# 027? HO? What have I gotten myself into!



## amckenzie4 (Dec 25, 2011)

Hey folks.

Well, once again it's December, and the old Lionel 027 box was staring accusingly at me from the shelf next to the Christmas ornaments. So I set it up, and thought "Huh... NOW I remember why I kept meaning to pull this out and do something with it! This is FUN!"

The question is... I have this older set. Details on that in a second. Technically it belongs to my mother, but since my folks live in an RV at the moment, she's not going to complain if I set it up. Should I stick with that and set it up, or go spend a couple hundred dollars on a basic HO set and build from there?

Now, about the set: It's the old Lionel "Grand Trunk Western" box set, with some add-ons. I have four remote switches (the old "non-derailling" ones, which they appear to still make). Three of those work perfectly, the fourth only works for switching in one direction. I've opened it up as much as is practical, and all the connections seem solid. I'll dig out the voltmeter sometime soon and try to track down where the problem is, but I doubt it's going to be fixable. There's a reasonable amount of track, too, including a 90 degree cross, and bunch of straight and curved pieces. Right now it's set up in a space around 6'x3', and there's more track I didn't use. (See the pictures for what's set up -- I have a bunch more cars as well, but they didn't fit between switches with this layout.)

I'm looking for around a 4'x8' setup, for the moment -- that's all the space I can spare right now. Clearly an HO will fit more "stuff", but, well, the O is what I have and has a family history.


As a side note, the family history: My mother, when she was young, really wanted an electric train, but her father refused to get her one because she was a girl. She told my father the story, and he bought her train parts for the first few Christmases after they were married. Whether I set it up or not, this is a train that will never be showing up on ebay or a yard sale!


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

It is up to you to decide?


Here is a site with basic plans for all sizes, has a bunch of helpful articles for all.

http://www.thortrains.net/

Fun layouts for 4x8, http://www.thortrains.net/marx/funlay71.html

The bigger the better if you have the space.
But don't be afraid to ask here if you need to know.

Merry Christmas.


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## amckenzie4 (Dec 25, 2011)

big ed said:


> It is up to you to decide?
> 
> 
> Here is a site with basic plans for all sizes, has a bunch of helpful articles for all.
> ...


Heh. Fair enough. I suppose I was mostly asking for opinions -- how much am I limiting myself by sticking with the 027 train, and what might I not have considered yet. 

Thanks for the links -- I'll spend some time poking through them!

And Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and happy Sunday to the rest.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Since you have the train already, I'd set it up. It's not like you're making life decisions here, you can always change horses if you later decide that's what you want to do.


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

Little girls have all the right to train sets! Women worked the high iron during WW2! I may be a guy, but I believe that if more women got into trains, the world would be a better place!!! Not a Lionel girls set, but actual trains!!!

In my view on the O27/O Guage vs. HO, it's up to you!!! I do both (but the O27 only comes out at Christmas, as a Sophmore HS student, it's easier to do HO in my life!). You need to decide what you desire to do. God bless and happy modeling!


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## amckenzie4 (Dec 25, 2011)

trainguru said:


> Little girls have all the right to train sets! Women worked the high iron during WW2! I may be a guy, but I believe that if more women got into trains, the world would be a better place!!! Not a Lionel girls set, but actual trains!!!
> 
> In my view on the O27/O Guage vs. HO, it's up to you!!! I do both (but the O27 only comes out at Christmas, as a Sophmore HS student, it's easier to do HO in my life!). You need to decide what you desire to do. God bless and happy modeling!


No argument here! When my folks settle down somewhere again, I hope to pass the trains back to my mother, but until then, I plan to keep it going for her.

I think I'm going to go with what I have for now... If I carve a stream into the table I'm building, it'll just be a river if I switch to HO!

This should be interesting... I'm taking a page from the tabletop wargame community (I was into Warhammer, by Games Workshop, for quite a few years), and building with a solid base (3/4" OSB) with the foam top cut into 1" squares. That should let me re-arrange the table easily if I decide a hill or pond needs to be moved! I'm figuring one good cross-table water feature, and maybe a low hill at one end of the table.

Time to get out the impact driver and hot wire foam cutter again!


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