Any suggestions for extremely short cars and engines to run on a tiny O-27 layout. Goal will be to have a steam engine, two or three cars and short caboose. I think even a 0-4-0 switcher will be too long with the tender, but I do not want to go diesel if I can avoid it. I am figuring on ore cars (what are a good source) and are there short flat cars that I can use as a log car? Goal is to have the entire train be under 30 inches. Is this realistic?
I put the “Best Friend” on there and it looked awesome, but without magnetraction it had difficulty with the incline. A Marx 666 (with two cars) and #60 trolley handle the incline fine.
You know you shoudl probably have used a smaller scale when the Marx 666 looks like a giant!
The trolley handles the inclines fine, but the catenary pole does not fit through the tunnels
Basically the layout is a dogbone that is folded in on itself with the incline in the middle.
Plan is to model a minature canyon in the middle. The track will wind through the canyon dissappear into a tunel, reappear for the incline, dissapear, then reappear again to cross over itself. Will also be including some dividers to add to the madness.
then you don’t want long trains… anything over 5 or 6 cars should be long enough and a 0-6-0 switcher can pull that. What is your incline? Anything over 3% would be tough for any engine without speed control.
The skeleton log cars - either Lionel or Industrial Rail (Atlas O) may be good rolling stock candidates. They are small but in my opinion have a neat look to them.
My old layout (just took it down about a week ago) was all O27 and I ran all kinds of rolling stock on it including stuff that is O31, with a 4-4-2 Lionel Lines locomotive, a Transylvania General loco, and with those great 0-6-0 Docksiders (Halloween, Copper Range, and LL). No problems at all and I had 5 O27 Lionel switches too with that high profile.
i highly recommend the lionel 0-6-0 dockside, has no tender(already attached) and can pull heavy loads up steam inclines. does a decent job with smoke for a lionel puffer. all for $65-$100 depending on how particular you are on a roadname.
only downfall is the horn isnot the best soudning.
Jim, Michael’s has had their Halloween stuff out for awhile but Big Lots is putting their’s out now. Haven’t bought anything yet but my shopping list is being formulated as I type.
