Santa brought me a Super "O" set for Christmas in 1959. In January, 1961, a local hardware store had a closeout on all the Lionel items left over from the Christmas season. My father, who was shopping for the job, made the owner an offer on his remaining Super "O track. Dad was able to purchase enough track to double the size of my 4' x 8' layout with a two track mainline. I already felt fortunate to have a complete Lionel set, and, all of a sudden my layout was doubling in size!
Due to the configuration of the basement, we settled on and "L" shaped table, and I helped my father with the construction. We couldn't get the track plan to work out, so we went to Lopo's Cameras and Trains to discuss the issue with Mr. Lopo. He said: "I have just the fix!". Mr.Lopo then walked over to a lower shelf, and came back with a 3' section of track. He told us that we could bend the track in the dimension that was needed, as the track was "flexible", and "bendable". What a find! Although the track not a perfect match with the Super "O" track in appearance, the match was certainly acceptable. Mr. Lopo also outfitted us with the necessary mating pins to complete the track connections
Since Lopo's was a bit of a drive, Dad decided to buy two sections of the flexible track in case we had a problem. We then went home and finished the layout with the flexible track. Looking back, that was my first experience with GarGraves Track!
If you have a passing interest, the following should be a link to a history of GarGraves Track. Quite the longevity!
