Years ago I built an "apartment layout" for a friend. It consisted on three tracks with switches on a 1/4 inch board framed by 1X2's with bracing, and two handles. The kids has a big box of tubular 0-27 track and two more switches. Plus some wood to ease the transition from floor to the 2 1/8 inch height. They could take it from the closet put the unit on the floor in the large living room and make several layouts based on the switches and track, and when finished playing disconnect the track and put the main unit back in the closet. It had uncoupling tracks and a plug to connect the switches to a small control console made from wood. Plus a box with accessories. A small station platform, and an unloading platform. I had a plug to connect it with a standard Lionel Transformer. It was a bit noisy, but I wanted to keep it light. They could make a large oval with two sidings on the rug, or make a loop to loop, using the two extra switches. I had lighted bumpers on all tracks except the outer one. Or make one extended loop going to the kitchen, when mom wasn't cooking. They had plenty of inexpensive track. Just because I liked them, I had four small yard signals, and a double track signal that could be removed and connected by a plug in the board. There was a track diagram on the wooden box so they could electrically deactivate sections. I had two extra lock-on's they could connect to the outside track if needed. Basically, each time they played they could have a different layout.
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