I'm Done With Lionel

I have found with the lower end Lionel I have always had problems. I also have the GP7 and had to replace the board. The upper end I never had one go bad. I do not model O27 any more, but still run them about once a year. I am now into HO and G.

Chris

No one ever did, although many have been satisfied playing with it.

Why has no one modeled O27? I thought people model in whatever space they have available.

Respect man, Respect!! I'm not a fan of current day entry level Lionel, but I do understand the effect this company has had on our hobby. Many of us would never have been exposed to model trains were it not for the Lionel 2-6-2 running around the Christmas tree dragging under-scaled cars behind its tender. I model in HO, but I will always be grateful to Lionel and other pioneering firms who brought us this hobby as we know it today.. My two cents..................... Howard Zane

Hmm, could you expand on this thought? I have heard this mentioned in fleeting about Brass Locomotives, and could possibly see it applied to Lionel O27 collectables, but is there any real evidence on what's going on?

I'm done with Lionel.

You might be interested in a short article on page 29 of the February issue of Classic Toy Trains which reports the sale of a Standard Gauge Lionel 433E set for $253,000. Is that a falling price?

That is not 027.

The market for Brass, like Li> snipped-for-privacy@aim.com wrote:

I disagree completely.

There is scale O-gauge/O27 Lionel/Williams/MTH/Weaver equipment if you want to buy selectively.

The detail in 1:48 is generally excellent. However, this assumes that your layout is of sufficient size and that your minimum track curves are no less than O-63. My outside loop is O-72 and the inside loop is O-63. I have one area of O-45, but that area is restricted to switching operations and I limit the size of the stock that I run there. I would agree that O-27 and similar stock which I believe is sometimes 1:64 can appear to be more toy like. If your layout isn't large enough, you're frequently restricted to the smaller scale. I have given my grandson some of the O-27 stock (generally that I'd purchased in error), and he hasn't reported problems in running it.

I've generally not had problems with Lionel's 1:48. The Consolidation of a couple of years ago had some tracking problems, but when this was identified, Lionel provided a spring for the leading truck to take care of that. I've also heard that the Lionel Pioneer Zephyr has had problems with the motor mount. I've yet to have that problem with mine. I've never had a problem with a Lionel diesel, but I run only TMCC.

If anything, AtlasO is occasionally overly detailed. Truck chains on some of their diesels can come loose and get caught in the gears. Their Trackman items are also quite good and more reasonably priced.

I have little experience with Williams. I have some Weaver rolling stock and my criticism there is that their ladders and stirrups tend to be quite fragile.

So, I'd say that my Lionel experience is somewhat different from that of the original poster--at least as it pertains to 1:48 TMCC.

Carl

I disagree that O27 cannot be scaled. It can be with proper selection of equipment.

It's hard to see how roughly 1:48 scale equipment running on 13 1/2 inch radius curves (way too sharp for any HO scale except maybe a two axle industrial switcher), not to mention the goofy tubular "rail" on O27 track*, or those toy switches, could be called modeling.

It's toy trains, and ought to be happy to consider itself as such, but it's not O scale modeling.

• the FASTRACK stuff looks a little better, but it's still three rail, and the switches are just as toy-like

But you should use care when running with O gauge. One example is that O-27 intermodal is noticeably smaller than 1:48. I know. I've given my O-27 intermodal to the Grandson.

Carl

I consider all models to be toys. Unless it's a model of something created as a precursor to a full scale development.

I use Fastrack which is a bit better looking as you say. It's true the min radius could be 18" with fastrack. But mainline curves are thousands of feet in radius in real life.

Even HO curves would have to be 20, 30, or even 40 feet in diameter.

There will always be compromises when building a railroad empire in your basement.

Good boy!