027 gone crazy in small space

[Anonymous]

I've always been limited by small rooms. Luckily, the Lionel 027 stuff my dad started getting me in the 50's, and the old Ives set his dad got him, fit nicely on 3' by 15' ish "L" shaped module layout holding 'bout 70' of Gargraves stainless. Small room meaning bed and stuff included. Always been able to sit on bed to work trannies and switches. Hinged sections to allow access to closets. etc... Used to have trundle bed under layout for when my son visited in summers. (had to put up with his rewiring tricks). Having to pack the most track and accessories into smallest areas, I squeezed the 027 turns down to even tighter radius with 1/8" clearences in turns between longest car corners on parallel mainlines and sidings. Had to remove covers from switches for clearance but makes for realistic hardware. Wall to wall scale landscape with mts. and water features, figures, trees, backdrop etc.. My baby-boomer dream resurected in the early 90's. Took awhile to re-collect parts from 4 siblings, but finally was able to spend hundreds of hours assembling first real layout in Hawaii, only to have roof blown off house in hurricane Iniki. Saved engines and rolling stock, but even stainless ages underwater. Sawed it in half for storage (that's when it became modular - now has Molex connectors) and moved it to a new house here in Washington couple years ago. It's still bedside, which allows for midnite inspirational additions SO.............................
LOOKING for #2434 Newark and #2436 Summit Silver/red Pullman Cars in Excellant condition to complete set for inside passenger mainline. Any other 027 buffs out there??? [e-mail]

[Dave Farquhar]

I love O27, although I'm lucky enough to have enough space for an 8x8 layout, so I don't have any O27 curves on it (O27 profile O34 and O42 curves with O27 straights). I started with Dad's postwar Lionel O27 from the '50s, and I've added pretty much whatever I could find, with a preference for stuff made of tin. At this point I probably have more Marx than anything else.

[Frank53]

QUOTE: Originally posted by peterkel



LOOKING for #2434 Newark and #2436 Summit Silver/red Pullman Cars in Excellant condition to complete set for inside passenger mainline. Any other 027 buffs out there??? [e-mail]

O-27 cars fit my layout under construction better, particularly passenger car. Took me a while to assemble this four car set:



now starting to look for the red stripe cars . . .

[Jumijo]

O27 all the way, in our house.

Jim

[Dr. John]

I love O-27! I have a good bit of Lionel and some Marx that I enjoy running. I love how you can get a fun, operating layout in a very small space. In fact, I'll be starting on a 30 inch door layout shortly until I have the space ready for a larger layout.

[lionelsoni]

Those were the first Lionel cars I had, as a kid. I saved my money and bought them, one-by-one. (They were new then.) I butchered the Summit trying to make a freight-car coupler truck work on the end of that observation car. I much later was able to replace the shell. I also found a Mooseheart, which is what Lionel inexplicably changed the observation car's name to. If you find that before you find a Summit, it is just as much a part of the set.

[pbjwilson]

Every once in awhile my kids and I go nuts on the living room floor, O-27 and HO.

[Anonymous]

Wow. This works great. Just hearing from you guys 'bout your trains really makes me smile. I'm new to this forum stuff, so I don't really know if, or how, to respond individually, or how to get my pictures up. YET! Maybe just talkin is where it's at.
Frank53 - I want those cars... and that layout is exactly how mine progressed. One mainline, and then dream section by section, envisioning the rest as you go.
lionelsoni - I'd have to try just like you did and add a coupler to one of the observation cars to get all 5 rollin. Does the Mooseheart have red lettering also? Seems so finite to have a car with one coupler tho. Like a work caboose. I always want to keep adding on to see what the engines are capable of pulling. Stick an extra double ended caboose in the middle of a long train.
Just went through the Walthers catalog pickin out bunches of little trackside extras. Pallets, bedframes, racoons in trashcans, potbellied stove, toilet, crates, chairs, old transmission, etc... If there's an empty spot, I gotta fill it.

[lionelsoni]

The Mooseheart looks just the same as the Summit and even has the same number. Here is more about it:
http://www.postwarlionel.com/cgi-bin/postwar?ITEM=2436

I don't recommend trying to add that rear coupler.

[cnw1995]

I am very happy running 027 too - in a fairly large layout. I really kind of 'fell into' it because that's the track that came with my first train set - though I've fit in a few standard O sections of track in there too. It is wonderful for a small space.