What makes a 0-27 layout fun and good to operate?

The small footprint, for one thing. I have my layout on a relatively compact folding table off in the corner. It's a nice choice for an apartment dweller. I don't use traditionally sized O27 equipment and scenery though, but that would fit better in the space that I have. 

I suspect you'll get several answers to this question. What makes a scale or type of layout "good" depends on the operator.

With 027 track you might want to run some smaller engines, freight cars and smaller length passenger cars as the 027 curves will limit you as to what can go through them. It doesn't prevent you from running 2 small engines together. As for power I would use a 100 watt transformer even with a small layout so you can expand if you want to.

Lee Fritz

Great question. I was about to post a similar question specific to yards and sidings. I'm building a new layout in a bedroom as we now need more basement space and less bedroom space with one grown and two in college.

I finished an around-the-ceiling la your in the room and am laying track on main level.

To answer your question, since I've always been prone to putting track everywhere with little scenery, my answer has to be running trains and operating postwar accessories.

Having FUN is what makes a non-scale, traditional sized layout good. If you can get past the need for scale to just enjoy running trains a small O-27 pike can be the best thing ever. LOL. I could never get 2 loops of track (with 2 trains running) on a 39" x 80" tabletop in regular O, S or even HO.

I started my O-gauge journey with traditional postwar O-27 trains trying to maintain some sense of "scale" but have since moved on to pre and post war tinplate as my medium for miniature railroading fun. I cleared the layout of scale cars and trucks too, opting for vintage die-cast Tootsie toy and Midgetoy vehicles. Structures are either tinplate or homemade cardstock made to look like vintage tin.

For me a smaller layout using traditional equipment is one that has plenty of action.  Not necessarily with a high number of trains running, but one with alot of operating accessories.  The very last layout I had, in the late '80s, before I moved on to large scale is this one.  Pictures were slides that I uploaded to the computer so apologies for the quality.  

 

I carved out a corner in our basement after much negotiation with the boss. I fit a lot on a 4 X 8 table (3' on the right side). All of my stuff is ebay purchases. I like running steam and diesel, no particular line but PRR and ATSF were my favorites when I was growing up running HO.

A couple of drawbacks, curve radius and siding length. Watch the clearances on curves. Hard to fit more than one or two cars on each siding, but it gives me a lot to play with. I can run two trains simultaneously, all conventional obviously. I have lots of isolated blocks so I can shuttle equipment around.

Working on scenery was never my strength but I am having fun learning. Not super concerned with scale as may purists would be. Just like running trains and operating turnouts, etc.

A couple of photos and the SCARM plan attached,

Bob

After having gone the hi-rail approach with ballasted track and realistic scenery, I've gone a more traditional approach.

My ground surfaces are all painted. Trees have bases made out of baked modeling clay, so they can be moved around. I have small scenic plots made out of foam, that can all be moved around. Certain buildings and accessories are permanently in place, but others are set up to be moved on or off the layout, or replaced with other building and accessories.

So while the track plan remains the same, I can liven things up by moving other items around.

The disadvantage of a small layout is not as much real estate for especially operating accessories. One of my more creative ideas for a small layout is to have a powered elevated track at the back of the layout. On this track I place cars like the motorized animated aquarium, the rotating search light car, the motorized chase gondola and brakeman car, flashing toxic waste car etc.

I use a short piece of cut drinking straw over the center rail on this elevated track as a "on-off" switch. I move a car slightly to the left or right, and it turns on. Move it back and it is off again.

Dump bins are now made from black painted Rubbermaid kitchen organizers and placed hanging off the edge of the layout, right next to a UC track. I have several, all the same way, so that loads can be dumped from operating dump cars, without losing "real estate" on the layout surface with some sort of dump area or container.

Yes, the tight 027 curves limit the size of engines and rolling stock. But in all honesty, the smaller cars and engines look better even if larger items will still negotiate the 027 curves.

For me, repainting, scratch building and kit-bashing takes care of the repetition of limited selection in rolling stock and engines. Not to mention the cost savings.

One of my recent projects was a K-Line 027 Alco Fa done up in the environmental Norfolk Southern black/green scheme. And I'm working on a Norfolk Southern engine from a chopped down Lionel U-Boat shell to fit on a K-Line MP-15 chassis.

For me it's a hobby and the trains are "representations" of the real thing, which is good enough for me. My imagination does the rest.

 

Sidings, operating accessories and a thematic approach have worked well for me on small layouts.

Keeping things within one era of production is one way to create a layout with a theme, or a "feel" if you prefer.  If you like Plasticville kits, for example, stick with them and keep scale detailed or other types of structures (other than metal accessory structures) off the layout.

Also, being able to switch things out from time to time allows you to add to a collection or build new things all the time.  In my opinion it's the building of the layout that keeps me involved.  The more room on the layout I have for making/adding new things the better!

Building in the land of 27 means there are no rules. Anything goes. (It's worth mentioning, 27 layouts don't need to be small)

In the land of 27, eras and road names get mixed and nobody bats an eye. Things like parting lines are meaningless and if you want a "GG1 Steam Engine", you can have it :-)  In 27 you can forget about delivery schedules, rivets, warranty repairs, coupler replacements... Quite simply, 27 is good and fun because it's all about playing with trains.

Thank you all for the comments.  I have O-27 profile track and switches with 42" curves .  I have a preference for K-Line pre-Lionel.  Most of my rolling stock is O-27.  I have k-line accessories and Lionel.  I'll post pictures too....

abbrail posted:

Building in the land of 27 means there are no rules. Anything goes. (It's worth mentioning, 27 layouts don't need to be small)

In the land of 27, eras and road names get mixed and nobody bats an eye. Things like parting lines are meaningless and if you want a GG1 Steam Engine, you can have it :-)  In 27 you can forget about delivery schedules, rivets, warranty repairs, coupler replacements... Quite simply, 27 is good and fun because it's all about playing with trains.

   Yes sir - no rules , no worry - just fun!      

What makes a traditional size, nonscale layout good? A KW and a Magnetraction steamer would make it fun Kinda cheaply too.

Adriatic posted:

What makes a traditional size, nonscale layout good? A KW and a Magnetraction steamer would make it fun Kinda cheaply too.

The LW is a nice sized transformer, too. You may enjoy a switcher or two with an 027 layout. 

Tom 

The train has to travel down a long track, someplace far away, and then return later.

There has to be a siding for one train to stop while another train passes.

Andrew

abbrail posted:

Building in the land of 27 means there are no rules. Anything goes. (It's worth mentioning, 27 layouts don't need to be small)

In the land of 27, eras and road names get mixed and nobody bats an eye. Things like parting lines are meaningless and if you want a GG1 Steam Engine, you can have it :-)  In 27 you can forget about delivery schedules, rivets, warranty repairs, coupler replacements... Quite simply, 27 is good and fun because it's all about playing with trains.

Are they taking pre-orders for that GG-1 Steam Engine? Gotta get me one of those. 

Ahitpy posted:

Thank you all for the comments.  I have O-27 profile track and switches with 42" curves .  I have a preference for K-Line pre-Lionel.  Most of my rolling stock is O-27.  I have k-line accessories and Lionel.  I'll post pictures too....

Nice layout.  What are the dimensions?

Action.

The fast turns produce a sense of intense action. Fun is an action.

Wide curves are slow. That cheesy crap is more like a "movent". Cheesy movements are slow..(I thought the #2 joke there to be slow and cheesy)

That can be boring enough for some folks to want to read a book at times

I have a sudden urge for a bowl of pasgetti to twirl around a fork, or maybe a pizza to cutter. I wish I was at table I could throw a whistle up for one from, there would be a switch. Heck I'd settle for a roll..... steamed. 

...and now I really am hungry

Reversing loops can add to the fun. I recommend at least two. Keep it simple or pack your layout with as many accessories and/or sidings as possible—what ever you want.

For me the fun is that I can have a relatively interesting layout in a small space.

Ahitpy posted:

I have been thinking about a major redo and wanted feedback.  What makes a traditional size, nonscale layout good?

Multiple elevations with one trains passing over another. Trains going in different directions. Something to block the scene on a loop of track, so a train tends to disappear and reappear somewhere else on the layout. 

Never gets old. Just run trains and have fun

Ahitpy posted:

Thank you all for the comments.  I have O-27 profile track and switches with 42" curves .  I have a preference for K-Line pre-Lionel.  Most of my rolling stock is O-27.  I have k-line accessories and Lionel.  I'll post pictures too....

Hey, I like that plan!    Tons of fun! 

In my post, earlier in this thread, this is the track plan I used, although it is difficult to see in the photos.  There were no tunnels as shown in this diagram and no lift bridge either.  Just a simple up and over plan with some extra sidings added.  This is a well know Lionel track plan that allows lots of action in a small space.  

 

 

Matt_GNo27 posted:

Reversing loops can add to the fun. I recommend at least two. Keep it simple or pack your layout with as many accessories and/or sidings as possible—what ever you want.

For me the fun is that I can have a relatively interesting layout in a small space.

What size table do I need to make that layout.? thanks !

Nessmuck posted:

What size table do I need to make that layout.? thanks !

74"x38", which is roughly the footprint of the couch that it rests on. (In our basement, the couch seldom saw use. I built it with the excuse that if we ever wanted to use it, I could, er, easily remove the layout. Fortunately, there has not been a compelling reason to use the couch. Speaking of which, is anyone interested in buying a virtually unused convertible couch? :-) )

You camouflaged your layout as a couch?

You are a genius.

raising4daughters posted:

Ahitpy posted:

Thank you all for the comments.  I have O-27 profile track and switches with 42" curves .  I have a preference for K-Line pre-Lionel.  Most of my rolling stock is O-27.  I have k-line accessories and Lionel.  I'll post pictures too....

Nice layout.  What are the dimensions?

14 x 17    on the left is a track that goes to a lower level reverse loop and storage.

Matt_GNo27 posted:

74"x38", which is roughly the footprint of the couch that it rests on.

Well you certainly found the most comfortable way to work under a layout! 

Here's my new/in-progress O27 layout. Wish I could find a way to include reversing loops, but my space is limited to 8' x 10-1/2'.  For me, an O27 layout has lot of action, lots of track, and limited scenery and realism. Not sure I'm happy with the duck-under, but I can operate everything from outside the table.

raising4daughters posted:

Here's my new/in-progress O27 layout. Wish I could find a way to include reversing loops, but my space is limited to 8' x 10-1/2'.  For me, an O27 layout has lot of action, lots of track, and limited scenery and realism. Not sure I'm happy with the duck-under, but I can operate everything from outside the table.

Is there any way you could make lift sections to avoid the dreaded Duck-under ?

Dan Padova posted:

raising4daughters posted:

Here's my new/in-progress O27 layout. Wish I could find a way to include reversing loops, but my space is limited to 8' x 10-1/2'.  For me, an O27 layout has lot of action, lots of track, and limited scenery and realism. Not sure I'm happy with the duck-under, but I can operate everything from outside the table.

Is there any way you could make lift sections to avoid the dreaded Duck-under ?

Probably, but I have the layout at a low enough height that I can step over it (and I'm only 5'8").  Longer term, I'll probably need to do a bridge.