0 and 027 cars

[Anonymous]

Will the 0 gauge cars work with 027. I know some other loco's for 0 won't work on 027. But will all the 0 gauge cars work on 027?
Thanks, MarxSantaFe

[lionelsoni]

No. For example, the extruded-aluminum passenger cars will hit the O27 switch machines.

[brianel027]

It's not so much the 027 curve that's the problem, but the oversized switch boxes on the Lionel 027 switches that are! Most of the typical "traditionally" sized cars are not a problem: Lionel and K-Line 9-11 inch long cars fro example. The problem with some of the cars is that they are also wider, not just longer. The older non-scale cars were usually 2-2.25 inches wide. Now they can be 2.5-2.625 wide.
Some examples of new things that will clear the Lionel 027 switch:
MTH Railking operating dump car
MTH Railking PS-2 hopper
K-Line scale welded steel box car
Lionel and Williams 027 streamlined passenger cars
MTH Railking box car* (though it does rub against the housing very slightly - repeated running might rub color off car or put marks on it)
*Same goes for the K-Line steamliner passenger cars though they may fare better with the K-Line switches.
Anything made by Industrial Rail
All 6464 type box cars, all 6800 type flat cars
All shorter 027 cars: 5000 series by K-Line, 9000 series by Lionel MPC
Hi-cube box car by Lionel MPC

The housing on the K-Line 027 switch is also oversized. But clearance may be better. K-Line has supposedly redesigned the 027 switch housing and made it much smaller! YEAH! But I have yet to actually see any of these switches for sale either. The other option is to use either Gargraves switches with your 027 track or to look for the older all metal base 027 manual switch which has a turn indicator but no housing to deal with or the black plastic base 1950's vintage Lionel manual switches which have a small box with an indicator arrow.
Also some have cut corners and or sanded down parts of the Lionel 027 switch housing so that some of the cars that rub against the housing don't.

brianel, Agent 027

An afterthought, I altered the height of my Railking box cars by lowering them on the frame. They may have cleared before my alteration. My PS-2 hopper has also been altered heightwise but still clears. My K-Line scale box cars have also been shortened heightwise but still clear. On my layout I eliminated the 027 switch box completely. I checked the cars on my nephews layout which has some 027 switches in original condition.

[lionelsoni]

Some other modifications:

Removing things below the floor that hit the switch machine: I raised my Williams EL heavyweights very slightly. I removed my Train Master's fuel tank. I sawed off the skirts of a Lionel Amtrak baggage car. (The prototypes don't have them anyway.)

Moving the center bearings (truck pivots) closer together: I moved my Railking Amtrak Superliners' center bearings just inboard of the inner axles. I cut off the end platforms of a Lionel 16-wheel flatcar and remounted them on the span bolsters, and moved the main center bearings off the span bolsters and onto the inner trucks.