines. There are Lionel and Marx experts that can provide a definitive reply.


I'm about a month late but better late than never, right?

Very early Lionel stuff can struggle on modern MTH track due to the depth of the wheels, but we're talking early pre-WWII stuff. Lionel stuff made from the 1930s onward shouldn't have any trouble on modern MTH track.

Marx and some American Flyer 3-rail can struggle on the MTH switches. The gear can extend too far down, causing the drive wheels to be thicker than on modern trains so they get hung up on the frogs, bounce, and derail. The Marx 333 and 666 steam locomotives and most (but not all) Marx diesels do fine on everyone else's swtiches, but many other Marx locomotives won't. Since I have a lot of Marx, I only use Marx switches. It's easier to modify the Marx switches so other makes of trains can go through them than to modify the Marx engines to work on other makes of switches.

I hope that helps.


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