Hello! New Member Here

Welcome back aboard Mike!!

You will soon get all kinds of answers to your questions....but I just wanted to say that we are glad you are here on the forum...

Alan

Mike, hope this helps.

Gilly

Welcome, Mike.  I use Gargraves Flextrack and Ross Switches.  This enables you to build a layout with custom curves for more realism.

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Dennis

Mike:

Welcome back.

Lee and Gilly covered your questions well.

I'll add one long and detailed point they skipped.

You probably are used to Conventional control, turn the lever on the transformer up and the train goes faster.

We also have Command Control now.

Lionel and MTH use different methods to do Command Control. They are not exactly compatible. IE they will not run each others engines. for the most part.

They normally will work together on a layout (with a few exceptions that can be worked around or fixed).

Lionel Had TMCC and now has Legacy.

MTH Has DCS Now at Rev L for TIU hardware and Rev 4.2 for software.

TMCC / Legacy uses radio signals to the engine for control. Certain things on a layout can interfere, they can generally be avoided or fixed.

DCS uses bi-directional digital comm thru the rails. Coils in switches powered by the rails and some other things can interfere with this. These also can be avoided or fixed. Bi-directional comm to the engines allows such features as odometer, Trip odometer, Total Power on time, Distance travelled (in scale miles) Distance traveled since powered on, reading back DCS signal level, ect.

Many of us use both. Each maker has equipment / paint jobs the other has not offered. In the case of rolling stock, that's not a problem as long as you stick to a size / line.  

Lionel starter sets typically do not have Command Control in the engines.

Lionel Standard May or may not have Command control (I could be in error here)

Lionel Legacy = more features & Command Control

Lionel Vision Line = Max Features and details + I believe always Scale & Command Control

MTH Premier = Scale w max details

MTH Railking = Compressed but a bit bigger than traditional Lionel

MTH makes some mixed offerings too;

 Imperial Railking is not scale but has many more details.

 Railking Scale is usually older Scale equipment that has less detail than current model Premier units.

Almost All MTH engines lately have been Command Control including all starter sets for several years now.  Most new Starter sets include a limited Command control system, also available separately.

Bottom line is always: Have Fun !

PS Take a look at MTH Scaletrax too, I'm replacing the track on my layout with it.

Welcome aboard ! You'll get a ton of advice here from a lot of different points of view,  but do heed Lee's warning about Simple Green, not going to bust his chops about it but do a forum search of it to discover why he has become something of a forum folk hero, he knows of what he speaks!

Jerry

Welcome Aboard: Next stop, Happiness

Lionel fastrack is favored by many. Almost everything 3 rail will intermix. Ah but if you ask which brand to buy you will start WW3. Something to take note of is many current items have curve restrictions so you need to watch for that when you buy something. The old days of 027 and regular O is long gone...Jim

Welcome to the insanity of 0 scale trains!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As far as track is concerned, that really depends on the type of layout you're going to build and I will probably keep coming back to this statement.

I think Fastrack or Lionel standard O Gauge three rail are the best options to start with.  Fastrack can be built on just about any surface especially carpet. It connects well and to gives you the ability to try out different layouts before screwing it down. Standard O Gauge is probably the best bang for the buck but pretty much has to go on a board and get fastened down. MTH has a track similar to Lionel's Fastrack, but most of the comments I have seen complain about electrical connectivity issues with that system.

If you know for sure you are going to build a nice high rail layout, then looking into Atlas and the other systems is a must. I have found that my Fastrack layouts over the last couple of years have been very simple, no electrical issues, this year I added DCS months after the layout was built and achieved a signal strength of 10 without any adjustments. I've also found the biggest complaint about the noise level of Fastrack becomes manageable when you move to a command control system like DCS.

My opinion on track this is based off experience, some will agree, some will disagree. The great thing about this forum is that there are volumes of posts on all the different track types which will help you make an informed decision on what will best work for you. Someone even took time last year to do a cost analysis of a layout using four or five different major track brands. I think it's really going to boil down to what type of layout plan to build and what kind of budget you have to work with. 

Welcome aboard.  Happy Fastrack user here.

Welcome aboard.

Welcome to the forum and the hobby. It is a one way ticket that does not have a destination. May you enjoy it as much as we have along the way. No rush, relax and enjoy as you go. If you start to feel overwhelmed sometimes just run them in a circle and watch...they are simply amazing toys. There's no right and no wrong way to play. Many of stressful days I've had were made better by simply enjoying my hobby. 

And another great big welcome aboard from the other side of the Atlantic. 

I think that the learned gentlemen above have given you some good advice. I'll just add that if you are considering a command control system, Lionel's Legacy locomotives have amazing sound, and the Legacy system is great for running trains, and is really simple to set up. (At least, that is my opinion.)  I'm also another very happy FasTrack user. 

welcome Mike. enjoy the hobby. track depends on what you want. my layout is plain old green painted plywood. I like Lionel tube track. plenty of good used track out there. 

Welcome to the best of the web when it comes to O And S Gauge trains!!

Welcome Aboard!!! It's a fun hobby.

One tip, go slow, determine a path, then open your wallet!!

Trust me on this one! 

WELCOME ABOARD

Alex

Hi Mike, there's not much I can add to all the good stuff above but I do wont to welcome you aboard.

I would like to say that it is my opinion that the track you chose is a very subjective thing. What works and looks wonderful to one, is junk to another. Try to spend some time to learn about all of the brands offered to us today, then make your decision based on looks, quality as well as accessories available.

Good luck buddy, now go have fun.

Mike,

   Welcome to the OGR forum, the best forum on the Web.

Let me try to answer a few of your questions.  Before you go out and purchase a bunch of track, investigate which track and switches will accommodate the kind of trains you are going to run, especially important if you want to run Tin Plate Trains.

In my case I use FasTrack with old Lionel 711 & 072 switches, because all my trains including my Tin Plate trains runs well on them.  If you are going to run more modern trains you might consider Atlas track and Ross switches, or GarGraves and Ross switches.  These are only some of the options.  You also might consider the RailRoad Tracks Engineering package for your computer, for planning your layouts in advance.  In my case I engineer my own and use the RRT as a checking device.  You will need to choose the type layout your want to build, by this I mean realistic or

as in my case, Toy Train like.   This will determine the size of equipment, cars,

people and buildings, you need to purchase.  In my case again, it's a mixture of

sizes, that makes a childs Toy Train Wonder World. 

Hope this helps a might

PCRR/Dave

Some of the FasTrack Pine Creek Rail Road

Thank you everybody!  So what I've gathered from the information you've given so far is:

In Lionel, Standard is if not exactly, close to scale and traditional is not? 

It sounds like I'll probably want to stick with 3-rail, whether it be classic Lionel 3-rail, Fastrack (clean with approved products..., thanks Lee, or something similar to Fastrack from MTH, or Atlas.  I haven't even began to think of how I'm doing a layout so I'll go for whatever is easiest. Within the past few weeks, I've bought a couple TTUX cars and from what I understand, O27 is not the best for them.  So if old days of O27 and O are long gone, like Jim said, does Fastrack replace it, or are there different curves on that too?  Two of you suggested Gargraves, I'm not too familiar with that.  It also seems like the Ross Switches are pretty popular.

I have never used anything other than the conventional control/transformer.  I know some, actually very little, about the Command Control.  Im not even sure if that will work with older locomotives that I have, will it?  I'm assuming if they use radio signals as Russell pointed out, they probably will not.

I know with everything I've bought years ago, locomotives and cars, that this is an expensive hobby.  It may be a while before I even start to put something together, I just need to get started so when the time comes, I know what I'm doing.  I plan on keeping everything realistic looking and with that, running modern/postwar trains.

Welcome aboard!

In Lionel, Standard is if not exactly, close to scale and traditional is not?

This is correct.

So if old days of O27 and O are long gone, like Jim said, does Fastrack replace it, or are there different curves on that too?

FasTrack comes in O31, O36, O48, O60, O72 and O84.  Atlas, MTH ScaleTrax, Ross and Gargraves are more realistic looking track systems, but they will require more work to lay the track and get everything up and running, and if you like the track ballasted, you will have to do that yourself (more work).  I'd suggest finding a hobby shop or a train show where you can examine a number of different track systems first hand and decide which one you like best.  Each system has something going for it, so in the end, it should be your personal taste which should be the deciding factor.

I know some, actually very little, about the Command Control.  Im not even sure if that will work with older locomotives that I have, will it?

Conventional locomotives can be run with a command system with some additional hardware like a Lionel TPC along with either a TMCC (old system) or Legacy command set.  The new Lionel ZW-L transformer can also be directly controlled by Legacy to run conventional locomotives.  Similar setups are possible with MTH's DCS system and some additional equipment.  If you are not planning on buying any command locomotives, it is probably not worth all the extra $$$ you will spend on a command set and the extra hardware.

Andy

Great questions as I am new here as well and was wondering much of the same

Welcome Aboard. This is a great hobbie to start into and get back involved. Have fun.

David

Welcom back to the hobbie.

Welcome aboard Mike,

This is the best forum and you've gotten some good advice so far. I'll just add a couple of thoughts. You can run both command control and your conventional trains on the same layout, just not at the same time. If you go for scale equipment, you have to consider its turning diameter. The larger scale engines could require an 072" diameter, so keep that in mind when you make your plans. Your current stuff should run on any track that is currently available (Fastrack minimum diameter is 36", MTH Realtrax is 31" min). Gargraves and Atlas make bendable track beside curves ascurves as, but that mostly works for larger custom diameters. Just keep asking questions until you get the hang of it.

Hi Mike,

Welcome to the OGR Forum.

i'm glad you got good advice so I can just say hello and not type too much. 

Welcome Aboard!!!!!

Welcome! This is a great place and source of wonderful information! Terry

All aboard Mike! 

Just a couple of comments here: 

the curve track sizes above are based on the diameter of a circle - for example, a 0-36 circle would be 36" in diameter.  This is standard in the 3 rail hobby but different than two rail scale models where curves are measured in their radius (thus that 0-36 would be 18" radius).

The sizes of diecast cars were determined by their manufacturers - cars are mostly 1:43 and trucks, buses, and construction equipment are mostly 1:50.  The big market for these are for toys and for collectors, not O gauge train operators.  We would like 1:48 cars, but they are not available so we make do.

Re track: start simple and go from there as you gain experience.  Fastrack is a good system with a wide variety of components.  The older tubular track is cheaper and has worked well for nearly a century.  Either can get you started.

John

Welcome to the forum Mike!  There's a great bunch of folks here.  I hope you have as many years enjoying model trains as I have.

Welcome Mike,

It's nice to see others getting into O gauge, most important is to have fun with the hobby. The old Lionel tubular track is still the old stand-by, and what I prefer to use.

Like others have mentioned about size of freight cars, you might see two differant freight cars made by Lionel but be differant size.

MTH and Lionel are into remote control, commonly called command control and each company has their own version of command control, don't know if the two systems play well together.

Williams has basic engines or no command control systems from the factory, now Bachmann owns Williams, so you may hear of WBB which means Williams by Bachmann. Most Williams engines seem to be large size when compared to some other brands in O gauge trains, also Williams uses metal gears in their drive assemblies.

Some people love not having command control, Williams don't have command control installed at the factory.

Lee F.

Welcome

There's one point raised above that I fell victim to, so I thought it might be worth repeating.

If you're a scale person, then scale is scale in terms of size.  Everything is 1:48.  When you get outside scale, the compression is selective, meaning it's not just something like 1:56, but that within the piece, the compression varies.

For me, the biggest challenge is the resulting size from different manufacturers.  Traditional/O27/semi-scale can mean different things to different manufacturers.

I have found that I have to be careful mixing MTH Rail-King with other manufacturers because they'll tend to be a bit larger, especially if pairing RK passenger cars or rolling stock rated for O27 with a Lionel engine rated for O27. 

But, with that caution in mind, I'm very pleased with all the different manufacturers represented on my layout.

Welcome,

You found a great group of people who are always willing to help.  I have found great amounts of help here on the forum.  In many case even just cruising around and reading some of the threads is really helpful in figuring out solutions to your problem, or question.

Thanks again everybody.  I looked at the flex track from gargraves.... does that track work well?  I mean, I've never used anything other than the traditional lionel track with the traditional wiring

Welcome aboard.

Also, if anybody can help, Dave posted above to check out the RailRoad Tracks Engineering for my computer, any further info on that or how I get it?  I've googled it, just havent found it.  Thanks!

For the RR Track software go to http://www.rrtrack.com/

There are also some free ones out there, Atlas makes one for their track and MTH has a limited version of RR Track in starter sets with just the RealTrax library.

If you send me a mailing address I'll send you one of those, I have several as it also comes in the Annual Club packages.

I have the older Ver 4 with a bunch of Libraries and it's great.

For Gargraves flex you will probably need a railbending tool or a wood template to bend to, it is not all that easy to bend.

And another plug: MTH Scaletrax flex is truly flexible, I have bent it down to less than O-31 and straightened it back out with just my hands. Can you tell I love this track? It also has the closest to actual scale sized rails and ties of all the major brands.  Check it out in the sample videos at http://www.toytrainsontracks.com/

(I have no connection with that vendor other than owning a couple of his videos)

Take care, Go slow, and have fun!