Hello guys, new kid on the block here!. I was wondering, if a 031 caboose can be modified to fit 027 tracks? and if someone can, in a single layout, have both 027 AND 031 tracks together for tight turns and longer turns ?. I have a lot of 027 stuff and would like to expand with 031... Thanks, Peter.
Welcome to TrainBoard! You probably can mix them. Some of the O Gauge equipment did not like to operate on smaller radius O-27 and would sometimes derail. But all of my stuff was the 1945-1969 versions. I never mixed them when I was doing Lionel. I stayed with one or the other types of track. Boxcab E50
well, quite a few O Lionel and O-27 locos were one and the same. The 2-6-4's and 2-6-2's were simpley re-numbered units. The F3's and scale 4-6-4's need O 31" diameter curves.
I ran many a F3 powered train on O27 track along with GP7's and my Berkshire was my standard freight steam engine. Now my FM Trainmaster did fine on O27 and the Lionel manual switches but would bump the switch machine cover on the electric ones. O31 was heavier rail and more robust ties so when we made floor layouts that ran down the hall way we used the O31 track where it could get stepped on and no damage would happen. We also made several conversion tracks to go between the two. What we did was solder O31 track pins into an O27 piece of track or enlarge the hole for O31 pins in a piece of track. That worked out well and gave us an extra 30 ft of track at the same time.
I know. And quite a few were not- That's my point. I ran the F units on O-27. But they could be cranky, even with Magne-Traction. Boxcab E50 Past member TCA, TTOS (Lionel)
Huh... One more thing. That means that the 027 and 031 straight sections are different too?. Thanks guys, newbie here...
It has been over 50 years since I had my Lionel, but as I recall, the 027 was a smaller radius, lighter track, and sometimes the train s were smaller. But the track GAUGE (width between the running rails) was the same. The bigger equipment might not run on the smaller radius curves, but ALL O gauge could run on the 0-31 track. You could easily have a layout with 031 for mainline, and 027 for branchline. Heavier longer etc locos and cars cannot run on the 027 branch. Which also happens on the real railroads.
