Lionel Subway Minimum radius?

Anyone have info on Subway radius requirements??

I run mine on 036 Fastrack, no problems

Peter, do you have the same model subways I'm inquiring about?????

What does LIONEL's website say in their product descriptions for the items you have?

The R27 requires 072 min. according to LIONEL's website product description.

The R30 requires 036 min. according to LIONEL's website product description. 

Why there's a difference between the R27 and R30, I have no idea.

You mention "conflicting information."  What's the source of the conflict.

I have the R16 and run it O36 no problem.  Sorry that isn't much help though as I just realized you asked about the other two.

All of these cars are the same size, and presumably have the exact same mechanicals. Literally the only difference between them should be the body shell.

What is the rating for the newest model? That wide a span of minimum radii suggests a typo somewhere.

---PCJ

I have the R-30's and my fastrack layout is 048.  I can confirm it will run on 036.

As far as the R-27's go, you might want to call or email Lionel and speak to a repair tech to confirm what is correct curve radius.

George

I took the info from Lionel website google and their catalogs. The R-27 was their first subway set and states 072. The next subway set R-30 indicates 036. By appearances in the catalogs they appear to be the same except the shell & color. That's why I asked the question.

I also have the LIRR M-7 set.  The catalog said it can run on 027.

Needless to say, it can't.   I found that out the hard way.

So much for the accuracy of the catalog

I have the R-16 and R-30 sets and both run on O-36 curves.  The R-27 info from Lionel's site says the trains are approximately 15" each, bringing the 4 car set to 60".  All three sets appear to be identical from photos and the two I have are identical except for the paint jobs.  I hope that this info was helpful, the only other way would be to get one of the R-27's in your hand and test run it if possible.

I have the Lionel R27 set and can run it on 036 Fastrack with no issues. Prior to having Fastrack I used this set on Mth 031 track Without problems. 

The catalog on the 072 minimum radius had a typo.  I was at York that year and asked the Lionel folks and they confirmed that it would operate on Fastrack.  As all have replied, the Lionel sets all will do this.

It' real simple. When Lionel first announced the R27 Subway Cars they do not have a good idea as to what the minimum curve would be so to cover themselves they listed them as 072 but as we know since all of the Lionel New York Subway Cars operate on 036 curves. MTH does the same thing with their new product as does Sunset Models / 3rd Rail such as with their FL9 model that operates fine on 048 curved track. Any model that has a minimum curve listed as 054 will operate on Lionel 048 and Atlas 045 curves.

My guess is Lionel originally advertised the cars as requiring O-72 curves due to a close coupling system, similar to the Acela.

However just like real subways, tight curves are prototypical. Lionel's R27/30/16 subway cars will easily handle O-36 or larger curves without any problems.

-John