Hello everyone! Sorry if my posts get long (and I do mean looooooong), I tend to over-explain myself... a lot. Anyway, I kind of need some help. A few years ago, my mother gave me a Lionel General (1862) that she heavily hinted at wanting to see run again. The train and cars have been heavily neglected, so I'm going to be sending it off for a good cleaning and (for now) minor cosmetic repairs, just the minimum to get it up and running and looking decent. However, I've been trying to research this thing for a couple weeks now, but I'm reading from sites that contradict each other. I was told it was made for O track. Then I read that it was actually made O27. Then I read it can run on O and O27 track. Then I see in the Brasseur's website so many accessories that I get more and more confused. I am 100% new, and have only seen trains running only a few times in my life, even though I have entertained the idea of building my own layout myself when I was younger.

I want to start off with a small loop, so it can run around my mom's Christmas tree and because it seems to be preferred when starting out, as it's easy to troubleshoot issues. But I know almost nothing about all this. So I was wondering if someone could point me to the right direction, please? I read some newbie guides, but all they explain are things from differences in track gauges, the difference between pre-war, post-war and more modern sets, adding grades and the like. I'm really wanting to know what is the minimum items I need (as far as the track is concerned) to get this thing running while on an extremely tight budget?  Are there any "kits" available that would have everything I need (track that would run a loop, transformer, etc)? What is the smallest that the loop of track can be that will allow the train to safely run without derailing when running at full speed? What power transformer would I need? I am looking to expand, but upgrading transformers and track can come later. Thanks for any and all info and advice.

Thank you so much! It's actually exciting to actually see the box and learn about the origins of the set. I wouldn't mind if I were able to get my hands on the original owner's manual, even if it were a photocopy. Maybe someday. Anyway, I recently sent the train and cars off to Brasseur Electric Trains in Michigan (I'm actually in the state of Ohio) to be serviced. I hope it comes out looking as good as in the picture you posted. But, while looking around the Lionel site and other sites, I came across things I had questions about as well. The first is "Fastrack". What exactly is that? The second is track labeled "O72" and similar numbers. What do those numbers mean?