One of the goals for my redesigned FUN Lines layout was to provide plenty of action with simple controls for my twin 7 year old boys. The inside loop of the layout features a common O27 track layout in a combination figure-8 / oval. This provides a great deal of operating possibilities in a small area with the option of using either of two reverse loops, a 90 degree crossing, and the option of simply running laps on the outside oval. However, when a simple wiring scheme is added to Lionel's non-derailing switch feature a new level of interest is possible with automatic, hands-free dispatching over the different routes.
Electronic Magic
As described in an earlier post (How Non-Derailing Turnouts Work) Lionel's O27 turnouts from the #1122 of 1952 through the MPC era's #5121 and #5122 turnouts all feature an internally-wired non-derailing feature. The wheels of the train itself become part of the electrical circuit to throw the points of the turnout in the direction of the oncoming train. What many operators do not realize, however, is that this same mechanism can be used to operate additional electrical circuits as well.
In this case, I have run two wires between the turnouts at the right side of the layout so that the binding post for the curved leg of one turnout is wired to the binding post for the straight leg of the opposite turnout. The result is that when a train engages the non-derailing feature of one of the turnouts the second turnout throws in the opposite direction at the same time. This works even though the two turnouts are from different eras of Lionel production (a #1122 of the Postwar era and a #5122 of the MPC era). The remaining turnouts are left alone. This causes the train to circumnavigate the layout in a complex pattern of in-and-out of the figure 8 while repeatedly reversing direction. While the pattern does repeat, it takes the casual viewer some time to recognize the pattern and so the train seems to be changing paths at will!
Which Way Will It Go?
Observe the video and notice how the train changes routes automatically. All of this action takes place with NO SWITCH CONTROLLERS wired to the turnouts. Only the automatic non-derail and the two wires previously described are used!
If you want the ability to turn the automatic function off at will simply add a DPDT (double pole, double throw) switch into the circuit between the two connected turnouts.
Hopefully this will inspire you to create other new and exciting options for your layout.
My rebuild of the FUN Lines (Fantasia, Utopia and Northern) O27 layout was about two-thirds complete when I came to a terrible conclusion: The redesign was all wrong for my needs. Actually, the redesigned track plan fit my goals for the future of my railroad perfectly. The problem was in satisfying modeling needs of my twin 7 year-old boys. I had attempted to quench their growing train desires with a 4' x 4' layout of their own, thus leaving the "big layout" to Dad and his plans - or so I thought - but as I watched them yearn to work and play with the FUN Lines more and more, I realized that a new design was in order - one that met THEIR needs instead of mine.
Setting Goals
One key to any successful model railroad is to start with the end in mind. One should determine as much as possible beforehand the type of railroad one intends to build. Will it be a "Tinplate" toy train layout, a modern scale-inspired "Hi Rail" layout, or something in between? Will it feature mainly loop running or imitate prototype operations? What type of track and power supplies should be used? What is the budget? All of these are important questions to ask before the first lumber is cut and the first screw is turned.
To make the FUN Lines more appropriate for my boys the following goals were set:
Lower the table from 40" to 24" to be more child-friendly. A lower table means shorter arms can reach trains and accessories anywhere on the board. It also means shorter and less damaging falls for any equipment that might find itself leaving the table involuntarily.
Simple track plan with lots of action.
Mostly loop running with only a siding or two.
Independent track loops with simple wiring and control schemes.
Room on the table to incorporate a Carrera Go! slot car set and a K'nex roller coaster as well for more visual appeal. Our home is the gathering place for most of the kids in our neighborhood. I wanted a train/car/toy table that could entertain 4 or more little one simultaneously.
Budget is tight, so recycle as much of existing benchwork as possible.
Construction Begins
The existing benchwork consisted of the "big layout" which utilized two 4' x 8' plywood sheets connected in an "L" shape with an extra 18" x 48" shelf attached to one side and a separate 4' x 4' table. The first step was to detach all sections from one another. The small table had 24" legs so I then cut the legs of the large layout down from their 40" height to match the smaller table. I reattached to original twin 4' x 8' tables in their "L" configuration and added the 4' x 4' section to one end, giving each side of the "L" dimensions of 4' x 12'. Meanwhile, I reinforced the entire perimeter with 2" x 4" x 12' studs because I anticipated the new 24" high table would be a tempting surface upon which to lean, stand or crawl. Also, the old 4' x 8' tables were originally constructed as a "temporary" layout more than 15 years ago and utilized only 1" x 3" and 1" x 4" framing which had begun to sag after years of use.
Next I temporarily set up the Carrera Go! slot car track. At its widest the slot car track is nearly 5' wide so I determined the proper location and reattached the "shelf" section to accommodate the slot cars. Then I removed the slot car track from the table.
Surface Prep
Now I had a hodge-podge of tables of varying ages and surfaces. One was only a few weeks old while two had seen the construction, destruction and rebuilding of nearly a dozen railroads over a decade and a half and featured remnants of several layers of scenery. To even things out I applied a coat of latex paint over the surface of all tables. With a limited budget I combined the remains of several household painting projects into one gallon. The resulting color is a bit more of a mint green that I desired, but this will all eventually be covered by other scenery.
Laying Track
I began with the slot car set. The Carrera Go! cars are scaled at roughly 1/48, so they work well with O scale trains. I reassembled the track, cleaned and vacuumed it thoroughly, and tested all electrical connections. This quickly gave me a means of occupying two boys while I continued work on the railroad portion of the layout. Also, I measured and located a suitable location for the K'nex roller coaster which also scales out to roughly 1/48 and provides added activity to the layout.
The inner loop plan of the redesigned FUN Lines.
Plan made using Anyrail software.
For the train area I envisioned two independent track loops. The inner loop consists of O27 curves and turnouts making a "figure eight" crossing with the turnouts providing the option of staying exclusively on the outside oval. One of the inner figure eight tracks features a turnout leading to twin industrial spurs. The main feature of this loop is the center 90 degree crossing - always a hit with the kids - which gives the engineer the thrill of watching the locomotive nearly hit the caboose of the train as it meets on the crossing. Also, the outside turnouts serve as double reverse loops so that train direction may be reversed at will. I also plan to wire some of the Lionel turnouts so that the non-derailing feature of the turnouts will produce a complex automatic train routing circuit.
The 90 degree crossing requires that I abandon my usual practice of using only Marx turnouts on the layout because, while I have figured a means of modifying Marx turnouts to accommodate Lionel electrical pickups, Marx crossings are totally incompatible with Lionel pickups and Lionel crossings are incompatible with Marx "fat wheel" locomotives. Therefore, I am using Lionel turnouts on the inner loop and my small fleet of incompatible locomotives are relegated to the outside loop only.
On previous layouts I had always utilized O42 curves for both their aesthetic value and the ability to "crank up" the speed of trains with less fear of derailment. However, to add some operating interest to the outer loop I have included a long passing siding so that the operator may easily switch between two trains on the loop. The necessary turnouts for this plan precluded the use of O42 curves in favor of Marx O34 curves on one end of the loop and O27 curves on the opposite end as the loop must detour around the end of the K'nex roller coaster. Still, by using only smaller O27 locomotives and cars most problems associated with tighter curves will be avoided.
Each loop has a separate control panel with a conventional power pack and necessary turnout controllers. The outer loop will use Atlas electrical controls to switch power between the siding and the main line.
As of this time, the inner loop is complete and basically operational, although I have not added the remote turnout controls yet. Track is laid for the outer loop but it is not yet wired.
Eventually, operating accessories such as the classic Lionel cattle car, milk car and operating dump cars will be added. In the mean time, the boys are having fun with the cars and trains, and also with the various Hot Wheels and other vehicles delivering freight from the trains to various points on the layout. So far, the plan for the kids' layout seems to be a success!
Here is a short video taken tonight with my 7 year old son at the throttle of a long train. Note how the locomotives are literally swarming with Lego people. Note how Hot Wheels, Matchbox and other vehicles have run amok on the layout. Also notice the fun he is having.
One of the reasons I named my railroad the FUN Lines is to remind me that it is supposed to be FUN and not to get overly concerned with scale accuracy, ultra-realistic scenery, rivet counting, historical accuracy and such.
Let the kids be kids on the layout! Even if YOU think the building should go here and not there, let THEM take control. You will both have more fun in the end.
Here is the 2015 edition of my family Christmas tree, train and village. The village and train took me about an hour to construct from start to finish. Below are the materials I used and tips for your own display.
Laying The Foundation
Many hobbyists build a solid platform for their holiday trains and reuse them year after year. I have always intended to do this, but honestly I have just never had the time. Therefore, this year's layout, like all before it, is simply laid out on two snow blankets on the living room carpet. The blankets are 30" by 8', and I simply laid one on each side of the center line of the Christmas tree. Don't worry about any lumps as these just represent snow drifts or hills. The ski hills on my display are simply spots where the snow blanket must pass over the tree stand. In past years I have substituted a simple white bed sheet for the snow blankets with good results as well.
Choosing The Track
Unlike my permanent layout, I do not use tubular track for my Christmas display layouts. I use MTH Realtrax sections instead. Since I do not have any turnouts or crossings on my Christmas layout there are no compatibility issues with my Marx and Lionel trains. The MTH track is great for temporary floor layouts because the pieces snap together and hold together well and the molded roadbed helps keep stray carpet or blanket fibers out of the trains. Lionel's Fastrack would also be a good choice if you have that on hand. These track systems are more expensive than traditional tubular track, but I believe in this situation the advantages outweigh the costs and on a small layout the expense is not so great.
My track plan is a simple oval. There are no turnouts, crossings or other special track sections. Only simple straight and curved sections are used. Make your oval large enough to completely encircle your tree, but small enough to avoid your trains being stepped on or encroaching on the living area of the room. In my setup only eight curves and six straights are required, but your layout may vary based on the size of your tree and stand.
Some other innovative layout designs may be found at Thortrains.net. This site was established by a long-time O27 operator and offers many great tips about many O27 train topics, although it has not been updated in quite some time.
Powering Up
Just about any transformer will work for a small display layout such as this. I am using a Lionel CW80 this year. This is a modern power pack that was commonly included in Lionel starter sets of the 1990's - 2000's. I am using only a single pair of feeder wires to the track as solid electrical connections are another advantage of the RealTrax.
Structures
There are literally dozens of brands of ceramic and porcelain Christmas village structures on the market in a wide variety of price ranges and scales. Some are as small as HO scale, while others are larger than O scale. Most, like mine, are slightly smaller than O scale, which makes them just right for traditional O27 trains. My village was purchased at an after-Christmas closeout sale more than 20 years ago but similar ones are available today at various craft and collectibles stores. Choose the style that works for you.
Another option is to use plastic structures like Bachmann's Plasticville line or old Marx plastic buildings - or the K-Line structures made from old Marx molds. These,too, are undersize for O scale, but look great with O27 trains. Plus, these structures can be used after Christmas on your permanent railroad as well.
Still another option is to use do-it-yourself cardstock structures. A great variety of neat and easy to build Christmas structures is available for free download from Thortrains.net. These structures can be downloaded for free and printed from your home computer. Simply print, cut out, and paste together. These buildings are fun and whimsical, and look great with O27 trains. My sons and I have made several of them for their layout.
Choosing The Trains
The choice of trains for your display are a matter of taste and reliability. I like to choose smaller O27 trains that have reliable engines and good-running cars that require very little attention. In the past I have chosen everything from Marx battery-operated sets to premium Lionel passenger and steam locomotive sets. My goals this year were colorful, whimsical and kid-friendly trains.
My choice of locomotives this year is the Christmas-themed North Pole and Snowflake "Beep" by RMT trains. The "Beep" is a fantasy 4-wheeled miniature version of a GP-9 locomotive. Its small size looks great with my Christmas village and its two modern can motors give it reliability and plenty of pulling power. It is also geared to run slowly, so even at full throttle the train will not leave the rails. When we tire of diesel power the back-up locomotive is a Thomas The Tank Engine by Lionel from the late 1990's. With forward-only operation, this locomotive is easy for my little engineers to control.
The rolling stock for this year's display makes up a "mixed" train - one featuring both freight and passenger cars. The freight cars include a Lionel MPC "Lifesavers" tank car from 1978, which looks like a giant roll of candy on wheels, and a red Southern Pacific gondola car by Lionel MPC from 1977 which has been fitted with a Santa with sleigh and reindeer that I recycled from an old Christmas decoration. The passenger cars are Annie and Clarabell from the same Thomas set as our back-up locomotive. These cars add to the whimsy and fun of the railroad, and give my boy engineers a reason to stop the train at the passenger depot from time to time. Pulling up the rear is a red Western Maryland "safety" caboose, also by Lionel from the early 2000's. This is a lighted caboose that adds to the overall fun of the train.
Don't Forget Sound!
Nothing adds to the fun factor of a holiday train display like a whistle or horn on your train. If, like me, you have selected locomotives lacking on-board sound, you can use my BLUETOOTH speaker trick to add horn, whistle, chugging or even Christmas sounds to your train at a very reasonable cost.
Ready For Action
A train around the Christmas tree is as common a holiday tradition as pumpkin pie and sugar cookies. You don't have to spend a great deal of time or money on a fun and functional Christmas tree train. Plan ahead with reliability and fun in mind, and you are sure to have a wonderful time running trains around your tree.
As many of you have noticed in my recent videos, my model railroad the FUN Lines (Fantasia, Utopia and Northern) is undergoing a remodel. Here's a little bit about my layout and future plans.
Layout Design
The overall footprint of the FUN Lines is a 12' x 8' "L" shape. In fact, it is constructed of two 4' x 8' sections with a small 2' x 4' outcropping. My current effort is actually the fifth layout to occupy this benchwork - in three different buildings - over the past eighteen years. It began life as a Christmas display in a retail store.
There are currently two main lines, with a third planned. The outside main follows the perimeter of the benchwork and features O42 (42" diameter) minimum curves. The inside main is a simple oval with a diagonal reversing line featuring a mix of O27 (27" diameter) and O34 (34" diameter) curves. The O34 curves were made by Marx in the 1950's-1960's. Several industrial spurs are planned on this inner loop. These two loops are connected with two sets of crossovers to allow trains to move back and forth between them.
The third line - not yet constructed - will begin as a spur off of the middle loop. It will then loop around the "L" shaped portion of the layout and climb up to an upper line, crossing over the middle oval via a Lionel drawbridge from the 1970's. This upper line will be a loop-to-loop design featuring a mix of O27 and O42 curves.
Track Choices
There are many wonderful and realistic track systems available from today's manufacturers and the modeler is faced with the dilemma of this choice. My choice was to avoid them all and stick with O27 profile tubular track. Why? First it was an inexpensive choice because I already had lots of it on hand. I have accumulated both Postwar (1946-1969) Lionel pieces, Lionel MPC (1970-1986) pieces, Marx and even K-Line tubular track. All of them work interchangeably, although some Marx straight pieces measure 10" in length instead of the customary 8 1/2" of the other brands. Also, replacement tubular track may be found inexpensively at almost any train show or meet, and even on eBay (but be careful of shipping costs).
I use O27 profile track as opposed to traditional O31 "O Gauge" track because I like the smaller rail height, which I think is more realistic, and because it is cheaper and more abundant than the larger-railed standard O31 track. I say "O27 profile" because while the standard curve diameter is 27", track with this rail type is also available in 34", 42", 54" and even 72" diameter pieces. These larger radii are becoming more difficult to find, however.
Turnouts (Switches)
The area where my railroad deviates most from common practice is my choice of turnouts (or switches, as they are commonly called). I use Marx old-style metal O27 turnouts thoughout my layout. First, I choose them for compatibility with other trains. All Marx trains and nearly all Lionel and other manufacturers will run though Marx turnouts without major issues - and the minor issues can be fixed with a 5-minute modification. Many believe that Lionel locomotives absolutely will not run through Marx switches - this is FALSE. My Lionel trains do it every time I operate my layout. However, most Marx and some prewar Lionel and American Flyer O gauge trains will NOT run through Lionel turnouts or those of other modern production.
Second, I find trains run over the frogless Marx design with fewer bumps, bangs and derailments than with Lionel and other modern turnouts. Modern turnouts have gaps in the rails that are protected by guardrails, but these gaps are opportunities for wayward cars to derail - especially when backing or at extreme speeds.
Third, these old Marx switches are a great bargain. They are durable, reliable and cheap. I often find powered turnouts for as little as $10 a pair.
A note of caution: I use the Marx metal switch design - NOT THE PLASTIC. I have found the later production Marx plastic turnouts to be unreliable for use with Lionel and other trains.
Here is a 4' x 4' layout I built yesterday for my twin boys to run their trains on. I already had the table, so I added some extruded foam board to help deaden the sound, painted it green with some acrylic paint and a foam roller, added the track, wired it, and added the trains. The boys then added their own vehicles and structures to make a great layout for play. The track is a mix of Lionel, K-Line and Marx sections I had on hand. The switch (turnout) is an old Marx manual, and note that the Lionel steamer has no problems whatsoever running through the Marx switch - something many say is not possible! I hope there is some inspiration here to get you started.
