Trains.com

Rail size idea

1069 views
9 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    August 2003
  • 6,434 posts
Rail size idea
Posted by FJ and G on Monday, June 14, 2004 11:36 AM
An old book I once read advocates using O tubular track for the mainline and 027 for spurs or branchlines on the same layout. I don't think this topic has ever been brought up and I was wondering if anyone has tried this.

Using different color ballast to signify spurs or light track would be the other technique.

Dave Vergun
  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: St Paul, MN
  • 6,218 posts
Posted by Big_Boy_4005 on Monday, June 14, 2004 12:13 PM
I think it's more trouble than it's worth. There aren't even a lot of 2 railers that bother to switch rail sizes. It isn't something that the average persin even notices, it's sort of one of those rivet counter things.[swg]
  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Watkinsville, GA
  • 2,214 posts
Posted by Roger Bielen on Monday, June 14, 2004 12:19 PM
The main advantage to the O27 would be the tighter curves, especially in an industrial setting.
Roger B.
  • Member since
    August 2003
  • 6,434 posts
Posted by FJ and G on Monday, June 14, 2004 12:58 PM
"There aren't even a lot of 2 railers that bother to switch rail sizes."

--------------------------

Most of the layouts I see in MR use Code 83 for mainlines and 55 or 70-something for branch.

Incidentally, the book I'm referring to was a toy train book (not hi-rail); so this technique is not something for just the rivet counters.

dav
  • Member since
    November 2003
  • From: Sandy Eggo
  • 5,608 posts
Posted by dougdagrump on Monday, June 14, 2004 1:57 PM
I can't remember who it was but I'm sure I have seen some forum members here that do this. [%-)]

Remember the Veterans. Past, present and future.

www.sd3r.org

Proud New Member Of The NRA

  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: St Paul, MN
  • 6,218 posts
Posted by Big_Boy_4005 on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 4:14 PM
Yes Dave, I've seen them too. But I still say that that practice is by far in the minority, even though it is common among layouts featured in the magazines. It is certainly not a practice for beginners, or those who are not extremely serious about accuracy. I consider myself very serious, but wouldn't consider doing it on my layout. For me, it's Gargraves all the way, the end. There are a lot more important details that visitors would notice and understand better.

Maybe what I'm thinking of as it relates to 2 rail is the fact that, until fairly recently, to have different sized rails you had to hand lay your track. Now there is flex track available in a variety of sizes. I understand that the book you saw was about toy trains, when was it published 40's, 50's? It was way ahead of it's time. [swg]
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 5:01 PM
Mixing apples and oranges as it were is a bit weird. I am having enough "fun" using O everywhere. I can't imagine having the height difference problem.
  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: West coast, USA
  • 356 posts
Posted by rlplionel on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 12:14 AM
I use O and O27 parallel tracks on the lower level of my layout. The O27 fits very nicely inside of the O track on curves, so I can space the tracks closer together. Here's a picture of both tracks. The O track is raised a bit using Vinylbed track bed to give it a mainline look:

http://home.surewest.net/rlplionel/Photo13.htm
  • Member since
    April 2004
  • From: Holland
  • 1,404 posts
Posted by daan on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 3:59 AM
I ordered some Lionel rails from someone and it appeared to be 027. It is a bit smaller than the 0 stuff, but comes in other lengths, so I use 0 and 027 mixed to avoid 1001 different small pieces of track to fill out the small gaps on the station.
Holes for the connecting pins have to be made smaller/ bigger to get it fit..
Daan. I'm Dutch, but only by country...
  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Austin, TX
  • 10,096 posts
Posted by lionelsoni on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 9:32 AM
Daan, if the straights are 8 7/8 inches (225 mm) long, instead of 10 inches (254 mm), they are O27. If they are 11 1/8 inches (283 mm), they are O34, which is Marx's wide-radius track, using the same profile as O27.

Bob Nelson

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

FREE EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month