Anyone run modern O27?

We do mostly O27.  Most of what I purchase is used, and most of the affordable used locos and rolling stock are O27.

It looks like tubular track is coming to the end of the (rail) road. Lionel announced in 2014 in the 2014-15 track and power catalog that they are in short supply. As of this month my local hobby store's wholesaler is already sold out of some tubular track sections but the store still has a supply of must track sections. Some of the customers have been replacing their tubular track with Fast Track either starting with the transition track sections or just replacing all their tubular track. One customer said that Lionel should have brought out a better looking track right after WW 2. Super 0 was going in the right direction in 1957 but Lionel was late in doing this never issued wider curves than 036. I wonder what tubular track is worth in scrap value when melted down.

Better to put it on eBay, IMHO.  It always seems to sell well there.

Ninety-nine percent of mine is 027.  I just don't have space for a big enough layout to run scale stuff well.

Yeah I do. And going a step beyond what you meant in your question Len, I also love kitbashing smaller 027 items to mimic more modern types of train cars.

 

I've taken broken or junker "spring" types of Lionel dump cars and modified them into TTUX cars, making changes to the body of the car to either accept containers alone, or trailers on their frames with wheels.

 

I'll modify the bases or scratchbuilt new frames for 027 or traditionally sized tank cars, to make them appear like the more modern frameless tank cars. The Industrial Rail flat cars are great candidates for my kitbashing projects to have some modern coil cars that look right at home on an 027 layout.

 

I've been wishing Lionel would do some sort of modern equivalent to the 1950's Alco FA release. They haven't. So rather than grumble, I took a Lionel U-Boat shell and chopped it down to fit on a K-Line MP-15 chassis. So now I have a modern looking locomotive that looks right at home on a smaller layout with smaller cars.

 

And I've been repainting stuff since I got back into the hobby. So no shortage of modern road names on my layout, in cars that still have yet to be made in the same sorts of roads.

 

You read comments frequently on how expensive the hobby is. And there's some truth to it. BUT where there's a will, there's a way. If you are willing to approach the train hobby as a "hobby," there's plenty of used stuff and plenty of junkers that are waiting to be appreciated again.

 

I'm not into the scale stuff as I just don't have the room for it. Yet I'm glad it's available and I don't doubt that as some move to scale and sell off their traditionally sized trains, this has helped to softened prices on the secondary market, which is sure to my liking.

I started out about 4 years ago with RailKing, but lately I have been leaning toward more scale sized stuff. However, I still have both on the layout. I have no postwar stuff and the RK items may be slightly larger than O27, but definitely smaller than scale sized. I am on the fence about going to all scale sized stuff. 

I definitely look more favorably on equipment that operates on O31 and O27 and purchase them when possible.  I've also picked up a few AF items and installed O gauge trucks on them--doesn't look great on everything, but in some cases it looks terrific.

Williams and O36 LionChief Plus items are my go-to for locomotives now... not only for size and price but for the ease of conventional use.

All of my "newer" stuff is semi-scale.

Although moving more towards scale in the last 5 years, still retain some RailKing / 027. I enjoy both

I grew up with Railking trains and Lionel 0-27. I just have a small 4x8 layout and two of the three loops are 0-27. I guess 0-31 would have made more sense but I prefer the smaller profile of the 0-27 track and I've found most Railking engines will run around an 0-27 curve. My 0-27 loop sees switchers, small diesels, and steam switchers. I also run a Lionel 0-27 Pennsylvania Flyer which was the set that got me back into O gauge some years ago after years in HO, N and G. 

 

I do not really buy 0-27 trains from Lionel. I much prefer MTH Railking products. 

 

I run my larger engines and passenger cars on my 0-42 outer loop. 

The lower table of my layout has a loop of 0-27 and a loop of Super Streets. I have been pleasantly surprised at what will run on the 0-27. There are no switches, which are often the problem with many locomotives and cars. This GG1, and other semi-scale GG1s, run just fine.

 

 

I do.

 

i live in NYC so not a lot of room for a layout. The widest radius I have is O31 the smallest is O16 Super Streets. And there is O27 and O21 for good measure. Still fun for me.

My modest layout is about 50/50 between scale and "traditional" but it's the O27 stuff that gets run the most.  Plus all the operating cars that I like are O27 like the cattle car and milk car.

I run "traditional" size, or O/O27. Only have a few scale items. I like the look of Postwar items.  

Len B,

   I have them both and sometimes the Christmas layout has them both running at the same time.  The original Tin Plate 263E Engine and rollings stock will run on 027 also, thru the switches and all.  The 027 will fit inside the new FasTrack also.

PCRR/Dave

About 10% of my motive power and rolling stock is scale while the rest is traditional run on GG tinplate track.

I run both 027/semi scale and small scale. In England most houses are just not big enough to accommodate a large scale engine like a Big Boy - other wise I would have one - LOL.

 

My track in a mix of 027/031 and I run mostly Lionmaster, some Railking and PW. Sometimes its fun to clear everything off and use just smaller scale stuff - what ever takes my fancy.

 

It is after all just "my train set".

 

MIKE

 

 

I have no 0-27 track, but do run mostly traditional size or semi-scale equipment on Gargraves track. I still have one 0-31, 90° turn in a far corner of my layout that I haven't yet bothered converting to a wider radius. I'm mainly where I am because I do not want pay for what scale equipment costs. Besides it would look funny intermixing the two, in my opinion.

I do not operate any Lionel locomotives, but my railroad 's motive power is all Rail King which has a size between 027 and scale. 

My company sold 1500 lbs of scrap steel on Friday at 2 cents per pound. We had 100 lbs of bronze which sold for $1 per pound.

I run all traditional sized items, though most of them are MPC era or earlier. About the only modern o27 I run are the Christmas items I have (far more than any one household really needs...) and I guess I run a few Ameritrains/ New Marx cars occasionally. I have greatly curtailed my spending on Lionel items since they moved they manufacturing offshore.

 

J White