3 years on YouTube...

[@ArcadiaJunctionHobbies]

As a lifelong HO/OO DC modeller who has taken the plunge (on the side) into Marklin AC M Track world I can't thank you enough for your videos providing this content in the english language.

[@The3rdRail]

Glad you find my broken English understandable 😀 Thanks for your time today.,

[@ArcadiaJunctionHobbies]

Your English is better than my German with an Irish accent! @@The3rdRail

[@turtlepowa]

Congrats on your 3 year anniversary

[@The3rdRail]

Thanks a lot!

[@JohnAdams-nr3sz]

I was an early subscriber and have enjoyed your videos over the past three year...well done!

[@The3rdRail]

Thank you very much for your ongoing support

[@lindaoffenbach]

Wonderful. We've discovered your channel via Helper searches as we were setting up our first layout with both historic and new material. We still have a long way to go but the vids, as well as the Fix Its, have been very helpful indeed, and most relaxing on top. The beauty of Märklin is that the system is simply the best worked out through time with a very high percentage of compatibility, convertibility and consistency. Even at the level of parts for locos, all is well thought through, available and high quality. Your collection is awesome amazing; what a delight of an assortment! Felicitations with your 3rd year and may it keep on flourishing.

[@The3rdRail]

Many thanks Linda, it pleases me to hear that the channel was as entertaining as it was useful to you. Many thanks for your ongoing support, happy modelling!

[@tfksworldofm]

Congratulations on the three year anniversary and for sharing your amazing collection with us!

[@The3rdRail]

a pleasure shared is doubled 😉🙏

[@pietrobonoli8658]

Thank you very much for your channel please go on for ever

[@The3rdRail]

That's a challenge 😉 thanks for fyour support.

[@michelcottier6370]

All the thanks to you for producing this program and for making it so enjoyable! Michel (a very recent new subscriber)

[@The3rdRail]

Welcome aboard! Glad you find the channel enjoyable, 🙏

[@CM-he8ni]

It is we that should thank you for your shared devotion and enthusiasm for this iconic hobby😁 The attention to details, history and explanations have I am sure, motivated many to rediscover the joy of Marklin. Cannot thank you enough for your input in my little layout and many others. It is always a joy to view your latest offering and I look forward to another 3 years Monsieur Marklin 😁

[@The3rdRail]

Thanks a lot!

[@marklinologe4685]

Congratulation, full of information and always interesting 👍

[@The3rdRail]

So nice of you

[@chriswade7470]

Congratulations. I find your channel very useful, as it’s in English. I do speak German but not very well. As most of the other people channels about Marklin are in German your channel is very useful to me.

[@The3rdRail]

Thanks, glad you find the channel useful, despite my broken english 😉

[@chriswade7470]

@@The3rdRail Your broken English is better than my mangled German 😬

[@FordGranada75]

Congratulations on three years of the third rail! I really enyoy watching all of your videos and some of the little helpers are really worth rewatching! I love your digital and wireless approach to controlling analog track and rolling stock, that's great!

[@The3rdRail]

Thanks very much for your praises, you are too kind.

[@patrickmurphy6775]

Thank you for the review. Your channel is one or the few I’ve stuck with. Your repair videos are the best.

[@The3rdRail]

Thanks for your ongoing support.

[@roguico]

Felicitaciones on su tercer aniversario. The 3rd rail is one of my favorite channel, I believe I’ve watched every single video you have produced. Keep going, I eagerly await each new one. Saludos, Rolando

[@The3rdRail]

Muchas gracias! Thank you for your ongoing support! Have a good weekend.

[@PAULHOLLAND-f6h]

Congratulations. As a relatively new subscriber I have found your channel of great help and inspiration as I slowly piece my Marklin collection together. I too have decided to go the analog and M track route for pretty much the same reasons as yourself. Frankly like the challenge of picking up an e-bay bargain and resurrecting it rather than buying new off the shelf.

[@The3rdRail]

Well, welcome aboard! Glad to read th channel is useful. Happy ebaying!

[@derbundesbahnandre8357]

Klasse Video wieder von Dir. Daumen hoch und weiter so. LG Andre. 🙋🏻‍♂️👍👍😁😁

[@The3rdRail]

Danke vielmals Andre! 🙏🙏🙏

[@nickmiras]

Your channel is an inspiration and reference point for those of us who remain lovers of Marklin's analog era. I often refer back to older videos to learn more about our hobby. I also hope for an explanatory video of the WIFI function of your layout. Thanks for all. Greetings from Greece. Nikos Moiras.

[@The3rdRail]

Glad you find the channel useful. I covered the WiFi stuff in the past but no one watched the videos, so i deleted them...

[@nickmiras]

I missed that particular video. Maybe now with the increase in viewers there will be new people interested in the topic. Maybe you should rethink it and upload it again?

[@The3rdRail]

I'd have to do new videos as the old ones are gone now... I'll have a think about it for a future video, what aspect(s) are you particularly interested in?

[@kurtamstutz5348]

Congratulations on your birthday. I have been watching your excellent videos from the first one. Many thanks for your contribution to the hobby.

[@The3rdRail]

Thanks Kurt, much appreciated

[@ModelTrainFun]

Congratulations on 3 years - great channel an I always look forward to seeing a new video. I do modern Märklin and your channel is a fresh insight into the history of Märklin. Not to forget your little helpers and fix it videos which still applies today. Thanks for all your videos. Enjoy ;-) Bo

[@The3rdRail]

Thank you very much! Thanks for your ongoing support.

[@ModelTrainOutsider]

Congratulations!! My channel celebrated 5 yesterday as a YT spot. Great background for us new subscribers on your channel. I am learning to love the old stuff, even as I run the newest ones. You have a brilliant channel and fun to watch!

[@The3rdRail]

Thanks a lot, old or new, what matters is the enjoyment.

[@kmmck]

Thank you 🙏

[@The3rdRail]

You’re welcome 😊

[@maxj0930]

Three years of 3 Rails! Well done! As another 60+ years old Märklìn modeler, I am happily subscribed to your delightful channel!

[@The3rdRail]

😀 Thanks for your kind words, glad you enjoy the channel.

[@jefferyfarrell]

Well done on providing such a great channel over the last 3 years. I have watched every one of your videos in their entirety and always look forward to the next one. Your videos convinced me to get my locos out which were collected by my grandfather, father and myself to share with my kids. They gave me the confidence to service them and now have more locos running than when i was a child. They arent as tidy as yours but they are mine :-). Ive also copied your relay design (to a point) and have made a fully automated system and now am looking to teach myself some programming as i will also implement wireless control like you have. Keep up the great work and i look forward to seeing what comes in the future.

[@The3rdRail]

So nice of you, glad you enjoy the channel and that your vintage beauites are back to do what they do best.

[@jordyvt08]

Congratulations! I’ve recently got my model trains from the attic a few weeks ago, and then when I was looking for some more information, I found your channel, and it helped a lot! It even made me want to get a catenary system for my track! I really love your layout as well and I hope mine will someday be just as beautiful. I hope you keep uploading and giving more tips and trick for many more years to come!

[@The3rdRail]

Thank you very much!

[@jordyvt08]

@@The3rdRail you are very welcome!

[@russellbenton2987]

Thankyou for the explanation . Not a luddite at all if you can design that level of automation ! its interesting in that I came to a similar conclusion. My railway , which is UK based, was trying to emulate latest practices etc . But eventually I decided what I really wanted is to capture my boyhood ie transits from Trang, Tri-ang Hornby and Hornby, so that's basically how my layout turned out . I always had an interest in Swiss and German models , although never did anything about it .....until now ! A really interesting channel . Thanks for publishing

[@The3rdRail]

Rule 1: They are my trains, and I do want I want with them...

[@stephanedelaval6525]

Bravo et merci pour le canal. Amusant, je ne savais pas que tu avais fait un tour sur le digital avant de revenir en analogique. Par nostalgie det souvenir, mais si c’est général pour les fans de l’analogique, l’analogique disparaîtra-t-il un jour ? Bravo pour l’enrichissement train + électronique + microcontrôleur. Le raspberry et les esp sont une sacré révolution pour le hobby et l’informatique personnelle. Peut être publier les schémas des pcb, du code, etc. comme 5e thème ? Un petit coin purement électronique et informatique vu toute ta connaissance. Vive le 3rd rail et longue vie à la chaîne !

[@The3rdRail]

On en apprend tous les jours 😀 J'avais fait un coin electronique au départ de la chaine, mais cela n'avait pas généré beaucoup d'intérêt. Merci pour ta visite aujourd'hui, cela me fait plaisir.

[@ptonpc]

Happy anniversary!

[@The3rdRail]

Thank you!

[@danmarklinman]

Super channel, keep it up mate 🙏🙏🙏

[@The3rdRail]

Thank you 🙌

[@tomsmaerklintrainlayout6742]

Congrats on your success and great information you haved shared over the past years. Your channel is also very entertaining and has helped me to find items I absolutely needed for me rekindled passion in model trains.

[@The3rdRail]

Thanks so much!

[@odedka76]

Thank you so much for this and Bravo!

[@The3rdRail]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@caveymon]

Most enlightening video. I've been enjoying your videos as a recent subscriber. Particularly the analog block control. You've peaked my interest with your esp8266 wifi controllers. I've noticed from the video that you're running Tasmota on it. Could you shed some more light on your circuit designs in a future video? It's funny also to see how you started out anew in the hobby with a pure digital layout, moved back to analog, and slowly digitised the block and turnout sections of your track :D Homegrown digital control, with analog running.

[@The3rdRail]

Welcome on board! Yep, I use tasmota among other things. The idea was to be able to add funcitonality without having to grow the wire spagetthi ☺️ I first looked at using model railway control software in combination with my control boards, but I found the interface of all packages to be far too complex (and messy!) for my needs, so I looked for something else, and stumbled across NodeREd by accident. My earliest videos were about the topic of ESP8266/tasmota/nodered/MQTT... After 2 years, they had about 50 views, so I deleted them... I get asked about sharing the designs and code from time to time, and, every time, I find myself in the position of having to do something I don’t like doing, which is to decline. There are various reasons for this, but in a nutshell: - there is a question of liability, I am not trained engineer, so would not want to cause a fire anywhere - the current circuit/PCB designs do not include modifications I had to make on the fly - the application I wrote is not in a shape where it can be set-up with a few clicks Given the above, if I were to share anything at this point, it would most likely cause a heavy support overhead I am not a position to take on, as well as frustration for all parties involved. I have been thinking about putting something together that would remedy this, but I haven’t found the time to convert anything into action so far. Basically, it would involve having a professional review my designs, and put together a version of the boards people could order directly from PCB manufacturers either as blanks with a parts list or ready assembled modules. The code would need a bit of work too, so that it becomes a plug and play affair… To be continued…

[@caveymon]

@@The3rdRail thanks for your elaborate reply! I understand, that's ok. I was just more interested in a more in depth talk about your DIY electronics setup, which you actually gave in this video. And very opportunistic I'd be interested in your schematics. So don't worry about declining :D That's your prerogative. Analysing your close-up shots of your pcb's, I'd say you're using optocouplers, and some GPIO's to connect the switching paths for the turnouts and signals? Shouldn't be too hard for me to figure out. I like to dabble with KiCAD and JLCPCB and designing my own PCBs. Not often, but it's a nice extra hobby.

[@The3rdRail]

my diy electronics setup is as basic as it gets: 1 cheapo multimeter, and a cheapo soldering iron, that's it... No oscilloscope in sight I am afraid :-)

[@Jon-l3n]

Lovely channel! Perfect lengths, to the point in a good tempo and most of all interesting technical knowledge. I have learned alot from this channel. One topic I would like to see is old M-track repairs. I have bought 2nd hand tracks and even if I have high hopes of fixing the bad ones I sometimes wonder when bad is too bad, or what the best way to fix them are. Any insights, or should one always aim to buy good rails? I am soft, I want to save/repair what most throw away.

[@The3rdRail]

Thank you very much! "Bad ones" can mean a lot of things... If you could be more specific I'll see if I can put something together at some point.

[@jon-andersson]

Thank you for your reply! I have experienced bent, squeezed and dirty tracks. The solutions seems quite obvious; bend them back, tune the metal sheet for correct height and then clean with isopropanol. Also some connectors seems loose with increased resistance as a result. Some work with pliers is the solution. So even if I do think I have the answer for the relative simple tracks I am interested in your input when the effort just isnt worth it. The more interesting tracks are switches. I only use short 0-3-0 locos and they can loose connection on a switch while running slow. The track shoe is important, but as some switches work better than some I wonder what I can do to improve a switch. When is a more complex piece like a switch not worth the effort? Maybe this isn't worth an episode in itself but maybe a sidenote or comment can fit into some topic?

[@The3rdRail]

I'll bear this in mind as a topic, thanks for the clarification.

[@kleinerfisch13]

The thing with digital sound takes away the fun of playing, I use digital locomotives but no sound, the metal strips make enough sound, and it's a lot more fun, and yes the cars and locomotives from the 80s and 90s are very good, I have some too 60s and 70s they are still running, ------------------------------ Original Text -->Das mit digitalem Sound nimmt einem den Spaß am Spielen, ich benutze digitale Loks aber kein Sound, die Metallleiste machen genug Sound, und es macht viel mehr Spaß, und ja die Wagen und Loks aus 80er und 90 sind sehr gut, habe auch welche aus 60er, und 70er die laufen immer noch,,

[@The3rdRail]

They are just different things, related but not comparable. Fun can be had in different ways 😉 thanks for the visit, Gruß mach Berlin!