Postwar GG1 or FM handle 0-27 track?

[lionel2986]

I am building a new layout and just about finished the table. I have some O track and much more O-27. I prefer the O-27 but am looking at getting a Pennsylvania GG-1 or Lackawanna FM in the future. Does anyone here run either engine on O-27 track, or could check if they work on O27 circles? I am thinking of selling my O track and sticking to the O27 because I think it looks better.

[mpzpw3]

I think both engines will run on O-27 profile track, and I think the GG-1 will navigate O-27 curves. I'm not sure about the FM. I have O-31 curves in a few spots, and the FM looks terrible going through them, so I can only guess what it would look like on O-27 curves, if it is even possible. Have you considered using O-42 curves with the O-27 profile? That seems like a good choice, but I don't know what your space requirements are. Marx made some O-42 curves and is quite plentiful around here, and I'm sure could be found on e-bay quite cheap. Hope this helps.

[chuck]

FM's almost 17" long.  The interior wheelsets of both trucks are "blind" but I don't think it can handle true O-27 curves.

[otftch]

They will both run on 027 track,but the FM will not negotiate an 027 turnout.It will go through straight but not the turn.I cut one down and converted it to a Baby trainmaster so it can.(there is a picture of it at http://community.webshots.com/user/otftch under My Motive Power.)

                                                                                     Ed

[lionelsoni]

The GG1 has no problems whatever with O27.

The Train Master will hit switch machines; and the trucks do not turn quite enough for O27.  Here's what I have done to run mine on O27:

I removed the fuel tank, to allow the body to move over the top of the switch machine.  (I have removed the strange signal flags from the tops of my modern Lionel O27 switches.)  The tank is held on with one screw and one rivet.

I widened the cutout in the floor that limits the truck rotation and trimmed a little off the edges of the field coil bobbins to prevent their hitting the inside of the shell.

I reversed the pickup roller arms so that the rollers are approximately centered between flanged wheels rather than blind ones, to keep them reliably on the center rail in turns.

mpzpw3, are you sure you don't mean O34?  I was not aware that Marx made any O42.

[mpzpw3]

Yes, you are correct. I meant O-34. I was replacing some O-31 curves with O-42, and got a little confused. Sorry about that.