# Track :)



## grizzlypaugh (Dec 25, 2010)

I have had a couple boxes of track that i got 10 years ago it was old and crusty and i never bothered cleaning so never used it well im getting back into the hobby because i now have the money, well new track is expensive so i got out the boxes and spent 4 hours scrubbing them with a scotch bright pad and hitting them with WD40 and counted and sorted them all and came to find out i have

88, 10'' pieces
66, 42" radius curve pieces im pretty sure that they are 42" they are the sharper turning turns.
16, 54" radius curve they are the less sharper turning one, so i think they are 54"
3, 4" straight
5, 90 degree crossing, and one of them is really old 020 made in New York.

So now i just need to get started with getting some ply wood and start making my layout. and i was thinking of getting into HO cause it seemed to be cheeper but O is SO much cooler lol


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## grizzlypaugh (Dec 25, 2010)

I want to get remote switches, now what remote switches should i be looking for that is best for my 0-27 track? And whats the different between O tubular http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Lionel-O-6-65500-O-Gauge-10-Straight-Track-p/lio-665500.htm

and this 0-27 http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/O-Scale-Lionel-O-27-Tubular-Track-s/2022.htm


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

O and 027 are both tubular track. O is 9/16th high and uses the better 022 switch. O27 is 5/16 (I think) and uses the 1122 switch. Used 022 switches are much better and recommended. So do you really have 027 or O. The O straight is ten inches and the 027 is shorter. I just can't find the link with the difference.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

O27 straight track is 9" long, exclusive of the pins. O is as you say, 10" long.


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## acwilli (Jan 29, 2009)

Cost should be your first consideration, What can you afford? 
What do you want the finished layout to look like? 
i.e. do you want to hide all the switches with shrubs etc or wire them from beneath? Do you have a track plan so you know how many turnouts you need? How many rights and how many lefts. If you know approximatley how many you need you can look for deals on e-bay etc for a large batch of them. Do you want to mix different types (brands)? Are you up to the task of rebuilding old ones or do you want to start fresh? These are just a few of the question to ask yourself.
Anyhoo, I'm rambling so I'll just add this one last thing. There are many good turnouts, some old some new. Your top question should be about the reliability of any given product.

thx aw


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Well, since the cost for O is not that much more than O27, and the switches are far superior, I'd go with O gauge over O27.


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## grizzlypaugh (Dec 25, 2010)

T-Man, thanks very much for the info i just looked and its all 027 so would a lionel 6-5133 not work? or is the older switches all O? I just would like to use quality switches so they dont cause derailment.

well i need to do some measurements in my garage but it will either be in the shape of a L or a C and is going to have a mountain in it and as far as the layout i do have a idea of what i want, and I plan to run the wires nicely under the board, and as for brands i am not to sure i would like to run all types i went to the local train shop for the first time in years the other day, and learned about the remote controller and all the different features it is really cool but it was a MTH brand and to do lionel you have to have the lionel remote and the remotes are like 300 where the controller that is stationary is 150 i think. But i would like one of those so i can run constant power to the track and just turn off and on the trains seems alot easyer way to run multiple trains. but my trains are not as sophisticated as all the new ones, mine are older and run by how much power you give to the track. i have 2 loco one really nice lionel 1666 steam, and one lionel diesel that came in my first train set. and i have a railking controller a nice one few years old. I would like to use my track i already have and just buy what i need.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Curves*

Thought I would post this picyture. An 027 curve,O curve 031, and another large maybe 072?


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

I would caution everyone against buying the new "022" switches. A few years ago there was a post on the trains.com forum about design problems with these switches. The old post war switches don't have this design problem, but they do need to be restored before they are used. The old 022 switches can be purchased cheap, like $7.50 each. The new ones are about $60 and have a design problem with the sliding contacts. The contacts erode very fast.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I have some of the new "022" switches, aka 5132/5133. They're all going on eBay when I get a chance, I agree with *servoguy *here.


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

John,
Some of the newer switches are OK, and some are not. If you check my post at http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/p/164691/1812172.aspx#1812172 I tell you some things to do to the newer switches to make them work properly. There are some tolerance problems with the lamp holder that allow the gears on the slider and lantern holder to disengage. If you switches have silver plating on the sliding contacts, they can be made to work as well as the old reliable 022s. 
Bruce


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

The newer switches with the brass sliding contacts burn out very fast. The brass is just plating on a circuit board and it can't stand the heat from the arcing of the contact. The post on trains.com suggested soldering a piece of brass onto the damaged contact to repair it. I would think that would work OK, but it still is not as good as the silver contacts in the older switches.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I have plenty of the 022 switches, so I'll just unload the newer ones, they go for more money anyway. I'll probably also unload the best looking (but no better performing) 022's as well, I don't mind if there's a bit of paint or a spot of rust for the layout. My plan all along was to get a bunch of them, overhaul them all, then sell some so that mine are free.


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## larry g (Oct 8, 2012)

*Similar Problems with 027 Modern Switches*

I run 027 because I grew up with it, got to like it, and had a lot of old stuff in good condition.

When I designed my layout a few years ago, I included a lot of modern non-derailing switches. (027 42" R, I think.) I ordered them on line from Charles Roe. When I tested them out for function, my modern 027 Santa Fe FT would not run on them. The switches were garbage. (I think I recall, it was the cheap plastic link arms and rivets to the movable rail, that were sloppy). I had to redesign the layout (which was all on AutoCAD) using 27" turnouts, and I bought all post war 1122 on Ebay. They all work like a charm, (except for one that I took apart and did not fix properly). 

I thought the wider turnouts would make sense, but there were none made in Post War for 027 track. The trains run incredibly better thru a Post War sharp 27" turnout, then they do thru a modern wider 42" turnout. 

I drove up to Boston, and Charles himself was a big jerk and would not return all the new switches to Lionel for a refund to me. He gave me a store credit only. It was the whole idea of not standing behind the product, as supposedly "the biggest" authorized dealer that made me feel ripped off. His attitude was cheap and pompous. :smilie_daumenneg:

After using up the store credit, I have never been back. I enjoy (Steve) Amatto's in New Britain CT :appl: and North East Trains in Peabody MA. :appl:

Much of that post war product, although maybe less detail, and bells and whistles, was really made during a time when toys were made to last. I have much love and respect for those toys, although I enjoy mixing in modern stuff as well.


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