Rookie Question.......I am starting the track planning stage of my layout (10' x 17') and I have some questions.
I want my layout to look like a traditional 1950's-60's track plan, whith the cool accessories ie sawmill, iceing station, milk unloading etc. With 3 possibly 4 loops of track
I was given about 100 feet of gargraves track. plus some tubular track.
My question is.....will the accessories work on the gargraves track or should I run a loop of gargraves on the outside & purchase more tubular track and keep the accessories on the tubular track?????
When it comes to electronic stuff the KISS (keep it simple stupid) method works best for me.
I'll have more questions later.
Thanks
Rob
Will the gargraves work with accessories? Yes, BUT you will have to modify the track. Is not difficult to do, but does require some work. You will have to add the activiation rail, there are instructions on how to do this, OGR has a very good video that explains how to. OR, you can also use the premade sectional activation track, Gargraves offers adapter pins to transistion to that one section of track. BTW both tracks are considered tubular. Hope this helps.
Welcome to the forum, and your questions are always welcome. ALL of them!
Don
There is infered sensers out there that look like a electic box that you could put near the track so it could trigger what ever you want trigered when a train goes by it. now most you were talking about milk, sawmill, and icing station can be run by the old pushbuttons thats how most were done back in the 50's and 60's pressure switches (143c ect) were mainly for crossing lights and gates the the watchman and maybe whistle/horn station but the latter 2 were normally push button also. and again I'm not sure why you couldn't get the presssure switches to work with gargraves with a little playing around you just couldn't nail it down tight there you would have to have it where it could move up and down a little for the pressure switch to do it thing.
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
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Rob,
I hope that you realize that Gargraves track has all three rails seperated electrically from each other, so what I am saying is that you must power up both outside rails or you can use one as an accessory activation section. Lionel has both outside rails making electrical contact, Gargraves don't do that and that will make a differance when you put in a switch with Gargraves track.
Don mentioned that Gargraves makes adapter pins, that is correct but only for 027 to Gargraves or O gauge tubular to Gargraves. Far as I know, I say this because there may be a new product, there are no adapters to mate up to Fastrac or Realtrax.
Lee F.
Gargraves does make both an uncoupling section and an unloader section, part # 107 & 108, these should work with any accessory that you would use.
Tony H
Welcome to the Forum, Tony.
Jack
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
If you need DZ Industry parts like the DZ1000 switch machine go to www.rossswitches.com just something about DZ Industry that they don't sell less than bulk quantities. Also Ross switches match Gargraves track very well & use Gargraves track pins as well.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
Thank you very much
I will be asking more questions
Not all hobby stores will have Gargraves track in stock, usually only the larger hobby stores will have Gargraves track in stock. Another not too well known item is the wood track ties that Gargraves sells, 100 to a bag.
You're on the right track (sorry - couldn't resist!) by planning and asking questions first.
From your list of accessories, you're interested in whether or not you can make operating cars operate with those accessories when using GG track. As noted by others, the answer is yes, but the operating cars don't work by using insulated track sections. They operate via uncoupling magnets or operating rails. Accessories that are operated by a passing train (gateman, crossing gate, block signal, etc) can be operated by an insulated rail.
Operating Cars. Many operating cars (e.g., late Postwar and current less-expensive dump cars) use a plunger on the bottom center of the car that is pulled down by a magnet. Typically, these cars need to be reset manually (push the dump bin back down). Other cars use "sliding shoes" on the trucks that are operated by accessory rails (e.g., milk car). With most of these cars, current goes from one shoe, through the operating mechanism on the car, and then through the other shoe. These cars typically reset automatically. With a few operating cars (barrel car, twin-bin dump car), current goes through both shoes, through the operating mechanism on the car, and then through the wheels to the outside rail. You can operate these cars with a regular operating track as long as only one shoe is touching an accessory rail, otherwise there will be a short.
Track. GarGraves track has the same rail height as Lionel O-27 track. I use 1/8" thick pink insulation foam as roadbed under my track, which raises the rail height to that of Lionel O-gauge track. If you want to mix GG track with tubular, check that they are the same height.
Your choice of operating track will depend on which operating cars you want to use. Cars with plungers need track only with a magnet ("uncoupling track"), while cars with sliding shoes need track with operating rails ("uncouple/unload" or "remote-control" track). The latter operating tracks usually include a magnet and are more expensive than an uncoupling track.
Operating Accessories. The main concern is placement of the operating accessory relative to the track. One issue is height relative to the car. Some accessories (e.g., milk platform) include a provision for O-gauge or O-27 track height. The icing station doesn't need an operating track, and mine worked fine with GG track and 1/8" roadbed, but check if your track will be O-27 height. The oil drum loader (one of my favorites) was originally designed for smaller American Flyer S-gauge gondolas; I had to shim mine higher to prevent the drums from hitting the side of the gondola. Another issue is placement of the magnet/accessory rails relative to the car. Some accessories are designed to fit under the track to position the accessory properly (milk car, horse car with corral). If you don't plan ahead, it can be a real pain to install one of these (DAMHIK).
Beyond KISS. You've got your layout up and running, then you find a "must-have" operating accessory. You know the perfect place for it, but there's no operating track there. You could rip up the track to install an operating track, or you could make one by installing a magnet, operating rails, or both, wherever you need them. The videos showing how to do this can be found here - http://www.ogaugerr.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?search=action&keywords=backshop - check Vol. 2 and Vol. 11. With cars like the barrel car, you only need to install one operating rail. You can even install magnets/operating rails on curves, although most accessories can't be positioned properly on curves.
I hope this helps with your planning - enjoy your trains!
Hi all
Great advice here.
I have a GG and 0-27 setup. I have most of the PW lionel accessories and they all work with GG tracks.
some items i would add though...I believe in KISS as well..but you need to know what you are in for.
1. The pressure activation sensors [that works with signals and the operating gateman] require you to play with the GG track ties to fit them into the space, but can be done. I have noticed that the older PW variety seem to work better with GG...maybe it just better quality and workmanship. You may want to go for the z-stuff ocr type activators that look like dwarf signals, that may work better overall
2. wiring GG is slightly different than 0-27. Lockons, nope. but you have a couple of choices. PUT THE POWER CONNECTION TO THE TRACK BEFORE YOU CONNECT ALL THE TRACKS TOGETHER...
I've done all types and i chose different methods as appropriate and as i learned more....i hate to solder and soldering after the track is laid has its own issues.
3. Assume you will have to cut track. GG is much easier to cut than lionel tubular.
4. Finally, otc tracks to uncuple/unload come in a variety of styles and sizes and location of the magets. If you have an accessory layout plan it will help you in putting in these tracks and buying the correct ones for you layout.
GG and Lionel co-exist fine and actually add a nice look.
Enjoy
Been to north Miami FL on saturday and saw a lot of differant style switches at Ready To Roll, not sure if they were all Gargraves or some were Ross switches, had curved switches with two different curve diameters. Also found Gargraves insulating pins.
One other thing about Gargraves track is that you can buy the 37.25 inch straight sections and cut it to fit your layout if needed, also Gargraves makes more curve sizes, 032 to 0120, than most other companies.
What gives with the 108-EM? I just purchased the Gargraves 108-EM unloader/uncouple and the document that comes with says it could damage the Lionel barrel loader car! That's not what I was going for. Anyone have a clue why this would be and is there anything I can do about besides sending to the tip (i.e. tossing it).
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