I know NOTHING about trains. Please help.

[bamfsan]

I want to buy this electric train set for my daughters room and have it mounted up high out of reach.
First: What does "minimum curve size O-27" mean? Does it mean how tight a curve the train can make?
Second: How can/should I go about mounting the track to the wall? I've seen this in someone's house but I don't know the person to even ask.
The following link is for the train I want to get and where I saw "O-27".

http://www.hobbymasters.com/williamsoscalegg-1girlspinktrainset.aspx

[CandO]

Hello,  You will be very happy with your Williams by Bachmann purchase.

O27 is the smallest rails in O 3rail hobby(except for superstreets).  So this train set will run on Lionel O27 track and Standard O which is O31minimum curve.  You can run it on any curve of that size or bigger from any of the manufactures of 3rail O gauge track.  Note though that O27 has a lower profile to the rails.

In fact, here is a link that explains some of this:
http://www.lionel.com/ForTheHobbyist/AboutGauge/  I know this is a Bachmann forum but that link explains it well for a beginner.

You may want to check the OGR Forum...there are a lot of guys there that have built these ceiling layouts using all kinds of supports.

Good luck to you and welcome to the hobby
http://ogaugerr.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/frm/f/57660482

[phillyreading]

To help you with track sizes, 027 will need about 30 inches for a curved half circle area and 031 will almost 3 feet for a curved half circle area. Fastrac's 036 track will need about 4 feet or more for a half curved circle, need to include the overhang of the plastic roadbed.
When it says in a catalog that a certain track size is needed, that is the smallest track size that can be used, 031 will run good on 031 and larger track like 042 but may cause derailments on 027. If it says 027 track it will run on almost any size curve above 027 minimum.
As for switches if you do use any, Gargraves switches work very well with 027 track and will allow any size passenger or freight car to go over the switch as their switch is low profile and out of the way, more realistic also.
Lionel 027 switches have clearance problems with 027 sized passenger cars as the cars scrape the switch because the motor housing is about 3 inches above the track heigth.


Lee F.

[Joe Satnik]

Dear bamfsan,

Here is an old tutorial that I wrote about making (cutting) HO shelf corners.

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,6808.0.html

Someone will have to

1.) translate "Lionel outside diameter" to "center-line radius" measurements,

2.) Measure or look up O-scale cork roadbed width and

3.) suggest a wall clearance distance to allow for overhang on curves. 

If multiple parallel tracks are contemplated, someone will have to

4.) look up Center-line to Center-line spacing to avoid overhang/underhang crashes between tracks. (nmra.org)

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik