Lets hear, see and learn about your "3-Rail Traditional Toy Train Layout"

Thanks for sharing Charlie 0 3 rail traditional is my thing too!

For an intro to my layout, click here:

https://www.warrenvillerailroad.com/about

I've been a Lionel Pennsy collector, operator and repair person for many decades.  I also spent 37 years on active duty in the Army.  A highly detailed, sceniced layout was never an option.  We moved about 20 times.  I always envisioned my retirement layout along the lines of a department store holiday display.  Lionel track, trains and accessories.  Below are some pictures of my 3 rail Lionel toy train room and layout.  16X16 with two 072 blocks and two regular O gauge blocks.  TMCC, Legacy and conventional.   

I need to think about some overhead trestles..... those look cool. Of course, we all know that gizmos rule on a layout.

@brianel_k-lineguy posted:

@Choo Choo Charlie wrote:

As this is the "3-Rail Traditional Toy Train" OGR forum, we need to hear from those with that style of layout.  We are a small minority of viewers and participants on this, our forum...

This view has been posted before so let's put this myth to rest. There are currently as of this moment, 28,705 members on this forum. There's NO way that these are all scale guys. We all know there's a big difference between members who "lurk" on this forum, and those who actively post. And there's just a lot of folks who don't post, or post in frequently.

And if the scale market was SO BIG ...

I could on in this vein as there's lots of evidence. But here's another angle.

I don't have any train problems to post about, as I very seldom have any despite me running "inferior" trains according to the thinking of some here.

My K-Line S-2 isn't working..." Nope, that doesn't happen. No need for a post.

"I'm having problems with my Lionel starter set 4-4-2..." Nope, that doesn't happen. No need for a post.

"I'm having constant derailments on my Lionel MPC-era design 027 switch tracks..." Nope, that doesn't happen either. I haven't had a derailment (other than my own error) in decades. So again, no need for a post.

And I still have fun in the hobby. My repaint post linked below is both evidence of that, and an encouragement to those looking for some creative endeavors in "027 scale" .

@brianel_k-lineguy,

I hear where you're coming from, but I don't think that Charlie was looking for a tirade when he launched this thread.

Questions:

1. Are all 28,705 of us more alike, or more different?
2. Are we friends or foes?
3. Is it time to kick some of us out because our preferences are too different?

You're arguing for tolerance and respect.  Please give some as well.

Those of you who love 3-Rail Traditional please keep up the good work.  Your work is just as inspiring as the finest scale-sized modeling, and is indeed the foundation of the hobby.

Mike

P.S. Now I have to ask a simple question.  If all the non-modern stuff was really as bullet-proof as you imply why did Lionel have a service network from it's earliest days?  I suppose that back in the day, unlike the present time, folks who worked within it were just like the Maytag repairman -- lonely.

Johns GG1 and Hokie 71

Those are some neat layouts and I love the elevated tracks, lots of train shelves and a turntable .  The pictures are worth a thousand words.

I have eliminated installing elevated tracks for 30 years as my layout was portable and they would be a pain to put up and take down.  I am putting them on" the list" as a future consideration now that the layout is up permanent.  I keep lists of just about every thing.

Charlie

@Choo Choo Charlie posted:

I am putting them on" the list" as a future consideration now that the layout is up permanent.  I keep lists of just about every thing.

Charlie

The proverbial bucket list!  I fear many of us do that......

I think this topic is a great idea and will enable us to learn about and see our traditional 3 rail layouts in one place. Thanks, Charlie, for starting this thread.

My layout is essentially a Postwar, tubular track, long and narrow switching layout, laden with Postwar accessories and sidings. Here are a few panoramic photos:

Whatever you love, whatever your passions are, you can show them on your layout. Mine include baseball, Lionel operating accessories, tugboats and barges in the water, Plasticville, scenery, among others.

The layout is about 35 feet long and 3 to 4 feet wide, except for a new addition (where the Plasticville village and boats and barges are), where it is about 12 feet wide.

I started building the layout when my now 30 something children were 8 and 10 years old, and it has been great fun expanding it, scenicking it, and tinkering with it ever since.

Arnold

I bought trains through newspaper ads for many years.  I learned quickly that if a postwar lionel train was in decent cosmetic shape, almost 100% would run fine after some oil.  Therefore my cash offer could be substantially higher than for a mistreated, rusted train. 

I'm not saying they were bullet proof but many were older than me. 

BTW Mike the number was actually 97.634%.  Just saving you the time.

We have a separate more scale- like layout in a 12 x 16 foot shed. But a year and a half ago, my wife suggested I build a small layout to have in our front room. So I decided to build a small 4 x 4 foot layout in post war style and run my first train set (a 1956 Switcher set I received for Xmas that year). That same year, my little brother received a small set with the Lionel 520 electric locomotive. I had bought a 520 engine and the same type cars that my brother had received so I could recreate his set, and I planned to run these sets on this 1956 style layout. I used the same 027 manual switches I had received the next Xmas and 027 track. It was fun building it, and it’s fun running these old trains.

Questions:

1. Are all 28,705 of us more alike, or more different?
2. Are we friends or foes?
3. Is it time to kick some of us out because our preferences are too different?

My answers:

1. Yes

2. Friends

3. NO!!

My answers are supported by the diversity in my "Friend's Layouts" post series on my website. Just yesterday our LITCA group had a BBQ of 14 of us - layouts of those attending include: Scale O. Traditional O. HO. Flyer S, TT, N and T-rail. Large and small, in planning, professionally built and home built

This is my 1985-87 layout......in many ways, these were simpler times.....

Though my new "layout to be" will feature command control.......it will still run lots of conventional engines and feature push button Lionel/AF operating accessories...

Peter

If we are going to talk about a traditional toy train layout I can't think of anything more traditional than a carpet central around Christmas time.   I assembled carpet centrals many times over the years and there are dozens of stories I could offer about running the trains for visitors.

  This display dates from 1981.  At the time I was single so I could do anything I felt like as far as making use of floor space. What I would do was move all of the furniture out of the living room and stuff it into the bedroom (there wasn't a lot of furniture so this wasn't a big deal) and cover the entire living room floor with my latest creation.  About this time my sister wrote me and asked for an updated picture of myself.  I was going to set a camera up on a tripod and take a timer picture but before I could do this one of my co-workers came over with his family to view the layout. 

  He was taking pictures so I asked him if he would take a picture of me at the controls of this layout.  As it happened his wife and two children were sitting along side me when he snapped the photo.  In due time he sent me a print and I forwarded it on to my sister.  Apparently some of her friends wanted to see what I looked like so she pulled out the picture and showed it to them.

  Their uniform reaction to the picture was NOT positive. Some of the more printable comments were:

  1. My God, his wife must be a saint!

  2. How could he possibly treat his family that way?!

  3. If he pulled a stunt like that with me I'd leave and find me a good lawyer!

  4. Shame on him for forcing his wife to sit still for something like that!

  5. I can't believe it!  He plays with his trains and just makes his kids watch! What a creep!

  6. What kind of a jerk makes his wife and kids dress up while he sits there in jeans and a sweatshirt?

My sister had to quickly explain to everyone that:

1. I was single

2. The lady and the children in the picture were visitors and were the wife and children of the guy who took the picture.

3. Most of the time my living room looked like every other living room.

  When I told my friend about the reaction to the picture we all got a good laugh.

@Putnam Division posted:

This is my 1985-87 layout......in many ways, these were simpler times.....

Though my new "layout to be" will feature command control.......it will still run lots of conventional engines and feature push button Lionel/AF operating accessories...

Peter

Love this! Bravo Peter!

Arnold

@Robert S. Butler posted:

If we are going to talk about a traditional toy train layout I can't think of anything more traditional than a carpet central around Christmas time.   I assembled carpet centrals many times over the years and there are dozens of stories I could offer about running the trains for visitors.

  This display dates from 1981.  At the time I was single so I could do anything I felt like as far as making use of floor space. What I would do was move all of the furniture out of the living room and stuff it into the bedroom (there wasn't a lot of furniture so this wasn't a big deal) and cover the entire living room floor with my latest creation.  About this time my sister wrote me and asked for an updated picture of myself.  I was going to set a camera up on a tripod and take a timer picture but before I could do this one of my co-workers came over with his family to view the layout.

  He was taking pictures so I asked him if he would take a picture of me at the controls of this layout.  As it happened his wife and two children were sitting along side me when he snapped the photo.  In due time he sent me a print and I forwarded it on to my sister.  Apparently some of her friends wanted to see what I looked like so she pulled out the picture and showed it to them.

  Their uniform reaction to the picture was NOT positive. Some of the more printable comments were:

  1. My God, his wife must be a saint!

  2. How could he possibly treat his family that way?!

  3. If he pulled a stunt like that with me I'd leave and find me a good lawyer!

  4. Shame on him for forcing his wife to sit still for something like that!

  5. I can't believe it!  He plays with his trains and just makes his kids watch! What a creep!

  6. What kind of a jerk makes his wife and kids dress up while he sits there in jeans and a sweatshirt?

My sister had to quickly explain to everyone that:

1. I was single

2. The lady and the children in the picture were visitors and were the wife and children of the guy who took the picture.

3. Most of the time my living room looked like every other living room.

  When I told my friend about the reaction to the picture we all got a good laugh.

Love this too? Bravo to you, Robert, as well!

Arnold

The Brickton Rail Transfer

I love all the layouts, thanks for posting guys.  Robert's post on his old carpet layout was especially great.  It shows O gauge toy trains can be fun, interesting and run without a fancy layout.  Temporary layouts on the carpet on the floor are the only place available for lots of folks like apartment and small house renters. It has special appeal for families with small children:  on the floor where the kids live and second the carpet is easier on the engines and cars and have a soft landing area and when they fall of the track.

If I had not committed to building my layout while Constant Spring part of Kingston, Jamaica in 1977, I would have had the layout on the hard terrazzo floors of our rental house.  We would have needed lots of soft cushions to sit on the floor.  As it was we had a bare bones start of my current layout.  But fun was had running 4 small 2-4-2 plastic Lionel engines.

Charlie

My 15x19 L-shaped layout is probably ly my last O-gauge, three-rail Lionel-oriented layout. It follows several years of presenting holiday layouts in the living room (and later) in our two-stall garage. We invited 200+ friends to our Holiday Open House events, and my wife Carol prepared a table filled with snacks. Some foodies probably favored the table more than the trains!

After the years of hosting our Holiday Train Open House events, I joined (and later led as its President) a local O-gauge train club. Members built several layouts open to the public at local venues during the calendar year.at a local venues. Later still, a corps of area hobbyists built and operated a large O-gauge layout at Layman Library during the holiday season. During its five-year run, more than 22,000 visitors dropped by.

Then I focused on designing and building the current L-shaped layout. It's not a "hi-rail" layout; rather, it's a deliberate attempt to  create a 1950s-ish layout with no scenery but filled with buildings, operating accessories, and a modest track plan of Lionel tubular track and switches.

The lower level has an industrial district with sidings and operating accessories, a Victorian neighborhood with houses, a suburban neighborhood, a city park, a downtown area with appropriate operating accessories, and a Dinosaur Park (for kids to enjoy). The minimum curve and switches are all O42 - the largest size that would fit in the Train Room.

The upper level has three short trolley lines - all of them with Christmas décor- plus 35 Department 66 North Pole Village lighted porcelain buildings.

The lower level is wired for Lionel's TMCC and MTH''s DCS control technology - selectable through a knife switch. Trains respond to a CAB-1 or a Remote Commander respectively. The upper level is wired with DC through a PC power supply routed to three separate voltage control knobs.

A track plan for each level is attached. Also some pix of the layout.

Mike Mottler      LCCA 12394

@Mike H Mottler posted:

My 15x19 L-shaped layout is probably ly my last O-gauge, three-rail Lionel-oriented layout. It follows several years of presenting holiday layouts in the living room (and later) in our two-stall garage. We invited 200+ friends to our Holiday Open House events, and my wife Carol prepared a table filled with snacks. Some foodies probably favored the table more than the trains!

After the years of hosting our Holiday Train Open House events, I joined (and later led as its President) a local O-gauge train club. Members built several layouts open to the public at local venues during the calendar year.at a local venues. Later still, a corps of area hobbyists built and operated a large O-gauge layout at Layman Library during the holiday season. During its five-year run, more than 22,000 visitors dropped by.

Then I focused on designing and building the current L-shaped layout. It's not a "hi-rail" layout; rather, it's a deliberate attempt to  create a 1950s-ish layout with no scenery but filled with buildings, operating accessories, and a modest track plan of Lionel tubular track and switches.

The lower level has an industrial district with sidings and operating accessories, a Victorian neighborhood with houses, a suburban neighborhood, a city park, a downtown area with appropriate operating accessories, and a Dinosaur Park (for kids to enjoy). The minimum curve and switches are all O42 - the largest size that would fit in the Train Room.

The upper level has three short trolley lines - all of them with Christmas décor- plus 35 Department 66 North Pole Village lighted porcelain buildings.

The lower level is wired for Lionel's TMCC and MTH''s DCS control technology - selectable through a knife switch. Trains respond to a CAB-1 or a Remote Commander respectively. The upper level is wired with DC through a PC power supply routed to three separate voltage control knobs.

A track plan for each level is attached. Also some pix of the layout.

Mike Mottler      LCCA 12394

Well done, Mike!

Peter

@mgiertrain posted:

The Brickton Rail Transfer

Well done!

Peter

@Robert S. Butler posted:

If we are going to talk about a traditional toy train layout I can't think of anything more traditional than a carpet central around Christmas time.   I assembled carpet centrals many times over the years and there are dozens of stories I could offer about running the trains for visitors.

  This display dates from 1981.  At the time I was single so I could do anything I felt like as far as making use of floor space. What I would do was move all of the furniture out of the living room and stuff it into the bedroom (there wasn't a lot of furniture so this wasn't a big deal) and cover the entire living room floor with my latest creation.  About this time my sister wrote me and asked for an updated picture of myself.  I was going to set a camera up on a tripod and take a timer picture but before I could do this one of my co-workers came over with his family to view the layout.

  He was taking pictures so I asked him if he would take a picture of me at the controls of this layout.  As it happened his wife and two children were sitting along side me when he snapped the photo.  In due time he sent me a print and I forwarded it on to my sister.  Apparently some of her friends wanted to see what I looked like so she pulled out the picture and showed it to them.

  Their uniform reaction to the picture was NOT positive. Some of the more printable comments were:

  1. My God, his wife must be a saint!

  2. How could he possibly treat his family that way?!

  3. If he pulled a stunt like that with me I'd leave and find me a good lawyer!

  4. Shame on him for forcing his wife to sit still for something like that!

  5. I can't believe it!  He plays with his trains and just makes his kids watch! What a creep!

  6. What kind of a jerk makes his wife and kids dress up while he sits there in jeans and a sweatshirt?

My sister had to quickly explain to everyone that:

1. I was single

2. The lady and the children in the picture were visitors and were the wife and children of the guy who took the picture.

3. Most of the time my living room looked like every other living room.

  When I told my friend about the reaction to the picture we all got a good laugh.

Great story!

Peter

1992-95ish.....the "pre-digital era". Notice the use of Kenner Gorder & Panel building sets.

Peter

@WP posted:

We have a separate more scale- like layout in a 12 x 16 foot shed. But a year and a half ago, my wife suggested I build a small layout to have in our front room. So I decided to build a small 4 x 4 foot layout in post war style and run my first train set (a 1956 Switcher set I received for Xmas that year). That same year, my little brother received a small set with the Lionel 520 electric locomotive. I had bought a 520 engine and the same type cars that my brother had received so I could recreate his set, and I planned to run these sets on this 1956 style layout. I used the same 027 manual switches I had received the next Xmas and 027 track. It was fun building it, and it’s fun running these old trains.

It occurred to me as I watched this video not only how delightful a 4'x4' layout can be, but how well you had sceniced it - minimal scenery, but just the right amount so that when viewed from a low angle, it provides separation from front to back - hugely reduces the boredom of a round n round small layout. Really a nice, small layout John, very pleasant to watch!

George

My layout is the essence of toy trains. It's my version of the Lionel Dealer Display Layout D-105, a 5x9  multi-level running two tracks. I added a few tweaks here and there but it is mostly faithful to the D-105.

Lots of operating accessories and trackside signals and pure fun for me. Postwar is what makes it all go for me.

EDIT:  Here's a short video of an original Texas Special passenger set with the "red letter" cars.

Our layout started in 2008 when my boys were little. It’s on a 4x8 piece of plywood and is basically a folded over dogbone with an elevated trolly track. I’m an EE by trade, but really enjoy the traditional / post war aspect of the trains. I find it very relaxing to rip the older stuff apart, see how it works, and fix them up. I deal with enough of the high tech “fun” at work…

Hi Charlie! Cool topic!

I had a traditional Lionel postwar type layout with accessories that has since been sold, taken down and moved to a friends house back in 2005.

here are some photos of the four semi hollow doors with a plan from “Easy Lionel Layouts You Can Build” by Peter Riddle

While I made a friend very happy The layout was sorely missed so a couple of years ago I decided to rebuild it!

sorry the photos aren’t too sharp. These are the only historic  photos I have.

Charlie, my former layout as pictured in last post had Four  semi hollow doors, luggage latched together supported on sturdy metal legs. It  had a working catenary (overhead electric power) and it worked flawlessly through all four tables!  Very 1950’s vibe. Door # 4 had a separate ZW transformer for switching sidings and accessories. One could operate this alone while isolating the rest of the layout for continuous running and or a separate operator. Good times we’re had.

I am slowly rebuilding this layout with three tables currently (maybe the fourth table too) and will reinstall catenary. reestablished former layout will have a different look but function much the same as the one in early 2004 to 2005. It will have a lot of plasticville, and probably only one major accessory per door this time around. I am raising it 10 to 12 inches higher soon. This will give a considerable trackside view.

thanks for starting a cool thread.

Does it get anymore "traditional' and 'toy train layout' than this?

This was my first train after getting married.  A gift from my wife:

- walt

I apologize for the small size of the image but it's not like I can re-take it!

this was the next year.  GREATLY improved in size. HA-HA

Here's my D-190 (1957) display layout re-creation.

This is a fantastic thread. Thanks to everyone for the pictures and stories. Here are a couple of pics of my work in progress layout. It’s 6x16, 027 profile track, all curves are 042 or 054. There are 12 042 switches with several operating accessories. This is version 3.0 on this benchwork. V1.0 featured nested 054 & 042 loops and a trolley line.  Someone suggested running trains on the loops might become boring. This latest version consists of one circuit with two reversing loops, a long passing siding and several spurs for accessories and storing engines.
I run mostly LC+ and MTH PS1.
Having fun but at some point I may redo the layout to add mountains bridges and tunnels.
Thanks for looking.

Mark

Keep it going..

a few shots of my Super O layout, finished this spring:

I started building my layout around 1998 when I transitioned from 027 to 0 Gauge.

My current layout is essential a tubular track switching layout with 2 main lines that are independently powered and interconnected. It is long and narrow, approximately 35 feet long and its width ranges from 3 feet to 8 feet. It's height is 48 to 50 inches, I have DCS and a TIU, and run conventional, DCS and LC+ and Legacy using dedicated remotes or the LC Universal Remote.

It has 9 sidings, all independently powered and interconnected, 16 022 switches with fixed voltage plugs, and is laden with many Lionel Postwar accessories:

I started benchwork this week. It's 9'x13'

Love this thread! 

This is sort of a knock-off 3-rail traditional layout, since I used Atlas track instead of Lionel Super O.  It is basically a modified D-265, but without any elevated track since Lionel Magne-Traction would be useless on the Atlas track, so I just added a crossover and some other switches to allow for a reverse loop.   

Here is my track plan.

I still have the layout, but it has been expanded to include an outside loop with a siding and a yard in the back, it has also been scenic-ed to look more like a hi-rail layout, but its bones are still grounded in a traditional layout:

I've built two toy layouts.  Here is the first, 8x4 feet:

There are details and video at https://3railtrains.weebly.com...street-railroad.html.

More recently I replaced this with a smaller 5x6 layout that I could fit in my office and which has even more operating accessories.  Here is the schematic:

Details and video are at https://3railtrains.weebly.com...-display-layout.html.

I like to keep it simple !

@Jagrick posted:

Keep it going..

Wow, are those all dealer displays or designed like them?

Dealer displays and layouts.

restoring another one now

Some others