Lionel O-72 Tubular switches are history

My dealer confirmed that. Not a major loss in my book with Ross in the game. 

It is if you still use them!!!!!

No big loss.  The were horrible.

I have no problem with them at all.

Art

Scott,

   From what I understand you are absolutely correct, and there are lots of people still using them.  The push buy Lionel toward FasTrack everything, is quite evident now with the sale of K-Line Super Snap to RMT, and currently with the elimination of the Tubular track and switches from their inventory.   Lionel is definitely shrinking their production and inventory.  Can't say I agree with the sale of K-Line SS switches & track or discontinuing the production of the original Lionel Tubular track & switches, however I do not know how much profit Lionel was actually making on them each year. This in reality might be Lionel management eliminating their slow or low profit items, from Lionel's production and inventory.  However it is my understanding RMT is doing very well sales wise, with the original K-Line SS stuff.  In reality Lionel's business management decisions have not always been the best, from a pure money making stand point.  People who do not use Lionel Conventional tubular any more, have no problems with this, people that still want to continue using Lionel Conventional tubular are eventually going to see the cost, of their track and switches become a great deal more expensive.  I figure in a year my 711/072 switches will be worth 25% to 40% more money.

PCRR/Dave

I know that a large number of operators on this forum have been highly critical of Lionel's 072 switches and probably with good reason.  Nonetheless, the Lionel 072 switches I have on my layout were purchased over 25 years ago and they have provided me with reliable trouble free service during that entire period of time.  I believe the ones I have were manufactured in the U.S.A. and perhaps they were superior to the later versions made in China.  That being said they are over 25 years old so what happens when they finally do go belly up?  Are Ross switches compatible with tubular track?  I hope so. 

I think there is a mistake: What O72 switches were made in the postwar period?  What was the catalog no?

Steven J. Serenska

OKHIKER,

   The K-Line Super Snap low voltage switches will fit right in to your Conventional track, however you will have to change your layout just slightly to accommodate them.

I also have the original 711/072 Lionel tubular switches and they still work like brand new, further you do realize that all 022 switch motors are the same as the 072's, and frankly the motors are the only thing that can actually fail & need full replacement, on your old 072 American made Lionel switches, everything else is fixable.  You can usually pick up 022 switches at the train shows, for about $10.00 a piece.   However with this latest Lionel announcement, I figure they will definitely go up in cost.

PCRR/Dave

I agree it is no loss. The very old switches were fine, but the ones made since at least 2001 were troublesome junk.I do believe Lionel is wantong to push people to buy the much more expensive fastrack system.

Rob

Gentlemen,

   Pappy is giving the correct skinny, when looking to purchase the 072 Lionel switches always purchase the USA made 072 switches from 1969 and before, the old 711's in prime shape are still the best however, although they take massive energy to operate, use a channel of your ZW to operate them, daisy chained together thru out your layout, and they work perfectly.  Stay way from the later built foreign made 072's they are junk right out of the box.  This is why our USA made original 711/072 are going to have a 25%-40% price increase, in the very near future.  The newer foreign made 072's some of the guys have been using, have just disappeared from the inventory, course they were junk in the 1st place. 

PCRR/Dave

Could this be the beginning of the demise of tinplate track we've all been hearing about?  

Bob,

   The thing is there is so much of it already around, it really will not be a problem for the next 15-18 years, and with RMT still making K-Line Super Snap, there will probably never be a real problem at all.

PCRR/Dave

Ross makes a line of tubular-rail switches now, they should be direct replacements.

---PCJ

Railride,

   Yes the Ross Tin Plate switches match up with your original Lionel tubular track, great switches unless you plan on running original Lionel Tin Plate trains or MTH Repro's.  These Ross switches are only Tin Plate in name, they will not accommodate all Tin Plate Pre-War Trains, and Ross has made this perfectly clear, and I commend them for making sure us Tin Plate runners understood this before purchasing them.  Only 3 types of switches accommodate all Pre-War Tin Plate Trains on a constant running basis, the original Lionel USA made 711's, the original USA made 072's made 1969 and before and the K-line (RMT) low voltage Super Snap switches.

PCRR/Dave

I'll go you one better & say the O-72 switches made before 1943 are the ones to look for.

Because, of course, after 1942, there weren't any made until 1987(5165 & 5166).

Rob,

  As far as Lionel is concerned you are correct, however you are forgetting about K-Line, their Super Snap switches were some of the best ever made, and the newer low voltage stuff is exceptional stuff.  RMT makes the low voltage original K-Line SS switches even now, simply a great Tin Plate type product.  They now need to make them Command Control type RMT SS Switches.

PCRR/Dave

Lionel's language for out of stock is "discontinued".  Like has been explained for all tubular track - Lionel will make additional runs when there are sufficient orders or out of stock notices reach Lionel.  I expect this will hold true for 072 switches also.

I use the modern 072 switches on my layout.  They are all on trestles and I run all the Lionel larger engines through them.  While I agree they are not made to the standards and tolerances of the 711's they can be made to work. 

That said, I have about 20 of the prewar 711's, under the layout.  They will be used in my next trackplan, along with the modern 072's, where all my curves will be 072 minimum.

022's in the foreground, 072's on the trestles.

JohnsGG1,

   Way cool original stuff John, real nice layout, I love the graduated trestle cross over!

Great layout.  Got a hunch you will never see Lionel once again start to produce any Tubular track or switches, the push toward FasTrack is way to great now.  The profit margin I do believe is much greater for FasTrack.

PCRR/Dave

No problems for me. The ones produced in the 90's were outstanding. No derailments here. As for the newer ones, I have heard of issues, but I have not experienced any yet. I need about 10 more pairs for anyone wishing to get rid of their 072's :-)

Just for the record, I use Ross Switches.

Scott Smith

ZWPOWER,

   I did hear they had a good run of 072's in part of the 90's, you were darn lucky to get your hands on them.  I do believe I have a couple Pair of earlier 072's that I can give up, drop me some private e-mail and we will talk.  I will not give up any of my original 711's however.

PCRR/Dave

Fasttrack is not the answer......Its plastic crap IMHO. TUBULAR ALL THE WAY!

Grampstrains,

   You bet and that is why I indicated in a prior post that it would be a long time before the Lionel original tubular track depleted in most major inventories.  However the good 072 switches maybe another matter, because most of the latter made foreign stuff was

mostly garbage.

ZWPOWER,

    I thought the same as you for many many years until I actually ran some FasTrack and 048 and larger switches.  It runs Tin Plate Trains like a dream, even with the plastic road bed.  The new Command Control FT switches are bullet proof perfect.

My original Lionel Tubular track and my 027 also I will never give up, but man I love my FasTrack big time.

PCRR/Dave

I agree. I've had very few problems with the 28 Lionel O-72 modern era switches on my layout.  None of them with diesels or RS that cruise through the swithhes with no problems ever..  Its only some but not all steamers that have difficulty (rocking )clearing the center frog that sits a bit too high on the rail.   And that is caused by pickup rollers on some steams that do not retract far enough or reach the limit and scrape the frog.

There are ways to correct that too.

Joe

With Ross as a better option, I am not concerned one bit.

I just switched out a track from tubular 072 to Ross and gargaves. Now i have extra o72 switches. The newer trains just didn't run right on.  I hope I didn't kill the tubular because I switched!!  LOL

For some, Ross may be an option, but there are those who use and plan their layouts with different goals including running tin-plate, Lionel pre-war etc that may have a requirement/desire to use tubular track and the proper Lionel switches in maintaining the traditional Lionel look and feel. Simply because the demise of tubular track doesn't affect one personally doesn't mean it is of no consequence.

Those saying tubular track will be around forever reference their LHS with a dabbling of curves and straights, or trade shows with boxes of rusted and/or abused pieces that never seem to sell - they don't consider the availability of the track system in entirety, which includes O-72 switches.

It takes but one pebble, an avalanche to start.  

I agree, but I have divided my room up, into postwar with tubular and modern with ross and gargraves.  I will always have a postwar area with tubular. I only converted when I bought the big boy and other new passagner sets, that reguired the smoother track. Not many postwars required  o72, but for my 773 and 763 I'll have the o72 tubular. 

Bob,

   I do believe Lionel has been considering this move for a very long time, especially after selling of K-Line SS to RMT.  I do believe it's a profit margin move for their company.  Lionel is definitely pushing Fastrack now, even going into 031 FT CC switches, which is a pretty solid business move in itself, profit margin wise.

PCRR/Dave

I used to have tubular track.One time while puting some together.It can be very hard to fit together.Any way I ended up with a big cutt on my right hand.I took a while to heal and I went with gargraves track.I think lionel has been plaining this for some time now.But for those who like the tubular track just go to ebay.If layed out end to end.Theres enough of that track to go around the world 14 time.

Dave, that line was not Lionel's to sell.  It was owned by Sanda Kan and sold off when Kader Holdings purchased them.  Today RMT will do well selling products he obtained as Walter is a good business man and has some great items for sale.

I have been a tubular track guy my whole life and will die one.  The pre war 0-72 switches were good.  The remakes are total junk.

Today the Ross tubular is king of the hill.  Here is a picture of the first tubular switch Steve made.  Steve has been a good friend for many years and he gave me the very first tubular switch as a present.

Merkur from the Czech republic makes tinplate compatible 0-72 switches.  They match right up with Lionel O gauge tubular track.  They are available from RobG who posts on the Tinplate Forum.

I owned one set of O-Gauge tubular switches in the mid 90's. They were terrible Inconsistent firings, derailments. Nothing I tried helped.

     Come to the dark side my children! All will be ok! Just go to the top of the page and click on the yellow banner with the red lettering. It is only 4 letters R O S S. Everything will be alright! Choo Choo Kenny

I bought a few new examples to save mint as I always LOVED the way they looked...the classic Lionel look...like the ZW too.  But when I build a layout I will use Fasttrack or something similar.  Also the 027 Remote Track is an iconic piece and I like the way its constructed.

I am not a fan of the look of Fastrack.  I have used it on a large layout I built for a man in Boston and can say it is the best track to work with.

Marty F,

   When you get time take a look at the realistic FasTrack thread, it is possible to make very realistic layouts with it now.  I like it very much, as much as I like the conventional tubular.  However it took me a while before I made the switch to FT.  With a deaf daughter who was very rough as a child with her trains, I needed something almost bullet proof, for her to play with, started using it with the heavy conventional tubular 711/072 switches and everything has worked out quite well for many years.  I love the way DCS & Legacy run on FasTrack and the new FT Command Control Switches are simply fantastic.  I love the Ross stuff also, they have a great product and ofcourse the K-Line SS (RMT) is great stuff, especially with my Tin Plate Trains.

Down thru the years I have built layouts with just about all the different companies tracks, I know what works for the trains I like to run, and build with a few different makes of tracks, that I know work perfectly, with all my trains.  I have the utmost respect for the guys at Ross, and the way they handle their business, American made is important to me also, further they are honest business men, and always tell you the truth about what their track and switches will accommodate.

PCRR/Dave

Right you are, Mike W.  That's why I'm holding on to my postwar Lionel O-gauge.  I won't actually use it, as my layout is 027 - I just want to have it around.