Can I put o gauge 72 fastrack curves on a 5 by 9 layout? I recently purchased a set which does not run on my 48 curves and would like to know if I would redo my layout to include the 72 curves. Thanks in advance for your assistance.
You can, but it will have to be mixed with other types. O-54 would be ideal for a loop of track on the perimeter of a 5 x 9.
Rob
Rob,
Thanks for the quick reply. I was lucky enough to acquire a 1988 Lionel Hiawatha Set that says it requires 0-72 track. I know it will not run on 0-48 fastrack which is what I presently have on my layout. Do you think that it would run on the 0-54 curves. Perhaps I just don't understand the terminology of the curve system. Thanks again for your assistance. Phil.
ICone the 072 track makes a 6 foot diameter circle measured across the center rails so the outside of the ballast will be over 6 feet. The 054 will just fit and you might be able to use a couple of 072 sections to lead into the 054 but you will be running on the edges of your 5 x 9. The 054 is 54 inches across the center rails and the ballast and outside rail adds another 1 5/8 inches to each side for an approximate diameter (outside ballast to outside ballast) of 57 1/4 inches. The 5 ft table is 60 inches across.
At the worst the loco may climb the rails In curve at speed.
Good luck!
Regards, Roy
Before you do anything to your layout. Put together a loop of 054 on the floor and try the new train on that. I have a Weaver Lackawanna Pocono Steamer that is supposed to require 072 and it runs fine on 054.
Usually if the manufacturer specifys a curve radius of "054" or "072" or whatever you should take their word for it and follow the recommendations. SOMETIMES a minimum radius is specified because the train won't pass through switches of less than specified without derailing and you can get away with tighter radii without problems if it's a closed loop without switches, but not always.
The other poster's recommendation of a test track is a very good one. Try that and see what happens.
Other considerations are that the manufacturer specified a particular minimum for aesthetic rather than practical reasons, or that they did not consider all the available curvatures. For example, MTH never claims a minimum below O31, apparently because that is the sharpest curve that they make, even though many of their models will tolerate O27. And a model that is said to require O42 may actually work on Marx O34, which was not considered because it is no longer manufactured.
So I agree that you just have to try every model out to find what its real minimum is.
Bob Nelson
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