The Ultimate Guide To O And O27 Turnouts 

I just got a very nice FREE lot of O-27 track, post war and MPC locomotives and rail cars. It also came with about 15 postwar left and right switches and have about every type of 0-27 switch in my collection now. So I’m very thankful you made this video. Helps a lot! Thank you!

O-27 gets a bad rap, but I don't feel it is really deserved. I built a dogbone loop for a store window display this past Christmas season, pair of 1121 switches, with an insulated running rail a section away on either branch to serve as non-derailing. This layout ran via a wall outlet timer, and setting the non-derailing a bit further back ensured if the power cut out for the night as the train was approaching the switch, the engine would not coast over the switch and derail. Anyway, those switches got track power. I could have rewired them for fixed voltage, but didn't. Train (1950 number 2023 and four freight cars) ran around 12 volts. Switches worked perfectly all season. The changing red and green light on the switches really helped draw attention to the store it was in.

Thank you. This is a great video discussing the O27 track and switches. Both O And O 27 are indeed O gauge and it grinds my cookies when people refer to it as O27 gauge. In fact the smaller profile rails are closer to O scale than O track which scales out to 30” tall in the real world. Hardly scale unless one is running a monorail. I found plenty of the 42” curved O27 switches and got lucky to find a seller willing to sell them to me complete at a very reasonable price. I found my larger radius curves while it was still being manufactured but it can still be found with a bit of patience. Now if we can get people to stop referring to rolling stock as O27 gauge cars. Many were made to be used in O27 sets but Lionel made very few items that were true O scale. Even the 6464 box cars are “Near scale”. They all run together and look fine.

We had the more realistic American Flyer track with two rails. Had two pairs of switched that with the think it was 4 flat cable that had 4 different colors you connected red wire to red post on switch & so on. Soldered all of my track together and soldered wires onto tracks every 3' to not loose voltage at furthest from transformer.

Excellent detailed video. Lots of information given on all the switches. What I often find online is that some users don't know that the insulating pin goes on the outer curve of the 022 switch. Are there any other switches like this?

Mike another great and informative video. Happy New Year.

Thanks for making this one. Really gave me come considerations to help with a possible future setup.

Another very informative video, Mike! I started out with Marx O27 plastic turnouts but had the issue you mentioned concerning derailments from the spring-loaded gard rails. I swapped them out for Lionel 1122's and problem solved. I really appreciate and enjoy your videos. Thank you!

A well done video.

Thanks for posting, Mike. This can be very useful information for guys looking to build a layout on a budget. I started my permanent layout 4 years ago. Fortunately, Menards just so happens to continue making the economically priced, tubular lionel style O-gauge high rail track, and I had already acquired a substantial supply of O track before I built my permanent layout. I had always planned to use the tubular track because I have and run a lot of conventional run postwar engines with magnetraction and just by coincidence I discovered along the way the abundance of track accessories one can acquire on a budget using this original track type. Plus it's very strong and durable and designed as a structural element to span suspended lengths without requiring any additional bracing, and it's easily custom cut to any length with a 4" grinder with a metal cutting blade. I even eliminated using 10" sections by cutting to the exact lengths by sing the 30" sections which eliminates for example, combing a 10" and a 5" piece and cut one continuous 15" section instead. This is a big advantage to be able to eliminate track joints especially on elevated sections supported only by girders or beams like trestles anchored at the ties.This allows the flexibility for one to custom cut your track plan to fit the space and between turnouts or UCS contol track sections. I have my lower loops and yard interconnected using the 1590 Marx turnouts shimed to the height of O-gauge track. They are easy to modify without opening them up to do so. I wired them to Lionel controllers and wired them for auto non-derail features and wired them to block signals to indicate direction of travel. These switches provided for very smooth running similar to the track itself because of the open design. I have a dog bone loop at one end of my main loop where my yard is located and can change direction but if I do I can't reverse direction without backing through the turnouts. I was pleasantly surprised how effortlessly I was able to back long consists through both turnouts while also simultaneously going around the curve of the dog bone without derailments. However, the dog bone loop is laid with super elevated 042 curve sections but I do believe the frogless design is definitely a contributing factor to achieving this feat so effortlessly. Since my ladder yard is in-between the turnouts of the dog bone and the curve, I use this as a run around track to pull cars on and off the main line using the manual Marx turnouts for my ladder yard. I painted my track and added custom made wooden cedar ties cut to fit inside the metal ties out of old weathered cedar fence boards, sanded the corners and stained with acrylic craft paint and ballasted with the cheapest sifted clay Walmart kitty liter and it turned out better than I had expected. I made my own ballast spreader from a 16 oz plastic Kroger potato salad container and a piece of Masonite in 10 minutes using only my table saw and a razor knife. I use the the leftover sifted kitty liter as coal loads glued to scrap pieces of 1/2" plywood cut to fit the hoppers and paited black. It is possible to take up this part of the hobby on a budget if you use just a bit of your imagination to realize the possibilities. I find it helps if you have a bit of the MacGyver mentality also. Happy rails

Great information

Great video

Great video thank you

I find the Marx turnouts for O-27 a good choice easy to fix easy to find and they seem to never break. thanks for the video. As always great video.

I use pre war 1121 switches on my layout. I have modified them to use transformer power for operations, as well as supplying power to the track for train operations so I don’t need lock ons. Great video, love you channel.

Currently, I have Lionel 012, 1024, 1121, and MPC 6-5121 (modified to better accommodate fat wheels), as well as Chicago-era American Flyer 465 turnouts. I am currently searching for Hornby crossover and parallel points (something I've not seen any American manufacturers produce back then except Ives), American Flyer 675 O-40 turnouts, and Lionel 711 O-72 turnouts.

Fabulous thanks

I use regular O traditional track. My favorite turnout is the K-Line 0-72, followed by the Lionel in the 72" curve. The other one I use is the Lionel O-22, that matches standard 31 inch curves. One of these days I'll put together a Marx specific setup and will need to find some of their frog-less turnouts.. I have some crossings and plenty of other lower profile O-27 style track now... This is a VERY useful video. I appreciate your taking the time to make it for us. You have given me answers to several questions, and covered some products that I was not really knowledgeable on at all. Nice!

I use Lionel Fastrack. The main drawback is the sound the train makes rolling over it. This video was helpful. I learned a lot from it. Thank you!

Menards is making three-rail 0-gauge turnouts now. Just released an 0-72 as well and at good prices.

amazing . . . well done & thumbs up 👍🍀💯

Great stuff, I love that old stuff!

Good info and great presentation. Old track and turnouts can often be obtained cheap if you don't mind the work of cleaning them up and troubleshooting turnout mechanisms.

Great video! I use 1121's because of the few Marx geared wheel engines I have.

Very helpful! I just got a couple switches similar to the 1121s with a prewar Lionel 1666 set and couldn't understand the track pins near the frog😂😂 Keep up the great content...please👍👍

I’ve discovered that there are two variations of 1122s. The earlier one has a wide switch housing that won’t clear full size O cars, the later one has a narrower housing that clears gps and O cars.

I have used Marx with success . The one you didn’t mention was the American flyer frogless design in o gauge. These are very similar to Marx but have a 31 or larger radius . I have 2 of these on my current layout, they are plentiful on the bay. I also have 2 of the Ross Ross plate turnouts in #4 , these are really nice but like you said pricy……

Lionel 1122 turnouts suffer from a laughably short check rail on the diverging route, which will cause 2-axle long-wheelbase rolling stock (such as Marx 6 or 8 inch tinplate and plastic cars) to derail. If you're handy though, you can remove that cast-in plastic check rail and fashion your own, much longer checkrail that will guide those long wheelbase 2-axle cars through without issue.

Don't forget 1022 manual switches! You can use their antiderail function to make powered and unpowered blocks! :)

Switches have become so expensive that if I had the time I’d make my own switches by combining Menards straights and curves.

Very good video. Does anyone know what year Ives started making 027 tubular track?

I would like to know are ross tracks and turnouts compatible with mernards tubular tracks. thank you

Because of the non detailing feature, can postwar lionel 022 switch moters burn out because of constant power

I believe that the Czech manufacturer MERKUR still makes tubular o guage switches as well.

I use Marx plastic turn out. they work They just sometimes cause a derail

I have a feeling that Menard's will be manufacturing turnouts since they have been manufacturing tubular track and now have 2 different sets they are selling.

An interest turnout not mentioned is one Marx made back in the 1960s that was a manual model, that is to make the switch a plastic lever on the turnout was thrown just like it's real-life counterpart. An additional benefit was when the switch was set for the mainline power was cut to the siding or inner loop and to the mainline if the siding or inner loop was in use. A sure-fire way to prevent collisions! Sorry but I don't know the model number, I haven't seen one in years either but then I haven't been looking.

The linel switch some light bulbs get so hot that thay will melt the plastic That if you running stuff with a wireless remote

I would like to add something that you may not be aware of. Ross switch are no good to run prewar tinplate trains on. The inner guide rail at the turn out is not tapered but presents a blunt end to the train. The tinplate trains that have a sliding shoe for uncoupling nd operating the say dump when the sliding shoe hist this blunt end of the guide rail many times the shoe is broken off and so the operation of coupler and dumping become non-functional. I have had this happen to my tinplate cars a number of times at my club layout before I realized that Roos switches are NO good for pre-war tin cars .And I am sure you know how hard it is to repair these broken off sliding shoes. Another note you might not be aware of is that Gargraves track is not very magnetic and so any little grade when operating a magnetraction locos such as a Santa Fe F3 or 671 turbine will have a hard time pulling a string of the Lionel 2500 series of aluminum passenger cars up even a slight incline let along the Lionel graduated trestle sets. Unfortuniially the club layout was completed before I joined and so the high rail layout as it were has Gargraves track and Ross switches. This is fine for the more modern traction tires locos but not good fo any of the classic Lionic magnetraction engines. Thanks for the nice video on the switches.

I have a mix of all the lionel O-27 ones, only one of them actually works and the oldest ones are so rusted out I just use them as hand throw switches on temporary layouts. I have one 022 turnout and it doesn't seem to work at all, even the non derailing feature, pretty certain it's burnt out, kinda sad because it is a beautiful turnout, but it's just one of those things I have as a "historical piece" like my absolutely 90 watt transformer (the windings on the transformer have been smashed together and shorted by the arm that is connected to the handle) This is why I do HO, I don't have to use 70 year old track, and it's easy to just make my own turnouts, which is the plan if I ever make an O gauge layout that isn't the shelf setup I have now.