Three rail track is available in a variety of radii. Both O and O27 track are the same gauge - meaning that the spacing of the three rails is the same. They differ however in height and radius. The smallest radius available with Lionel's O27 gauge tubular track provides a 27-inch diameter. Lionel's O gauge tubular track has a larger diameter of 31 inches. FasTrack sections begin at a 36-inch diameter. Today Lionel makes many scale locomotives which will not run on a diameter that small and therefore wider radius curved track is also available. FasTrack for example, is available in diameters of 31, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, and 96 inches. It is best to choose the largest radius your space will allow.

The 2055 is a postwar loco made from 1953 to 1955. It used Lionel SP smoke pills. The pills were heated by a nichrome wire element. Often in an old locomotive this element may be broken. If broken, the loco will not smoke. If it is in good condition, you would need the pills to make smoke. These are hard to find today and often expensive when you do find them. You can however buy a conversion kit which replaces the original smoke unit with a more modern one that uses smoke fluid. The fluid is very available and at reasonable cost. Doing the conversion is not difficult, but does require soldering some connections. It is the best answer for an old steam loco.

 According to Lionel's head of customer service, on the underside of their CW80 transformers, starting in late 2009, the vendor applied a sticker that states “QC50” on it. This signifies compatibility with 50 Hertz power. The customer will still need a step down transformer to get the 220V to 110V. The train, however, should only have a whistle or a horn or an electronic whistle. If it has TrainSounds it will not function properly on 50H. If it has Railsounds RTR it will also not function on 50Hz.

I’ve attached a scan of the instructions for the Lionel Type R transformer. I do have a word of caution however. The R transformer is a pre world war II version that was manufactured through 1947. I would be cautious using a transformer that is over 60 years old. Chances are better than even that your cord should be changed. For safe operation, I would recommend that you purchase a modern transformer. You can purchase a new Lionel transformer. The CW-80 would be a current model and offers 80 watts. The Type R that you have was rated differently back then and did not really deliver the full 110 watts. Much of this was lost in heat. The current rating system is more accurate and the CW-80 would supply as much power as you R transformer. Another source for AC transformers is the MRC company.

There could be several causes for this. First, I have a few questions. Does this always occur at the same place? And is that place opposite the place on your layout where he wires are connected from the transformer? If so, you may need an additional feed from the transformer to that portion of the layout. You don't need another transformer, just connect another set of wires to a place on the layout which is as far from the original connection as possible. This is especially necessary if your layout has been expanded with additional track. The larger the layout, the more feeders you might need.

Another thing to check is electrical continuity through the track. The best way to check this is with an Multi-meter. If you have one of these, set the meter to read Ohms - or resistance. In this mode, when the two leads of the meter are touched together, you will get a zero reading. A zero reading means that there is electrical continuity. Place one lead on one of the outside rails and then place the other lead on the same rail of the next track. You should get a zero reading. Continue around the layout checking each section of track with the one next to it. Repeat this with the center rail. If you get a situation with no reading, it means there is a break in electrical continuity and there is a problem with the connection between those two pieces of track.

What you need is what Lionel calls a Sound Activation Button – No. 610-5906-001. It is specifically designed for transformers without a Bell or Whistle controller. I’ve located an instruction page that explains how to hook it up for either bell or whistle. To do both, you would need two of these buttons. Lionel sells these on their site in the parts section.

The number of cars that a particular locomotive can pull involves many variables including number of motors, type of cars, weight of cars, whether postwar or modern era cars, etc. Twenty-five cars will probably require more than one locomotive. With postwar locos and conventionally operated locos, it is usually advisable to lock the E unit of each loco in the forward position. This prevents one of them from going into neutral or reverse if an unexpected interruption in power occurs. For best results, you would probably want to use two similar locos, i.e. two F3s. You shouldn't have any problem with small variances in speed. 

If you are running in Command Control, TMCC or Legacy, you can link more than one loco together and treat them as a single loco allowing very precise control over the loco's speed. In demonstrations, I have seen two locos linked in this way, but not coupled together - leaving 1/2 inch between them. When run, as a linked pair, they remained 1/2 inch apart as they went around the track. In practice of course you would couple them, but this demonstrated how well the two were controlled as one.

The Williams by Bachmann trains will work just fine on Lionel track. They are made to operate on Lionel layouts and you should have no problem. The Williams whistle and bell operate using a DC pulse - this is exactly as Lionel's do. Some older Lionel transformers will not have a bell button, but an auxiliary bell button can be purchased and will work fine with an older transformer. If you have a transformer with a bell button, it is important which wire goes to the center rail and which is ground. If you find the whistle button operates the bell, simply reverse the wires to the track. You should have no problems using a Lionel transformer to operate Williams locomotives.

I’m afraid the the smallest radius that these new scale auto carrier cars will function is O54. O27, even with O42 curves is too tight a radius. I’ve not actually tried the cars on anything smaller than O54, but that is the recommendation for the cars. Even O72 curves are non-prototypical for real railroads which actually ride on larger radius curves.