Standard, O and S gauge layout

There was a fellow who posted here years ago that built a large outdoor loop for O and S gauge trains. GarGraves O and S track use the same rail, both gauges run fine. The fatal flaw of combining 3 rail O with two rail S gauge is immediately apparent when you come to a turnout.

Thanks for the reply and the assistance. The idea of building an outdoor layout S and O let alone standard is scary to me. I’m also heavy into G (LGB) and this scares me. I recently acquired a Mike Wolf / MTH blue G fitted 400e tinplate prototype that I wanted to run on a family member’s outdoor layout. My nephew is recommending that I save this for inside given the pollen and other residue on this track. I still haven’t run this curiosity but when I do I will post a video of it under a Christmas tree. 😉

There is better 5 rail track than Gargraves.  Check with Steve Eastman, a regular poster here.  I think he may have started a 5 rail thread, if you want to search for it.

Thank you. I have seen some of Steve’s replies. Much appreciated!

A lot will depend on your space available. Gargraves 5 rail says 72" minimum, and even that it hard to bend. I needed tighter curves for my garage layout and ended up selling all my Gargraves and made my own tubular 5 rail. Using USA Track made it fairly easy. Well worth the work.

Steve

Hi Steve,
Thank you for prompt reply and help. Space is the question and I’m not certain of those limitations at the moment. This is all a work in progress as so many here would understand. I have purchased track that I didn’t even understand the true size of. A tape measure on the floor really didn’t prepare me for what would occur when all of this was laid out. In preparation and before I better understood these “other” options, I acquired full circles of standard tubular 72 & 84 and fastrack O 60 72 84 & 96 in addition to other smaller radius circles that I had. I also purchased many short, half and long sections My parents always taught me be to be prepared. As things have turned out with MTH and etc I probably planned well. Or I just bought a lot of track that I won’t use and have way more boxes now. As I better understand this if I am going to use a spare bedroom or do something more excessive I will have a better understanding of my plan.
So how does this 5 rail track run? Can I truly run different gauges on the same track if not at once, at least on different days?

It’s fabulous as long as you don’t have switches or crossovers. I use it on my permanent layout and a portable layout. When running in DCS, we have often run both gauges on the same loop at the same time. Anytime you have questions, you can contact me.

Steve

Thank you Steve. I may reach out sometime privately. And if I may, thank you for your many contributions on this forum. You are part of the fabric of what makes this so much fun to follow and participate in.
Willard