Scott, Others far more knowledgeable will chime in, but in the meantime:
American Models and S Helper Service build only two-rail S gauge equipment. Maybe your reference to ³3 rail² is a typo, don¹t know. I make enough of them myself :) Both AM and SHS are just now getting back up to speed, or soon will be, in the production of their offerings. They both lost their manufacturing partner in China. There is a lot of their equipment out there. Scenery Unlimited produces an S catalog that lists hundreds of S manufacturers and resources, but not many offer engines. River Raisin makes some beautiful, scale brass engines. Two Flavors of American Flyer: The original A. C. Gilbert version production stopped in 1966 I believe (Flyer gurus will be more specific). There is a lot of that out there. Find it on eBay, in the S Gaugian magazine, train shows. The other type of American Flyer is that produced by Lionel, beginning I believe in maybe the late 1980¹s or early 1990¹s. The production has been sporadic. IMHO, some of the stuff has been excellent in terms of fidelity to scale, although only a very few items have been presented as what an S scale modeler would want in terms of wheels and certain details. Many have experienced operating problems with the newer ³Flyonel² as some are want to call it. BTW, for the first time since Gilbert ceased production, American Flyer by Lionel will have it¹s very OWN, separate catalog, sometime in the fall. We shall see if Lionel expands its S scale offerings. AM and SHS have produced many items that are very close to prototype, especially SHS. Their Consolidation engine is absolutely terrific: True to scale, at least plenty close enough for me, and is a very smooth runner. I have two and double-headed they are a real crowd catcher. AM engines and rolling stock may be purchased with scale or hi-rail AF compatible wheelsets. SHS engines are available with either scale wheels or AF compatible. SHS rolling stock comes with hirail wheelsets attached but includes scale wheels. Roy Inman From: Scott <[email protected]> Reply-To: S-Scale <[email protected]> Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:50:14 +0000 To: S-Scale <[email protected]> Subject: {S-Scale List} Scale vs AF confusion Hi all. My name is Scott Huston and I am guilty of rubber gauging because I can't find a good balance between size vs room I have available. I keep coming back to the notion of S scale because its large enough for me to scratch build buildings and scenery while having a small enough footprint to fit the room I have. I have looked at the S scale model railroading homepage and see they list 2 outlets for trains, American Models and S Helper. My confusion comes from the fact it appears they are both AF compatible or 3 rail. The only other S Scale I can find is Lionel's AF S gauge stuff. Are any of these manufacturers producing accurate 1'64th scale steam locomotives and rolling stock? If not...who does? I am not a rivet counter and don't need a hundred little details on my rolling stock but I do want it to be to scale. Any advise would be very welcome. Almost forgot to ask, What is the fundamental difference between American Flyer and other S scale offerings? Thanks for your time, Scott Huston, Las Vegas NV
