Where to find cheap O-27 track with curves greater than 27" (ex: marx 34")

[lionel2986]

I have been searching ebay for quite a while and cannot find anyone selling a decent lot of marx O27 curves that form a 34" radius. Just curious if anyone knows a good keyword to use when searching ebay, or maybe someone has extra track they are not using and wouldn’t mind donating to my layout, or trading for 27" curves (feel free to PM me please). And ofcourse, pictures will be posted when complete. I dont need many, but at this rate I feel like going to my local hobby shop and buying new Lionel 42" track. Its just I think the new stuff will look too shiny and out of place on my layout. I have 6 K line 42" curves and that only forms half a circle, but I cannot find K-line track anywhere anymore. I need wider than 27" to run my Conrail SD-60 engine that will derail on 27" curves. I tried bending some old 27 inch curves to 42" specification and they didnt come out well. They are not smooth and the train bounces and derails. I could use O27 gauge curves from 34" diameter, to 54" diameter. 72" will not fit on my layout.

[lionelsoni]

Don't assume that sellers know who made the track or that it is called O34.  You may have to indentify it from a photograph, by counting the ties (5), for example.  By the way, it's the diameter to the ends of the ties that is about 34 inches; the actual radius is 15 3/4 inches.

[Dave Farquhar]

I just did my saved searches, both on active and closed (past 2 weeks) listings and didn't find much. Marx O34 is out there but can be tough to find. I know there's one guy who sells a loop of O34 and a loop of O27 bundled together fairly regularly but I didn't see any of his listings either. (Bidding tends to get out of hand on his bundles sometimes.) I saw one listing that ended Nov. 28 that didn't get any bids, oddly enough. But that's the only one I saw. It surprised me that he didn't get any since he listed it in the right category but he didn't say O34.

One thing you can do to make the newer O42 track not look quite so out of place is to remove the brown ties and replace them with black ties off O27 curves. They'll still be shinier than most vintage track, but the ties will look the same. You can even add a couple of ties in between the existing ties to imitate the Marx 5-tie look if you want.

I know wholesaletrains.com's pricing on O42 and O54 curves isn't bad. I think their shipping is a little high but it's not like eBay is exactly a model of reasonable shipping costs either (usually).

[ChiefEagles]

K-line.  If you can find any at stores.  I have some 072 on 027 size.  I will be pulling it up soon [I hope].  Also some 031 on 027 size. 

[phillyreading]

I have to check my track boxes as I may have three 42" 027 curves that I am not using.  Will trade for 031 or 042 curves(O gauge tubular[NO Fastrac!!]).

Do you need the track to be 027 like?  If not I have some left-over Gargraves curves in 032, back plastic ties and darkened center rail, will need adapter pins.

Lee F.

[GPJ68]

I've had better luck finding the 034 switches on ebay over the 034 curves.  Most folks that have Marx switches for sale list them as such because of the logo on top, but the unmarked track can be listed as almost anything, including "Lionel", "O guage", "train track", "vintage track", "wide radius" etc.  Too few people are well enough aquainted with 027 track varieties to actually list it as "034" (or even as "027"), and those that do, well their auctions tend to reach a right high price (higher than I'm willing to go to hoard some extra sections).  I've pretty much given up on finding it there unless I stumble on a listing of it, or find it at train shows.  I lucked out once and bought @ three circles a few years ago, which has worked out well when mixed with the switches I have and 42" track where it will fit.

[martinden]

On eBay, search in the category "O scale." Do five searches each time: First, with the digit or number zero: 034 and then 0 34 (with either a space or a hyphen); next, replace the zero with the letter "o": o34 and o 34. Then search "marx wide" (leaving off the "radius"). Finally, as somebody suggested, you have to just hunt through the enormous number of listings under "track" in the category "O scale," because quite a few sellers don't know how to describe or list the track they've got. (You can try shortcutting with "marx track," but you'll miss the listings where the seller doesn't know it's Marx track.) Look at the photos to find sections that have five ties, and then open specific listings to see what they're offering. This obviously is very time-consuming, and it gets  pretty tedious, but try to do it now and then, anyway. I'd say from my experience that a determined effort -- over an extended time, with repeated searching (the "big five" at least once a week) -- will turn up a fair number of O34 sections.

As for cost, they're certainly going to be more expensive than regular O27 curves, but I've seen them close for (what I'd consider) reasonable prices.  Part of it is just persistence -- as with all eBay hunting, you're not likely to turn up the best prices the first or second time you try. Keep at it, and eventually you'll be the one getting the good deal.

[marxalot]

There is a person on e-bay selling 12 sections of the wide radius 034 track.  This is just FYI. I am not affiliated with seller. 

http://cgi.ebay.com/MARX-WIDE-RADIUS-CURVE-TRACK-12-PCS-034_W0QQitemZ180066087410QQihZ008QQcategoryZ19147QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Jim