Gargraves O-72 vs Lionel O-72 Turnouts

ROSS FOR THE TURNOUTS AND GARGRAVES FOR THE TRACK. STEVE AND THE ROSS TEAM STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCT AND WILL ALWAYS DO ANY REPAIR WORK.  ( FYI at the TMB club, when we have to relocate several of the 70 ROSS switches were damaged when uninstalled, we sent them to ROSS and they were returned within a week )

Thanks.  I will stick with the tubular track, but may go the Ross route.  In the end, more expensive is less costly.

I plan to attend the Edison, NJ meet next weekend.  I wonder if Ross will be there ?   I know they are going to York later in the month.   

With Ross you may spend more in the beginning but you will cut off problems in the long run. Lionel tubular switches have been plagued with problems since the 6-23010, I have even heard some bad stories about Fastrack switches however I can't verify that they are true or false.

FYI; Gargraves and Ross use the same track pins, however Gargraves and Ross curves differ slightly in radius; example 042 curves.

Lee Fritz

Pan Padova,

    I am taking for granted that you are running Lionel Traditional Tubular because you also enjoy running Tin Plate Trains, if this is in fact the case, I advise you not to use GG or Ross Switches, neither accommodate Tin Plate on a constant running basis.  Instead consider using the low voltage K-Line (RMT) switches, they accommodate all Tin Plate Trains.  You can also use the old 711/072 Lionel originals, the one big draw back is their massive power draw.  To help with this we use LED's track side and in the Controllers, and power them with their own transformer.

PCRR/Dave 

I have 4 Ross switches and they work very well. The straight track coming off the switch is longer then Gargraves & Lionel, however you can cut off some of the extra straight.

I know that Gargraves has much better choice of curved track then regular tubular like Lionel, K-Line or RMT. I started using Gargraves track & switches in the mid 1990's because of Lionel's bad quality O gauge switches, now I am going over to Ross switches.

Gargraves and Ross switches look better and will accommodate longer freight and passenger cars through the switches because of not having the solenoid in the way. Also you don't have to remove a Ross or Gargraves switch when a switch motor fails, you just remove the bad motor and replace it.

Lee Fritz

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

Pan Padova,

    I am taking for granted that you are running Lionel Traditional Tubular because you also enjoy running Tin Plate Trains, if this is in fact the case, I advise you not to use GG or Ross Switches, neither accommodate Tin Plate on a constant running basis.  Instead consider using the low voltage K-Line (RMT) switches, they accommodate all Tin Plate Trains.  You can also use the old 711/072 Lionel originals, the one big draw back is their massive power draw.  To help with this we use LED's track side and in the Controllers, and power them with their own transformer.

PCRR/Dave 

I was looking at the Ross Tinplate switches.  Their site says they are something new.  Here is the link to their page;

http://www.rossswitches.com/pr...tches/rossplate.html

I used the Ross tubular switches and they are far and away better than Lionel and have replaced my Lionel 072 switches when they fail with Ross tubular switches.I also use the Ross 096 and 096 x 072 switches with the Ross supplied pins without a problem.

Mikey

Ross Switches.  Hands down.  Don't look back.

All of my GG switches either have been or will be replaced by Ross Switches.  The time and aggravation they save are well worth the modest cost differential, IMHO.