Why black center rails?

[nitroboy]

I've noticed alot of really nice layouts I see in train magazines all seem to have the center rail painted black. Is this how the track comes? I would think the center rail should be the color of the ballast since it sticks out like a sore thumb against it blackend. Since I am going to be building a new "bigger" layout this summer, I would like to hear some feedback on the subject.

Thanks
Dave

[sulafool]

I agree; sometimes the black rail looks more obvious than a tinplate one. Atlas track seems to me to be the least obtrusive for some reason. Mfgs. take note: a neutral gray (like photographers 18% gray) will blend into almost anything...

[Big_Boy_4005]

Being overweight all of my life, my mother always said "Wear dark colors, they make you look smaller."

The secret may be to use a darker ballast. That is a major drawback of kitty litter ballast. I haven't gotten to that point on my layout yet, but I have some ideas about darkening it. Real ballast comes in a variety of colors, I'm lucky to have a quarry near by that produces a nice dark gray that the local railroads use.

The thing is that when the track comes out of the box, I'm thinking of Gargraves in particular, against the black ties that black rail almost disappears, and that is after all the goal. [:)]

[Jim Duda]

I dunno guys...I think Professor Elliot nailed it when he said with dark ballast and black ties the center rail is not so obvious. This is no ballast, leaving the ties black, with the dark grey Woodland Scenics foam road bed. You decide...

Jim (the no ballast guy) Duda

[sulafool]

Indeed your top picture makes the rail invisible, but the bottom pretty much looks "normal". How long did it take you to weather the track??

[Jim Duda]

Here's the entire table...about 30 feet of track...with an airbrush it was a 2 -3 hour shoot - no masking required. Floquil 50/50 mix of roof brown + rust, thinned about 20% with lacquer thinner. Pressure at the airbrush 8 lbs.

Jim (I hate to mask!) Duda

[Anonymous]

Why black center rails?... i guess thay were all out of striped paint. [:D] [:-^][:P]

[spankybird]

Hi Dave,

I just wanted to point out that the center rail is a type of plating called anodizing. It’s not really paint. So please don’t get carried away and try painting it.

If you are planning on DCS latter, then you may want to reconsider the blacken center rail. Some folks have had to sand off the black for a strong DCS signal.

Hey Jim, Great Pics, [:-^] How did you learn to do such great work. [(-D]

tom

[Jim Duda]

Aw heck...I just read the forums and followed you guys' lead...on a layout this small, the DCS track signal is a solid "10" and doesn't seem to be affected by the anodized black center rail. I still think the K-Line Super K track (not SuperSnap) is OK and it's not that expensive, yet still offers a pretty good assortment of curve radii. Maybe not for everyone, but it works for me...

I suppose if I had to ballast the track I'd choose the darkest ballast I could find to de-emphasize that middle rail...

What really impresses me is this layout - it's in HO, but nevertheless there is some serious craftsmanship and some great ideas for O gauge. Even the guys on the other forum were impressed. I am!
http://www.pbase.com/tracktime/calcentral&page=all

[Frank in Steam]

"They" made the center rails black because gray would have made too much sense.

[Anonymous]

with 3 rails it makes little differance to reality.

[Roger Bielen]

The ideal color scheme would be brown/black over the ties and gray in the open areas over the ballast.[swg]

[prewardude]

Yikes! I'll bet that would take a while to paint, Roger! [:D]

[Anonymous]

I think the people who came up with this idea are closet 2 railers or think that the person who'd buy it is a closet 2 railer. Meaning, they are into 3 rail but deep down inside, they really want to have 2 rail track & trains.

In any event, I don't care one way or the other. I'll buy whatever is available in flex track.

Tony

[Big_Boy_4005]

Gargraves Phantom rail has been around for a very long time, over 30 years. I think that it was a very clever idea to give people who ran 3 rail trains not only a more realistic alternative, but a flex style of track which, until Atlas, was the only one of its kind. Now it even has imitators.

I remember the first time I ever saw it. It was around 1972, and I was 11 years old. Our family was visiting Chicago, and I always managed to drag my dad around to hobby stores whenever we traveled. We bought 6 pieces, and an MPC box car. When we got back to the hotel room, I connected them all together and just pushed that box car back and forth for hours. I was hooked. Now that's all I use.[:D]

By the way gang, I'm not sure if brown or grey anodizing is avilable.

[Roger Bielen]

Just a little post script. I used Gargraves Phantom Rail flex track and Ross switches on my layout with the outer rail painted rust. If you decide to paint wipe down the track with an alcohol rag to remove the residue oil from manufacturing, the paint goes on a lot easier.

[guilfordrr]

The black color does make the center rail almost unoticable. I've also heard a lot about how "black is more electrically conductive" mostly from newbies.[*^_^*] I don't buy it at all. How do these things get started.............

[nitroboy]

I agree that unballasted the black center rail does almost disapear, but once ballasted, it sticks out like a sore thumb. I have come to the conclusion with gil finn, with three rails, why does it really matter. And plus, there are just toys, at least to me. Thanks everybody for your input.

Dave

[FJ and G]

My center rail nearly blends with the ballast. It is a single-strand 14 gauge copper wire that I have mounted on tiny copper nails driven into the ties. It is hard to notice that it is even there.

For commercially available track, the center rail of Scaletrack looks the best (Super O also is good).

For toy track, the best looking is Lionel's new Fasttrack--it is artistically pleasing.

dave v

[Anonymous]

I agree the black color was to make the center rail less noticeable. However, it would have been a better idea to match the color of the center rail to the color of the ties and narrow it a bit (ala Super O track) I guess that the Phantom track does look better than the std track for three rail operation but I really believe that Gargraves could have done a better job of making the center rail less conspicuous. Perhaps dark ballast is the way to go.

[garyseven]

Was the idea to be more like a shadow of one of the other rails?

[fjerome]

i think the idea was to be not shiny.

as i have mentoined elsewhere, i had to remove the black on atlas nickle/silver track before i could get good engine performance, especially across the switches.

[nitroboy]

FJ and G, if you have the ability to post pictures, could you post one of your track? I would like to see the wire and how it is hooked up.

Dave