# Just purchase a O Scale Lionel Train Set



## tony dii (Sep 21, 2009)

I just purchased a 0 Scale Train Set for my son and I'm planning
on custom installing up on a ceiling/wall shelf. I'm certainly gonna
have lots of questions but I have one already..









The train set comes with Fastrack system. I think 40 x 60. We'll obviously I'm gonna need alot more. That stuff is expensive and you wont really even see the track on the shelf. Is there something more reasonable or should I just bite the bullet and stick with that system. Little confused.

Thanks


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

I would use the regular track.


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## Boston&Maine (Dec 19, 2007)

Yea, just get some Lionel tubular track...


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I agree.......,
Yea, just get some Lionel tubular track...

Unless you got money to blow.
Maybe a tall person like me would see it.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Welcome to the forum. 
You should go with O track. O 27 will work too.Use the long straight pieces. The track will have to be screwed down. You may what to use a potentiometer (Like a volume control)to govern the speed so it doesn't turn into a missle. Pay attention to the radius of the curve.The larger the better but on a shelf it means a bigger shelf. It would be nice to know the curve in the picture.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Hey t-man where would one get a" potentiometer" ? 

Did they make one of these? 
I have never heard of one.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Well the Pot is a variable resistor. radio shack would be the place for purchase The theory is to place a resistance on the track feed to prevent excess speed of the loco. A volume pot would have the range to limit it. It was a just an idea. The concept is to governor the throttle. I guess I wil have to go to the planning board. The paisley site discussed a speed control with diodes. Each diode causes a voltage drop of .7 volts. 6 diodes drop 4.2 volts enough to put an edge on the peak speed at 16 to 18 volts. The problem is to regulate the top speed from a transformer.

Another idea is to use a rheostat for a light switch and tie it between the plug and transformer. This could get interesting and cause some damage.

Hold off on that idea till it is proven.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

OK, I thought that maybe Lionel or someone once sold one of these.
I had never heard of one being marketed.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Actually in Prewar Era, Lionel marketed a Rheostat . I am not sure exactlly what they used it for. It may be in one of the catalogs in the late 30's 

For now the Red tape on the transformer will have to mark the safety speed.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I got a couple of the Lionel rheostats.
A rheostat generally functions as the throttle by controlling the voltage which reaches the track. 

A copy and paste about a set from 1934...........

What's different is the transformer. This particular set didn't come with one -- you had to buy it separately. The one in the box featured a sliding dial, along with a Lionel rheostat. At the time, toy train transformers were basically a series of posts with contacts on the top of the transformer box. You slid the dial from one post to the next to complete the circuit. Each post provided a different amount of constant power.

If you tried running a toy train with it, the effect was pretty much like driving by either jamming on the brake or the gas pedal – no inbetween. In order to have a continuous increase from low to high power, you set the level of current from the transformer, and then fed it through the rheostat and then to the track.

Very crude by today’s standards, but state-of-the-art in 1934!

I never knew what it was really for too.


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## Kassandra (Mar 12, 2010)

I agree with Chiefmcfuz, I think it is better that you use normal tracks only.
It will cost you a lot less. 
Any way the tracks won’t be seen if they are on the ceiling.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

T-Man said:


> Welcome to the forum.
> You should go with O track. O 27 will work too.Use the long straight pieces. The track will have to be screwed down. You may what to use a potentiometer (Like a volume control)to govern the speed *so it doesn't turn into a missle*. Pay attention to the radius of the curve.The larger the better but on a shelf it means a bigger shelf. It would be nice to know the curve in the picture.


Is that a bad thing?  

Picture lying in bed at night, sound asleep...and the kid sneaks out and fires up ICBM Railways, Inc.! You wake up to a roaring freight train coming at you at 3 am and no point of reference to remind you that it's a toy! That's Alfred Hitchcock terrritory! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I did get a rheostat but haven't tried it yet.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Tony,

Welcome to the forum, and we're thrilled that you and your family are jumping in (or up!) to this neat shelf layout. Best of luck.

T-Man ...

Naive comment here, but if he wires the loop of track with a few Lockons (or equivalent) spaced evenly around the track, then won't the voltage be distibuted pretty evenly throughout, making his transformer throttle control pretty "smooth and regular" around the whole perimeter? I.e., negate (or bypass) the resistance voltage-drop of the track, itself?

Set me straight, T-Man ..

TJ


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Yes but it is an old post. All you do is run the engine around and find where it slows. Add the lock on or the ED squeese can trick on /into the rail. It is not a big deal . By the way the question has been asked they think something may fry or something. The interesting thing, is the electrical connection between the engine and the transformer. It will always take the least resistance. So halfway around the circle the current switches to the shortest distance. If it goes around to the left at midpoint the current goes to the right instead of the left. Anyway, the potential for currrent is always there on the track. Just my theory to explain the drops.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Ahh ... I missed the date of the original (old) post. Sorry 'bout that.

T-Man ... thanks for explanation, above. I like your "current switches direction" description ... makes good sense. Did you hang out with Nicholas Tesla in a former life?!?

TJ


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

No I just answer a lot of questions. I didn't mention the two rails either. The outer rail grounding the current until it goes to the other side, the ground must tweek to the inner rail and then back to the outer rail.


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## ogauge47 (Nov 6, 2009)

O-27 tubular. cheaper and less noisy as O tubular


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

ogauge47 said:


> O-27 tubular. cheaper and less noisy as O tubular



Less noisy then O track?

I never heard that before. 
I would think tube track is tube track. 
What makes the O/27 less noisy?


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## juststartingout (Jan 2, 2011)

Here's a pic of my double track shelf on 7-1/2" wide boards









The inside track is 042 radius and the outside is 054


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