Anyone Regret installing less than O-72 curves?

I wish I had the room for that...my layout uses O-27 profile 42" curves....and I'm glad to have 'em.

Good luck with your pike.

I am making 0-72 work I might get a little beyond 80 but it's pushing it.

With that said, I may cheat a little and have Ross build a switch to spec.

No regrets! It's pretty close to what I used to run in HO before I switched scales. (36" radius)

Now.. one regret from a life time of playing trains. Being too cheap and buying number 4 or 5's when the engines really want 6 or larger. =)

As long as the majority of the layout is O-72+(mainlines and most passing sidings), having some smaller radius spurs, sidings, etc. is not a big issue and it also adds a little operating variety on the layout.  It also allows you to maximize the space you do have.  However, if you do go smaller, you will want to feel somewhat confident and comfortable in advance that you will have no interest or need to swing a big Allegheny or a Chesapeake on that section in the future.  From past experience, I have found myself ripping up and rebuilding quite a few sections of track that I was initially happy with, but later found to limit what I wanted to do. 

Even with having to do some rebuilds, I can't say I had regrets since tearing down and rebuilding is all part of the fun of having a train layout.   

Just like a real railroad everything does not run everywhere. As long as you have a complete 72 loop or point to point you will be fine.

No regrets. I have a 72 mainline and a 54 mainline on the lower level. An upper island runs 42 and 31 track.

I've found that the majority of locomotives I own that supposedly are 072 minimum will in fact run fine on 063.  They will derail on 054.  There are some locos that really are 072 minimum, like MTH Centipedes and Weaver's "Torpedo" streamlined PRR 4-6-2.  The streamlined shroud on the Weaver covers and limits the swing of the pilot truck, thus a full 072 is required.

Bob Bartizek

072, 080 for the mainlines for me I wish I could squeeze in larger curves. I am planning on some 054 curves for a branch line.  A Large 3rd rail j1a will just about work on a 054, that said it looks better & runs smoother on 072. There are Places on most layouts for smaller radius curves.

When it comes to curves... Bigger IS Better.

I'm sure no one disagrees that bigger is better.  But at what expense (and I don't mean dollars)?

What trade offs are reasonable? And what experience do you all have with doing or not doing so?

For example...

Access hatch with O-72 or no access hatch with O-54, O-63?

24" walk ways with O-72 or 36" walkways with O-54, O-63?

Less track, simple design with O72 or more area for more action with O-54, O-63?

Ensure EVERY train can access an O-72, O-80 double main or allow the big engines to run on the outside O-72 main and have a smaller O-63 as the inside main?

When I think of all of the variables of a good layout which are always talked about like yard leads, passing sidings, engine parking, storage tracks, caboose tracks, staging areas, etc, it all becomes frustrating to try to find adequate space and still keep O-72 minimum curves.

I guess what we could all benefit from is some real life, "I regret because..." or "I'm sure glad I did, because..." 

I sure do appreciate the advice currently provided.

Thanks!

Ron

Good point.  You could go the around the walls route and put bigger 090 curves, I can but at the expense of turning the layout into duckundrs or lift outs. 072/80 ( peninsula)is about the max for my arms even that is a stretch- literally. It's all about whats best for you. If you want too run 3rd rail big steam 054 works for a Hudson 072 makes a scale big boy overhang so I need wider track spacing our your 072/054 would work in my situation I.e. the wider center rail trackspacing.

You mention walk ways, 3' feet wide or more is great if you have the space, I'm trying for at 2'.

George

At my parents', we have a minimum mainline curve of O-42. I have wished many times that it was O-72, but then I remind myself of how we would have lost half our layover tracks had we insisted on O-72 curves, and how the larger dogbones would have infringed on our big yard, and how there would have been no space for a turntable that could accommodate the huge O-72 engines we would have acquired by now. And having reminded myself of all these things, I happily go back to running trains!

As a general rule, I am more interested in operating with the trains than in watching them go 'round.  I'm now building a layout for my own place, and I am going all the way down to O-31 in the interest of getting some kind of operation in a small space.  For someone whose interest is in big engines and long trains, this would not be a satisfactory situation, but for me, trading large curves for an interesting track plan is worth it. It helps that my first love in the hobby is "traditional" sized trains. The big, scale, engines are really neat, but I like the smaller ones just as much, if not more.

I don't REGRET using 034, 042, & 054 curves with some 072 easements into them; they're just the widest I could manage.  As others have said, most modellers (myself included) appreciate wide curves.

But the top criteria for my layout  were:  to run 3 trains independently and have lots of mountains.  The 0/027 trains I have were all made to run on 031 or 027, so I'm happy.

The outer loop is GarGraves S-guage for American Flyer. 

Can't regret what you cannot have.  The best i can hope for is 042.  These return loops are hidden from view but the limiting factor is the footprint and location of utilities.  The compromise is smaller cars and locos.  Scale 50 foot freight, Rail King passenger cars, B-B diesel and no greater than X-6-X steam all work fine. 

One of the big advantages of O gauge 3 rail is the ability to go around small radius curves compared to HO. If you don't have a lot of space you can have so much more interesting a track plan with 042 and still run everything except scale big engines.

San Fernando Valley CA.

My current 11'x17' layout has an O-63 and O-54 double main.  One of the reasons that I went with O-63 and O-54 was that I could also having 11 sidings on the layout so that I could keep most of my trains on the layout. 

Another resaon that I opted to stay below O-72, was that I didn't want to be tempted to buy large engines. 

Last spring I bought a scale brass Reading G3.  Then last fall, I figured that I could add a 10'x15 'U' shaped expansion to the layout.  Thus, when I found a set of scale Reading turtleback passengers cars, I bought them.  While the G3 needs O-54 curves, the passenger cars need O-72 curves.  Since then, I also received a B&O T-3 and have a set of 21" passenger cars on pre-order.  Thus, I'll be pulling out the O-63 and O-54 curves to be replaced with O-80 and O-72 curves.

No regrets with going with the smaller curves as I've enjoyed the layout for a couple of years.

Jim

p.s.  Folks sometimes poo-poo table top layouts, but its sure nice to be able to change track without having to redo benchwork!

I wish I would have known about trying to fit in larger diameter curves sooner but oh well. My layout has budget constraints and using fastrack can get expensive so using all the starter set stuff I had first made sense and it fit in the available space provided by upper management, i.e. the wifey. I did manage to expand the outer loop to o48 up from o36 so I can run most things. I even manage to get the DD35a's around the layout so pretty good. Yes, there is overhang and there are not "prototypical" but they are toys......

Well, I am stuck with 27" track for the time being and I absolutely hate it. The only reason for this is it was part of the original set I inherited and I just wanted to see if the loco worked. The bright side is I will be getting o27 profile 42" track in the next few days, so I will be able to run my scale diesels and my almost scale steamers. 

I'm building a new layout i have a big room 20x51 ft. i have 4 main lines 138 ,128 ,106 & 96 , switch's 72 & 100 .

Guy

I stretched a 5x9 O36 FasTrack layout to a 6x12 table.  I kept the O36 curves of the original plan because all I had were a few engines that all ran well on the O36.  I knew I was planning on eventually getting the scale PM Berkshire but didn't plan for it.  Now, I have the Berk and am stuck running it on a loop on the floor.  I regret not planning for O72 from the beginning.  Even on a relatively small layout like mine it would have made a huge difference.

Regards,

Eric S.

Saline, MI

In the process of rebuilding my layout because I had a combination of 054 and 072 and could not run some of the MTH Premier locos. When I am finished I will have one mainline of 089/080/072, a center line of 072 and a third of all 054. All this because I wanted to run Premier GGI's and Centipedes. Had to pull up a lot of track and ballast in the process.

Obviously bigger is better - but one of the first questions should be "what kind of engines do I have or want"?  For my layout I have a loop of 60 and a loop of 48 (fasttrack).  As it gets bigger I should be able to have a 72 outer loop.  (I am using modular sections of 2'x3' so I am at a 6'x8' table for now but will slowly build to fill my 12'x25' with an around the wall setup.)

But this works great for me because I have two diesels and two small steam engines (plus a Thomas that will come and go for the kids) - all of which will work on small curves.  I aspire to have a Big Boy - but that might have to wait for college to get paid for.  But if you know you will be getting a Big Boy or other large engine soon - O72 is a must.  If you will be using smaller engines - smaller curves are fine for now.

And as others above have said, redoing trackwork is part of the hobby (and the reality) or trains.  heck, leaving some track overgrown with weeds might add to the realism of the layout.

-John

I originally designed my layout to have two running tracks, the outside being O 54 controlling diameter, and the inside being O 42. Then, in 2000, I acquired the JLC Challenger. I added some benchwork, and redid the outside to be O 72. Even at that, there is significant swingout when the Challenger is on the curve, but at least I can run it. 

I used Atlas-O sectional Ø108 and Ø99 for the dual main, and Ø108, Ø99, Ø91, and Ø90 for the yard. All are spaced 4.5 inches apart, and have had no problems running the MTH Premier Big Boy, Lionel Challenger, MTH Premier DDA40X, and Steam Turbine No. 80.

Alex

See my Hidden Pass Junction RR layout under construction here:

https://ogrforum.com/d...ent/2415514336550790

I went with all 0-72 and up and am very happy. I have the 0-72 in the satging area and hidden curves only. Viewable curves are 0-105 and greater... it just looks so much better for anything you are running thaat is over 15"... IMHO.