Welcome to the Gauge!
I hear you on the O27 wall1 My niece came to visit me a while back. Since she had just turned 3 and wanted to play with the trains, I thought...
- the N Scale mini-layout had 'too many easily edible things',
- the HO on the layout was 'too fragile',
- which left either the 'too expensive Lionel' or the 'Marx tanks'.
The Marx was entertaining for my niece but frightening to my sister once sparks started flying so I got some plywood strips to put under the O27 track on the carpet to solve the problem.
To achieve the same effect in HO, including easy breakdown and storage, you may want to look at the widely available "Atlas True-Track". It has a built-in roadbed to get the ties, rails and train wheels away from the carpet and interlocking connections so you are not vacuuming up rail joiners for the next few months. Here is a link to the product:
Atlas HO True-Track® Products
Note that "Atlas True-Track" is 'Code 83' track (not as tall and closer to true HO scale than Code 100) and older model trains may not run on it if they still have large wheels. For example, my 1960's Fleischman's engines and cars have their wheels resting on the ties, not on the Code 83 rails. :cry: