Getting Started with O-Gauge Trains
My Low Rail 4'x8' Lionel Fastrack Layout
- Train magazines are filled with "high rail" layouts, that fill whole rooms with realistic, accurately scaled landscapes. By contrast, my "low rail" layout fits on a 4x8 foot table top, and is designed is designed to maximize interaction and play, rather than realism. It was assembled over a weekend using Lionel Fastrack on a cheap artificial grass carpet from Lowes. Accessories are all track-powered. TMCC is included for the engines but not for the switches or accessories.
- 2008 Version
- Features inner and outer loops, a reversing loop, plus a bump-n-go trolley line.
- Download the high resolution video (Quicktime Player required) or watch the YouTube video (shown above)
- Accessories include K-Line Mainstreet buildings, a K-Line passenger station, the new K-Line by Lionel snap together factory and fire station, an MTH beacon tower, a postwar Lionel operating switch tower, a Lionel operating gantry, a K-Line operating milk car and platform, and a K-Line operating freight platorm.
- Engines are a K-Line TMCC Shay and K-Line semi-scale 4-6-2 steam loco. Rolling stock includes Lionel log cars, searchlight car, welder car, and K-line operating dump car.
- 2007 Version
- Features a figure-8 with reversing loop, plus an elevated reversing loop, using the same track as the 2008 layout.
- Photo album of this configuration.
- Track layout:
- Red = elevated; yellow = grade; green = accessory activator track; blue = O31 trolley. Fastrack trestles are used to elevate the track, but the spacer bars were not used. The grade is twice what would be obtained using the spacer bars.
- Full size image
- Part list
- Worksheet for Railmodeler
My 2004 Lo-Rail 3'x6' Layout
Fastrack Fit to Length Table
- This table shows how to construct straight runs of length up to 48 inches in 1/4 inch increments using the fewest possible pieces of Fastrack for each length. Here is a CSV version of the table for spreadsheets such as Excel.
- Lionel has a new 1-3/8 inch track section (6-12073). This allows runs to be designed to the nearest 1/8 inch. This table shows how to constructs runs up to 60 inches in 1/8 inch increments, and here is the CVS version of the table.
- Here is the Prolog program I wrote to calculate the solutions. Note that the program proves that there are no solutions that use fewer pieces!
Other Track Designs
TMCC-Ready Electronics inside Fastrack Switches
Inside every Lionel Fastrack switch is a mysterious electronics board. There is a socket labeled "TMCC radio" (lower left in the photo) and a number of capacitors, rectifiers, resistors, and a power supply. From the set of discrete components one can deduce that this board is a voltage regulator, that takes in varying AC voltage and puts out a constant DC voltage. This explains why Fastrack switches work well even at very low voltage. The TMCC plug plainly indicates that the board can also power and take input from a TMCC controller chip. Although Lionel has never announced that Fastrack switches will have built-in TMCC capability, I bet an TMCC upgrade will be available sometime in 2008.
click on photo for super-size.