I'm a newbie and have been looking at track plans. I've seen 031 and 036 switches mentioned and I was wondering what the difference is and what are the switches in the subject line. Thanks.
George G.
Original Post
George, those are Lionel right-hand and left-hand O22 switches respectively. The differences between any switches are the sharpness of the turns they make. O31 is sharper than O36 and some trains can't negotiate such sharp turns, so you have to be careful that whatever equipment you buy can negotiate the sharpest turn on your layout. Engines, particularly steam engines, don't look very good on O31 curves because of the overhang. The same is true of O36, just not quite as bad, but still bad. It also refers to the diameter of the circle created. O31 curves make a 31" diameter circle, O36 makes a 36", O42 a 42" and so on. This determines how large of a space you'll need for your layout and what kind of engine you can run. Lionel, MTH and others make engines for every size curve. Some make the same models for different size curves, but there will be differences in the amount of detail, quality, etc. The basic idea is to use the largest sized curves/switches you can, but the hobby is full of compromises.
