# Lionel O-gauge train platform - under Christmas tree



## Ashful (Nov 7, 2013)

So, the last year or two, I've been talking about pulling out some of my old O-gauge stuff, and setting it up under the Christmas tree for my son.  I always think of it too late in the season to do anything about it, and may be in the same boat again this year... but at least I'll kick it around, so that I can be ready for next year, should I not get it done this year.

We get a large tree each year, roughly 10 feet tall x 6 feet diameter, so I could fit a small platform under the tree.  Also, since we're putting the tree stand on an old wood floor, there's always concerns with a tree pan leak or spill ruining the floor (can't get under there to wipe up any water that does spill), so the platform will double as floor protection.

Here's the rough layout I'm considering, with four tracks (two loops + two sidings), for control from my vintage Lionel Trainmaster (4 channel) controller.  The tree is placed in the corner of a room, which is why have the platform squared on three corners, and radius'd on the corner facing out into the room.





Construction will be 3/4" Baltic Birch ply (comes in 60" x 60" sheets), and the tree will be elevated on a smaller platform a few inches above the main platform, with the track passing under the tree stand plataeu, as tunnels.  The big green "+" represents the legs of the tree stand, whereas the green circle is the rough placement of the plateau on which the stand will sit.  I'm hoping to use fake stone walls or build hills up to this plateau, sitting maybe 5" higher than the main platform.

Ideas?  Criticisms?  It's been a long time since I laid out a train platform (I was probably 12 - 13, last time I played with these things), so I don't even remember how I used to synchronize speed control circuits at the switches.


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## heat seeker (Nov 7, 2013)

Looks great, and it's a great thing for the young!
I'd make sure you can get at the rear of the setup, because that's where your derailments are going to be - just ask Murphy!
I keep wanting to drag out my American Flyers, and maybe I will this year!


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## fossil (Nov 7, 2013)

I don't have any of my train stuff anymore, (except my first locomotive, tender, and caboose).  My dad & I had quite a layout back in the day.

This was Christmas morning 1954, the little set that started it all:


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## semipro (Nov 7, 2013)

We get a live (burlap balled) tree every year so we can plant it on the property.  Trouble is the things are dang heavy.  
We struggled with them for years and now put them in a large pan (actually a round horse trough) on top of a furniture dolly with non-marring wheels.  
This allows us to access the tree easily to set up lights etc. and then push it back into position in a corner.  Makes the tree look bigger than it really is too. 
I'm thinking you might be able to put wheels under the platform to allow you to move the whole thing for access, tree and all.


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## Ashful (Nov 7, 2013)

Hey fossil, I have that set!

I like the wheels idea, semipro.  I had planned on a felt backing for the platform, but you've got my gears turning.  (anyone smell smoke?)

Anyone have any experience with terrain?  If the tree stand is going to sit on a platform a few inches above the track, I need either stone walls or hills skirting that plateau.  I've never done that.


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## SlyFerret (Nov 8, 2013)

How did those old multi channel train controllers work?

I've never seen one!

-SF


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## fbelec (Nov 8, 2013)

kids will love it. there is a liquor store here in town that sets up a train i'm not sure of the gauge but the cars are over a foot long and 5 inches wide. my son asks to go see it every year. i had the same train set when i was a kid. we had the smoke drops for the smoke stack. you have to post some pictures.


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## semipro (Nov 8, 2013)

Maybe a tunnel?  Looks like maybe you have one planned.  
Even as an adult I get a thrill seeing the locomotive headlight coming through the tunnel just before the train pops out.


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## Jags (Nov 8, 2013)

Joful said:


> Anyone have any experience with terrain?


Using various thickness of foam and cutting it at a harsh angle with a knife can setup the foundation for "mountains". My parents did this several years ago - and the results can be pretty cool.  Just one example:

My father had a large collection of American Flyer.


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## Ashful (Nov 8, 2013)

SlyFerret said:


> How did those old multi channel train controllers work?








Outer levers are one channel each, dials just inside those are each another variable voltage channel, although now I can't remember if the direction switch also reverses them, or only the outer channels. Will need to check that out, as I planned to use the outer pair for the two loops, and the inner pair for the two sidings.

Lionel intended this controller to be used for two tracks + two accessories, but it can be used for four tracks, as well.  Also, this thing is fairly big... will try to find a photo that shows scale:


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## Jags (Nov 8, 2013)

I remember those - they were soooo kool when I was a kid.


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## Delta-T (Nov 8, 2013)

Joful said:


> Anyone have any experience with terrain?  If the tree stand is going to sit on a platform a few inches above the track, I need either stone walls or hills skirting that plateau.  I've never done that.



my dad and I did the HO scale stuff, we added on to the scene a bit every year. we did terrain stuff with cardboard form, paper machet, and paint. now they have the cool faux stone paints/ fleeck stone type stuff to make everything look all professional like.


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## Jags (Nov 8, 2013)

There are all sorts of hot knifes on the market for cutting foam.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=m570.l3201&_nkw=foam+hot+wire+cutter&_sacat=0


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## Ashful (Nov 8, 2013)

Jags said:


> There are all sorts of hot knifes on the market for cutting foam.
> http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=m570.l3201&_nkw=foam hot wire cutter&_sacat=0


Yep... I have a home-made hot-knife.  Made a nice bow-saw frame, bought some resistance wire from McMaster-Carr, sized to cut white styrofoam floats for boats, run at 12 volts.  Now if I could just recall who I loaned that to...


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## Jags (Nov 8, 2013)

Whoa - the motherload of info:
http://www.building-your-model-railroad.com/model-train-scenery_terrain.html


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## Ashful (Nov 8, 2013)

Thanks Jags!  Makes me sad I threw away several very large (like crib mattress size) blocks of white styrofoam just a few years back.


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## SlyFerret (Nov 9, 2013)

I'll have you know... This thread caused me to start researching Lionel O gauge trains and layouts.

Holy crap

I didn't need another expensive hobby, but now I can't wait until my kids get a little older.  We are totally going to get into this.

BTW, there are a bunch of great videos on YouTube.  Check out the Eric's trains channel.

-SF


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## fossil (Nov 9, 2013)

Look at all of your options before you leap into the hobby.  HO scale has its advantages and appeal (purportedly the most popular model train scale in the world), and even the little Z scale can be a lot of fun, though it has limited (but loyal) appeal.  Check 'em all out and go to lots of shows and demos and train club layouts and whatever you can find, and read a bunch before you commit to a scale.  Rick


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## Ashful (Nov 10, 2013)

Ditto that, fossil.  Lionel has a certain nostalgic coolness, and I hang onto them because they were my father's (and grandfather's) favorite toys... but if starting fresh today, it would be HO or smaller.


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## SlyFerret (Nov 10, 2013)

I have some HO trains from when I was a kid.... Somewhere...

I was blown away by the level of detail and working accessories on O gauge.

I suppose being able to do a more elaborate layout in less space would be nice too.

-SF


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## Ashful (Nov 10, 2013)

I forgot to mention, I also have a ton of late 1940's - early 1950's HO, all my father's.  I added a bunch to that collection in the 1980's, and had a few 8' x 12' layouts.  You can do a lot with HO ("Half O-gauge"), that you can't do with O-gauge (Lionel), but nothing suits a set around a Christmas tree like Lionel.


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## begreen (Nov 10, 2013)

I had American Flyer trains as I was growing up. The 3 rail system of Lionel didn't match my vision or real railroads which had 2 tracks.


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## Iembalm4aLiving (Nov 11, 2013)

begreen said:


> I had American Flyer trains as I was growing up. The 3 rail system of Lionel didn't match my vision or real railroads which had 2 tracks.



I'm a 'Flyer man myself.....I started collecting them a few years ago, only setting up when the tree is up.  Here is a quick shot from last year:



For me, dragging it out during Christmas time keeps it special for me and my 8 year old son.......


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## Jags (Nov 11, 2013)

My dad had a large AF collection.  My uncle had virtually every machine and bits and pieces that American Flyer made.  He was a collector extraordinaire.  When he passed, his collection was drooled over by collectors across the planet.


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## Ashful (Nov 11, 2013)

begreen said:


> I had American Flyer trains as I was growing up. The 3 rail system of Lionel didn't match my vision or real railroads which had 2 tracks.


I agree, but AF did not yet have any electric trains at the time Lionel became popular (WW1-era).  Sometimes you just need to be first to own the market, not necessarily better!

Not sure how much you've read on the history of O-gauge, but AF was a big maker of O-gauge trains.  In fact, I believe that most of their revenue came from manufacturing O-gauge trains for the 3-rail Lionel system, while they were trying to market their own (far less profitable) 2-rail system.  They were just too late to the party, with an entire generation having already adopted O-gauge... it seems they needed to wait for the baby-boomer generation to really gain any popularity.


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## heat seeker (Nov 11, 2013)

Iembalm4aLiving said:


> I'm a 'Flyer man myself.....I started collecting them a few years ago, only setting up when the tree is up.  Here is a quick shot from last year:
> 
> 
> 
> For me, dragging it out during Christmas time keeps it special for me and my 8 year old son.......



Wow, did that bring back memories! Do you have a source for the red and green switch bulbs, and the smoke capsules? I would love to get mine smoking again!


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## Iembalm4aLiving (Nov 11, 2013)

heat seeker said:


> Wow, did that bring back memories! Do you have a source for the red and green switch bulbs, and the smoke capsules? I would love to get mine smoking again!



For AF parts:  http://www.portlines.com/

I don't think anyone makes the smoke capsules anymore, but I've got a few different "flavors" of smoke fluid from here:  (They work and smell great!)

http://megasteam.com/index.html

Have fun!


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## heat seeker (Nov 11, 2013)

Great, thanks for the links!


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## begreen (Nov 11, 2013)

heat seeker said:


> Wow, did that bring back memories! Do you have a source for the red and green switch bulbs, and the smoke capsules? I would love to get mine smoking again!


Me too. That video reminded me of the smell of that smoke. We had nifty accessories like a cattle car and cattle paddock that loaded the cows onto the car. That was my favorite. And we had a red/green sephamore too. FWIW, I am not WWI vintage, but our set was from the 50s.


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## heat seeker (Nov 11, 2013)

My set is from the mid 50's, and I have the cattle car and paddock too. It was also my favorite. I had two sets, a diesel passenger set, and a steam freight set. One day I decided to put every car on the track to be pulled by the steam engine. The cars went around one end of the oval, and the little engine that could pulled hard enough to topple the cars inward off the track. I was impressed even back then!
It was also cool to darken the room to see the engine's headlight, and the lights in the passenger cars. The caboose had a funky wheel to pick up the voltage, so that the light inside flickered like a lantern would. 
Now I really have to set it up this year


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## Ashful (Nov 12, 2013)

Guys... this cattle car and paddock... Lionel O-gauge or AF 2-rail?  I want to have a look at this.

_edit:  just found this (thanks Google!):


_


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## heat seeker (Nov 12, 2013)

Mine is 2 rail AF. It has a contact strip that the cattle car contacts, and the floor of the car vibrates so the cattle "walk" in and out of the car. Pretty high tech for the times! The corral also vibrates so the cattle mill around.


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## Ashful (Nov 12, 2013)

My dad had quite a setup, from when he was a kid, and I played with it in the 1970's/1980's.  Unfortunately, most of the buildings and towers were broken, either in moving, storage, or by us kids.  I do remember several magnetic element tracks, that would do things like automatically couple / un-couple cars, and dump a log car or a coal car.  He also had a large log "mill", identical to this, which I'll bet is stored in mom's basement.


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## fossil (Nov 12, 2013)

I had that log loader.  Loved it.


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## heat seeker (Nov 12, 2013)

Joful said:


> Guys... this cattle car and paddock... Lionel O-gauge or AF 2-rail?  I want to have a look at this.
> 
> _edit:  just found this (thanks Google!):
> View attachment 117491
> _



Nice!
It looks like a Lionel, my AF was quite different. It's packed away, or I'd post a pic.


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## Ashful (Nov 12, 2013)

heat seeker said:


> It's packed away, or I'd post a pic.


There's this thing called the internet... full of pictures.  

Was this the one?


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## heat seeker (Nov 12, 2013)

That's it, complete with the brown and black cattle.


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## begreen (Nov 14, 2013)

Joful said:


> Guys... this cattle car and paddock... Lionel O-gauge or AF 2-rail?  I want to have a look at this.
> 
> _edit:  just found this (thanks Google!):
> View attachment 117491
> _





> Was this the one?


AF 2 rail. That's it Joful. Boy that brings back memories. I must have spent days if not weeks playing with that.


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## SlyFerret (Nov 26, 2013)

Just saw this on woot.com this morning.  They're clearing out some O gauge trains (through 12/2/13).
http://www.woot.com/plus/lionel-trainditional-xmas

(For those that don't know woot.com, it is Amazon.com's flash sale site.)

-SF


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## Ashful (Nov 26, 2013)

Cool!  Thanks.


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## FanMan (Nov 26, 2013)

When I was very young, my Dad put together a simple train setup... an inner loop of Lionel 3 rail, and an outer loop of American Flyer.  Later, he pulled out an HO setup with 3 independent lines.  Supposedly it was originally around the Christmas tree but I don't remember that.  After we moved, and the Lionel and AF transformers had burned up, we built a larger HO setup together.  Messed with it for years, then took it apart to build the "ultimate" HO layout... around which time we got into R/C airplanes, so the ultimate layout was never built.  I still have all of the HO stuff, though, packed away in boxes in the attic.  I did dust it off and run a loop of the HO stuff around the tree when my daughters were young, though... coal cars filled with candy and other goodies.


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## Ashful (Nov 27, 2013)

Hah... I see that story over, and over, again!  Mine is the same.  Several small layouts as a kid and pre-teen.  Decided to build the "ultimate" layout around age 14, but was distracted by girls and cars, long before it was ever finished.


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## El Finko (Dec 19, 2013)

Just stumbled upon this thread.

Emphatically, I state: *If you have kids... And you have trains... Put the trains around the tree.*

Go do it right now.

*Right now.*

Bar none, my fondest childhood memories revolve around my dad and trains.


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