Back in the late 1950s, I used to really study those Lionel catalogs, more than my schoolbooks. Over the years, I've accumulated more stuff than I know what to do with and haven't paid much attention to the catalogs until recently. Now I see a lot of engines rated for O54 curves. It strikes me as odd that Lionel persists in so many offerings for O54 engines and they don't even offer O54 FastTrack. I've been bending my own curves with Gargraves for 40 years, but if I were using Lionel's track system, I'd have to be focusing on O60 to reliably accommodate these engines. I never see any engines for O48....seems a bit of a marketing disconnect to me. Just curious if anyone has any insight as to why they do that.
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I suspect that Lionel does O54 ratings due to the fact that many people already use Atlas or Ross O54 and they want to catch that part of the market. These are more typically higher end/more expensive engines and I suspect it is worth their while to go down to O54 to increase potential sales.
Here is personal experience……my last layout had Atlas O54 curves. The Niagara was rated for O54 and I purchased one. If it was rated at O60, I would never have bought one.
Peter
I'll second Peter's answer. That said, I have O48 Fastrack on my layout and have no problem running any O54 rated engines. Same with O72 vs O60. I also have O60 Fastrack curves and they can handle any of the O72 rated pieces, at least whatever I own. Appearance and overhang clearance are a factor, of course. Here's an example of a Lionel ES44AC on O48 Fastrack from my Christmas layout last year.
Rob