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Is it true that the lack of an easy to acquire and use overhead or third rail electrical supply in model form, makes it unlikely that electric locos and MU's will ever sell strongly in the UK?

I am sceptical, for the simple reason that having seen a fair number of privately owned, typically family European mainland layouts, although electric traction is a commonplace, the overhead lines are rarely modelled. It's just too vulnerable on a layout used by children; and even where it is an 'adult' layout with good attention to scenics, the most you might see are the masts on the far side from the operator position. Exhibition layouts are a different matter: but we should never forget these are a very small percentage of all layouts built.

 

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QUOTE (alastairq @ 17 Aug 2007, 21:16) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>thanks for following on my queue elsewhere..
My brain clearly wasn't fully in gear when I picked up your question, otherwise I would have mentioned the source, and posted this in 'station concourse' as this is a scale independent issue.

Regarding overhead, when I have seen it done well, as in the photo Doug provided, it is very impressive. And it does encourage adoption of a lineside viewing position: (that happens to be my preference so I am biassed, always build my layouts high so that when seated I get a side on view.)

As for 3rd rail (comments also apply to 4th rail as in UK underground practise), done well it adds much. Based on a conversation of many years ago with the exhibitors of an SR lines third rail layout, I don't think RTR 3rd rail is the way to go, unless very cleverly arranged. Their developed process was to lay the track as regular two rail, test it, ballast and weather. Then when everything was running satisfactorily they added the ready painted third rail elements piece by piece, with running checks for clearances as groups of pieces were added. This was all handbuilt track, soldered construction, and this process had been devised for two reasons. First, the strongest construction and best appearance was most easily obtained using the conductor rail in the longest possible lengths; adding the conductor rail later meant that it was easier to achieve this. Second, the presence of the conductor rail when laying, testing, ballasting and weathering was proven by experience to make all of these jobs more awkward; better to do it subsequently when these earlier jobs were all 'sorted'. I don't feel thats a complete obstacle to RTR: an included plug in length of conductor rail able to go into ready made holes in the sleeper ends might answer. Full length plain pieces with the insulator chairs threaded on but moveable with every length of flexi track, and a small assortment of ramps and short lengths in with each point, arguably in both boxed and plain forms might make a workable product. But I cannot help feeling that's barely a step away from what Peco already provide for anyone really wanting 3rd rail...

 

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Since no track manufacturer is willing to tool up for UK sleeper size and spacing RTR points in OO, chances of 3rd rail RTR have to be vanishingly small. As Brian wrote, this is down to the relatively small size of the UK model railway market.