072 Turnouts

The ones with cast points are more robust than the ones with stampings.

The 5165 and 5166 turnouts have sloppy point rails that sag under the weight of the loco.  The loco wheel flanges ride up over the point rails so the loco derails.  Some that of mine also had a warp that caused the turnout to act as a speed bump tossing locos at speed off the rails.  Diesel trucks could pass through these most of the time but steamers had to travel at slow speeds.  My problem turnouts were purchased in the late '80s.  Lionel may have improved the manufacture in different years, but I recommend you avoid them for mainline use.

The pre-war turnouts provide reliable running if you can find them.

K-Line SuperSnap turnouts solved my derailing problems.  Unfortunately, the limit switches in the switch motors are giving me problems a couple of decades after purchase.   If you can find them in new condition, they are good for your reversing loops.  Caveat: the crossing rails sometime contact the frog casting causing sparking and shorts as the loco passes through.  There are posts on this forum describing correcting that - black electrical tape over the rail is easiest.

RossPlate tinplate switches provide reliable running and operation.  The DZ1000 switch machine struggles to throw the tinplate points consistently unless I increase to switch motor voltage to 18 or 19v (the higher than recommended voltage is for short duration, I haven't had a motor fail yet).  If you want to stick with strictly tinplate trackage, RossPlate are the best choice.  You'll have to wire up the non-derailling function with insulated rails.

For non-tubular switches you have to adapt to tubular, Ross and Lionel Fastrack provide reliable running.  For the simplest off-the-shelf plug and play solution, use a Fastrack switch and three tubular adapter tracks for your reversing loop.

I would echo the sentiment about avoiding the 5165 and 5166 switches. I have tried a lot of them over the years and most gave the trains a pretty rough ride. I am currently using KLine SuperSnap switches. I do have a track with two reversing loops. On one end I have a Fastrack manual 031 switch and on the other a Lionel 072 with the switch motor removed. I don't know the number on the 072 because it's on my layout elsewhere. On both of them I removed anything that would cause friction. That way I don't have to worry about a motor getting worn out. The wheels of the engine just push through in both directions. The only glitch I have found is that some of the 2-8-0 steamers don't have enough heft on the front wheels to fully open the 031 switch. I just run diesels and 0-6-0 or similar steamers on that track.

Ed

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...2#164024807560918562

Ages ago I had a pair of 022 with motors removed. Any '0' gauge engine would simply plow through without problems. The light weight, 2-wheel pilot trucks on 027 steamers with  would occasionally derail.

I have gone through many of the lionel switches and made a switch repair web page.   Prewar 711, postwar O22, modern O22 style and Modern 072.   Links to other discussions are included.

If prewar of modern lionel is used, my opinion is you are going to need to tinker with them to be reliable.   The prewar combined with postwar motors is probably good, if you can find a prewar set in usable shape.   Prewar are 82+ years old.

for what its worth, i have 8 5165 and 66 switches and they all work just fine with no issues at all, bought them used off ebay as well.

Here are some pics I retrieved online of different ID plates found on 072 turnouts. The descriptions in "quotes" are not my terms, but of that gleamed from others in this forum. Feel free to elaborate on my  overall assessment of the noted differences, especially what the timeline of production was for the two post-war versions made in China.

The top plate is the pre-war model (of which several different versions were made) always referred to as "the best". I have no knowledge of the 711 being produced after WWII.

The center plate has a small stylized  'L' logo (LTI era) and is probably the 'early production' version occasionally referred to as "OK but problematic".

The bottom plate has a larger SINCE 1900 'L' logo (LLC era) and is probably the 'later production' version frequently referred to as "junk".

The picture to right features the post-war turnouts atop the appropriate era boxes.

Below is a pic of a 711 for comparison to the post-war models. They came in a plain cardboard box with a label on the end flap (insert photo).

There are different versions of the prewar 711.  The one pictured in the posting prior to this one is the desirable version.  The version made before that, which has actual rails instead of the bakelite frog shown in the picture above, will not accept the auxiliary power plug found on later switches and is prone to warping and disintegration due to zinc pest.   Stay away from those.