O60 vs O72

but does it restrict my loco’s and rolling stock that much?

 

Larry

 

That will depend on what you have and what your purchase habits are in the future. All 3 rail trains are geared to run on 072 both semi scale and scale. If you like scale and big engines, then 072 is a no brainer. if you are satisfied with berks and smaller then 060 will work too. just don't expect the Lionel scale autorack to perform well under 060.

It's always a trade-off of space available vs. the equipment that you want to run. If you have big equipment you want the widest possible curves. If you have limited space you have to compromise with tighter curves or a more limited track plan.

 

One good compromise is to use easement curves of wider radius leading into your minimum radius curves. It improves the appearance and operation of trains on curves and it doesn't have to require a lot more space.

 

Before making a major commitment to a minimum radius standard, it's worth setting up some curves for trial to run your own equipment on. You can judge for yourself if it looks OK to you, and check for reliable operation.

 

The discussion would be a lot more relevant if you could tell us what equipment you want to run and the space you have for a layout.

If you want to run eight driver steam engines, then O72 is the correct choice.

Plan for the future.

Here's a layout I put together using O60.  I have a little more room to work with on the left side of the dog bone.  I'm open to input on this.  I'm using AnyRail if someone would like to see the specifics.

Larry

I forgot to mention... I would like to run scale loco's / rolling stock but is that possible with the O60?  Sounds like it could be difficult.  In the diagram I posted earlier, the curves are all O60 while the crossovers are O72.

If you want to run long equipment like scale passenger cars and articulated locos, even O72 is barely adequate. If your space limits you to O60 curves, you can still run scale equipment if you limit yourself to typical older equipment like 50-foot cars and 4-axle diesel power. Some of the longer scale equipment will run on less than O72 but it won't look so great and may have more derailment problems.

 

You have to decide, what equipment do you want to run, and will you have space for a satisfying layout based on the minimum radius required for that equipment.

 

Most of us have real-world restrictions on the space available to build a layout and you have to factor in all these issues to make the best choice.

 

I think your dogbone layout idea is quite good for the space.

Nice plan Larry. If your goal is to run big steam engines and scale like passenger cars you really need 072+ or larger curves.  Looks like you might have room, can you squeeze in 072? Or 084 curves?

After playing around with the layout in AnyRail, I'm probably sticking with the O60 curves.  When I said "scale" earlier, perhaps hi-rail is a more accurate term.  I can run a GP38 and possibly an SD40 without it looking too bad on the O60 curves.  I wasn't planning on really large steam or diesel (or long passenger cars).  I'm fine with medium size loco's.  As Clint said... "A man's got to know his limitations". 

 

Larry

I have Lionel JLC Big Boys that go around my 0-60's but they got lucky, You can do it but if some cars require 0-72 I would keep to that rule

Larry,

   As ACE pointed out, it's a space trade off in reality, IMO if you have the space run the 072 because it allows you to run just about every different kind of train.  However your engineering plan is a good one for the space you have, you will need to pick your engines and rolling stock to fit your layout, as you do future purchases. 

PCRR/Dave