Just moving into O gauge and have track from Lionel and Gargraves will these match up or am I heading into a swamp?
Welcome aboard the Forums!
The short answer is, you can mix them, but it might be a bit messy. Now, I haven’t worked directly with Gargraves myself, but, in general, mixing track requires two things: adapter pins (I’ll explain them in a moment) and shims (these are the easy ones; just some thin scraps of wood shaved to the right height).
The adapter pins can be 3D printed or the like, and Gargraves made some at one point too. There’s some for sale on Ebay and Trainz.com. However, if you’re doing this on a permanent layout, you don’t have to worry about those, just use the smaller of the two types of pins (which I believe should be Gargraves) and stick them into the holes of the other track. It’ll be loose, but once you screw the track down it’ll be secure, and the probable spotty electrical connectivity can be rectified by using feeders on both sides of the joint. I’ve used the same technique to intermix O27 and full O.
All that being said, the visual transition might be harder to pull off than the mechanical one…
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Yeah, those are like the ones I put in the links!
Thanks so much! So there are transition pins for 027; are they also necessary to transition to regular O gauge track? Pretty much only need on the remote switches to track connections.
Also, an old timer told me that Fastrac doesn’t work as well as original Lionel track in terms of carrying the voltage through its center rail (to the locomotive)….
Any truth to that in your experience?
Oops! That second pic didn’t display on my iPhone until I refreshed it. My bad.
In that case, especially if you use the O Gauge pins, you will have no problem except for the insulated pin that turnouts need. Now, I don’t believe Gargraves made any insulating transition pins, so some jiggery-pokery will be needed. Perhaps you can try filing down the standard Lionel pins until they fit, or, if you or someone you know has a 3D printer, then the pins could be printed. I’d do it myself except all my printers are currently engaged in some kind of rebellion.
Well… I’ve got other problems with Fastrack, but I don’t have enough of it to really judge it properly in regards to its efficacy there. I may dig out a piece of it and measure the resistance compared to some vintage Lionel track today.
Thanks Mark. I am 10 months away from actually building that layout just getting my ducks in order now
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When using standard O, the height difference is 1/4". I have some prebuilt “modules” for floor use on 1/4" plywood, and they transition perfectly to standard O tubular using Gargraves pins.
Thanks Ben. I was thinking that I might need to do something like what you did. Now I know how!
You’re welcome!