Jim-I too run exclusively tubular track-"0" gauge in my case. My layout combines vintage track along with some of the newer Chinese made Lionel tubular track.
I must say it runs great and, while it is not "scale" in appearance, has a certain charm and nostalgia. I do dress it up with roadbed and rubber ties.
I often wonder if a case can be made for trains performing better on tubular track?
Yep, my whole O Gauge layout is tubular track.
I run both my post-war conventional engines as well as my modern era command control engines on good old Lionel post-war tubular track and the motive power from both eras run equally well on it.
I run both post war and modern engines and show case track for the loops and AF track for the sidings. The trains run great. I like the look of the show case track that is the only reason I chose show line track.
Glad to hear so many of you are using tubular track. I used it for years and loved it.
Lionel Tubular O Gauge with UCS, 072 and 022's switches ...ALL THE WAY!!!!!
Menards O42 and O31 curves with Lionel straights:
All Lionel tubular. Black ties.
Tubular track here, too. Out of scale trains, out of scale track . . .
Most of my "accumulation" is PW, with some MPC and a few command Lionmasters. Building probably my last layout using Lionel O tubular.
I'm BAAaaack! 
Interesting twists of events in my life with model trains.
First...
Just this week, I made the decision to allow myself to pick up some Postwar items, Marx and Lionel for sure, and possibly some "Postwar-type" (i.e. "traditional sized") MTH.
Second...
My propensity for "life planning" has struck again.
Consider: I'm 68 now. I can still model in HO and intend to do so on my out-building housed HO layout until... well... let me put it this way:
We all want to retain our dexterity and good eyesight... but it doesn't always go the way we want. I have noticed that over the past few years, my hands aren't quite as steady as they used to be. At this point I can still work with the tiny drills, files, and such, and am able still to form handrails for HO engines and what have you... BUT... I have had moments that I'm frustrated because of what used to be quite doable, is now a lot more effort. I suspect there WILL be a time that the frustration begins to exceed the fun.
When?
Who knows? 10 years? 8 years? Or less?
SO, I'm "okay" now with picking up select PW pieces, because IF I decide to make a change, then I would at least have some equipment on hand. Cutting my HO to the bones through liquidation (keeping only a few pieces for sentimental reasons) would help finance the wood and track for a decent 3-rail layout, and I would build a simplistic around-the-wall 3-rail layout in my 20' x 16' out building that's currently housing the HO. Of course, this is still off in the unknown future if it even happens.
HOWEVER...
I've had a stroke of PURE GENIUS! (I'm very modest. )
You see, several years ago I went through a period of experimentation trying to "find" myself in model trains. (Yeah, I know... I'm pathetic! 
) One of my experiments was in 3-rail. I used benchwork here in this computer room (spare bedroom) that was modified from a failed Sn3 experiment on which to get a 3-rail layout up and running in a basic way. However, as mentioned in my first post in this thread, I ended up undermining the fun of 3-rail by trying to make it something it can't be for me. (See the previous post for all the nitty gritty.) Thus, I went moved on from 3-rail to experiment with S scale. (Unsuccessfully, and after lots of $$ and time were consumed.) Thus, several years ago I gave up on the other scales and themes I had experimented with and went back to HO.
Now, here's the "genius" part: Remember the benchwork I mentioned? Well, I was intending to turn it into a downsized L shaped shelf layout, and thereon throw in a KC Lines theme in HO and have an in-house layout for inclement weather and late at night when I had the bug to play trains/etc.
BUT...
I'm now seriously considering reusing the very same benchwork that held my previous 3-rail experiment as my current 3-rail outlet, and poop-can the 2nd HO layout idea. I would again use the "KC Lines" theme that was I using many years ago, for it had a lot of promise. Here's a pic of my small 3-rail "experimental" KC Lines layout:
In fact, I will probably use a slightly modified version of the same trackplan as I used during my experimental period. My 3-rail concept was working for me as long as I used traditional equipment.
It was when I tried to go Hi-rail w/scale equipment that I became disenchanted with 3-rail. (See my previous post for the low down.)
I know better now. This time EVERYTHING will be traditional sized, and some of (my Marx 3/16" litho stuff) is sure 'nuf "toy market" stuff. However, I suspect the Marx will be run on the layout as a novelty and the real switching ("operation") will be done with knuckle equipped equipment.
SO... IF I decide to follow through with this, I can have a totally different medium (3-rail) to indulge in when I desire to take a break for my much more exacting HO modeling.
What this means is: I actually have a way to have for a 3-rail layout in the near future, and thus if needed, I can indeed migrate over to 3-rail exclusively if/when the hands are bit too shaky to do the type of work I insist on doing in HO. Life planning: With 3-rail sized trains and flanges, I can RAILROAD 'TIL I ROT!
I'm feeling very good about this idea, and I think it has a high probability of me going forward with it.
Andre
Hmmmm... Tubular. Just bought 12 sections of 072 0 curves at a flea market.
Older stuff? Gargraves has been around for well over 80 years. Probably longer than most of us.
Pete
@Johnsgg1 posted:Hmmmm... Tubular. Just bought 12 sections of 072 0 curves at a flea market.
I see you are redoing your layout! You may not remember, but I stopped by a few years back, for you to work on one of my PW locos.
I've been into Lionel O gauge since I was in diapers. I got serious about the hobby in my early teens when used Postwar was still easily found and dirt cheap. I joined the LCCofA in 1973 and had built up a respectable collection by the time I went off to college. My original trains were kept by my dad for many many years. I continued to purchase trains off and on and even dabbled in N,HO and even G. I finally lost interest in trains for about a decade focusing solely on my family and career. Fast forward to 2000 and while working on a project in Cincinnati,I come across and wander in to Davis Trains (Milford). I saw a MTH Railking ATSF 2900 4-8-4 and couldn't resist all the sounds and bells and whistles! I jumped back into trains and started collecting Premier scale steam and Lionel scale steam locomotives as well as a few diesels and electrics until I rostered nearly 400 locomotives by 2010. Due to the nature of my work assignments, I was only home one month out of the year. I finally returned to my home state in 2015,bought a large home and now had the room to properly display and run all these trains. Bear in mind that most of the engines were new and never run. As I started to unpack and test locomotives,I found out that there was a high failure rate on the electronics and I won't go into details but this really soured me on the hobby to the point I lost interest for several months. Then lo and behold! My Dad called and told me to come and get all the boxes of trains that he had been safely storing for nearly 4 decades! I had never inventoried these so for many years I wasn't really sure what all I had. Unpacking all those for dozen or so banker's boxes was such sheer excitement and joy! I had forgotten how much I actually had and what I had collected back then. All those childhood trains brought back countless pleasant memories of a kinder,simpler time and my passion for Postwar and early MPC/Fundimensions was rekindled into a flaming passion again! Over the past 4 years I have sold/traded off most of those finicky modern trains and now I'm only focusing on USA made Lionel up to 1990. I still have 20-30 MTH and Lionel scale steam locomotives and they are all proudly displayed (They all run and will continue to be run). The layout I'm building now is all tubular and powered by 4 Z4000's and 4 ZW's. I've come full circle. Postwar is certainly my "Happy Place".
@Johnsgg1 posted:Hmmmm... Tubular. Just bought 12 sections of 072 0 curves at a flea market.
Looks like your layout has a very interesting design.
You might compare pre-war to postwar features to postwar vs modern differences. Some days the one direction loop is all it takes to grin, other days I want full automations, station stops, etc..
Command is nice, but so is simplicity; choose a route to suit what you want to get out of it all.
Electronics are as much work as they are play most days; that's what Ochams razor left behind for me. I try to let an open mind decide between electromechanical ànd electronics, but the Luddite in me definitely gets to speak.
I have prewar, postwar, MPC and new trains. I enjoy MPC and new trains but prewar and postwar Lionel are the real deal. These are the trains built by Josh Cowen and the original Lionel company. These are the trains with history. These are the trains that were America's favorite. These are trains ran that around the Christmas trees........They will never be replaced by new modern Lionel...NEVER!
@Norton posted:Older stuff? Gargraves has been around for well over 80 years. Probably longer than most of us.
Pete
Plus (unlike almost everything else), Gargraves is still made in this country. You know, the USA...
Mark in Oregon
Wow! All you have to do is read the responses from folks who "...like to repair their own", and you will understand why the parts people are doing OK, and why prices are soaring for PW on eBay.
Don't let anyone from Lionel read this thread ... or maybe they should!
George
One of the best things about repairing old PW stuff, preferably mid 50's and earlier is that it can be done by anyone with reasonable mechanical skills. Ability to read simple wiring diagrams is also handy. I don't want to touch anything that can't be taken apart with pliers, screwdrivers, tweezers and a simple soldering iron. It it looks electronic, I won't touch it.
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