I bought a Mikes Tinplate Traditions 20-XXXXX Blue Comet set and I LOVE it. I bought it about a year ago befor my layout was complete but tested it right away and it ran GREAT on my Lionel O Gauge track. THE PROB is that my new layout I decided to use Gargraves track and now I cant run my Blue Comet. Is there anything I can do? Can the trucks be changed or adjusted or do I have to seel the set (BOO HOO). Does MTH make the same set with regular wheels?
I know of no reason why a locomotive would run on Lionel O-gauge tubular track but not on GarGraves O-gauge track. Please provide more details.
I’m with Chris here, I need to know more about your layout. Please don’t say that you have really sharp curves. It is easy with flexible track to bend it tighter than the trains can handle.
Hi Guys, thanks for offering to help. It seems the flanged wheels are too deep for the track and they hit the wooden ties. And at the turnouts, they short out because of this. My turns are fine, it it the depth of the flanged wheel that causes the problem. Lionel track seems to have a higher profile. The Gargraves has a low profile like the Lionel O 27 did. Thanks again, I will await your response.
I have the same problem with a 1953 lionel version of the GG1. granted there is some wear in the idler gears on the powered trucks. i took it too a lionel repair shop and it ran fine on there test track. took it home on my layout with gargraves track and it spit and sputtered. my curves are min radius 7-10 ft in diameter. any ideas to explain this phenom would be helpful
Now I understand! I’ve heard about problems with oversized flanges and low-profile track before, although not in regard to this specific combination.
You will need to reduce the flange depth by machining some material off the wheels. Ouch!
I’ve been using Gargraves track for years, and have over a thousand pieces of rolling stock and have never run into this problem. I guess I’m just lucky. The only suggestion I have is to have the flanges turned down. Is the problem on the engine only or is it on the cars too?
One possible solution would be to lay just a loop with Lionel tubular track. It would interfere with the style of the GarGraves track, but at least you would be able to run your train.
The MTH Blue Comet O gauge locomotive is a reproduction of the original Lionel 263E. I recall a collector telling me that the tender that came with Lionel’s 263E used Standard gauge wheels on O gauge-length axles. The Standard gauge wheels have deeper flanges that bump the ties of O-27 track (and in your case, GarGraves).
The collector noted that MTH’s 263E reproduction was accurate down to the use of Standard gauge wheels on the tender. Whether MTH should have “fixed” Lionel’s Standard gauge wheels in its reproduction is something that could be debated for hours.
If your problem is only with the tender, you might be able to swap the Standard gauge wheels for O gauge wheels. The “riding height” of the tender might be a tad lower, but it might work. If the flanges on the locomotive itself also hit the ties, there’s not much that can be done to get the locomotive to run on track other than traditional O gauge. Unless you’re willing to grind down the flanges, that is.
There are some other wheel/track problems that show up in prewar trains, such as the “Lionel Jr.” Streamliners and some other low-end Lionel steamers that use a drive mechanism with gears that are slightly larger than the diameter of the drive rims (minus the flange). The gear hits the guardrails of nearly any track switch. Marx locomotives of the era use a gear that is the same diameter of the flanged wheel, and won’t make it through any modern track switch.
Neil Besougloff
editor, CTT
the flanges could be pushing the loco off the tracks, causing the wheels and the rollers to not touch the rails. 
grind the wheels
And if anyone asks me WHY I just use Lionel track and Lionel EVERYTHING, I will point them to this thread.