S scale freight cars...how l-o-n-g can they run on r20 curves?

Add some paint and your new TOFC will be good to go!

Fortunately you are not using Gilbert track and turnouts. At 11 1/8" the sides of the car will hit the housings on the Gilbert turnouts. I did not think the appearance of the inside overhang of the mock up was objectionable. Certainly no worse than the appearance of the Challengers and BigBoy on R20".

Mark,

When you get the Husky Stack cars you'll find that you have to experiment a bit with which car you have before and after the Stack car. The Husky Stack cars are about the same length as the Heavyweight passenger cars from AM and AF but those cars have shorter wheelbases with longer coupler shanks.  The end result is that the Husky Stacks need more clearance to the inside of a curve and the passenger cars need more clearance on the outside of a curve. Plus passenger cars are almost always run as a set so ALL the cars have the same length. With a Husky Stack the cars before and after are usually shorter and the Stack may "yank" the shorter car right off the track.

I put a piece of wood in the "well" to raise the container above the curve of the wheel. I actually like the containers to sit up a bit so you see more of the logo on the side. Plus, if you cut the container that container cannot be used as the "top" of a pair.

I can't tell you how well the Husky Stacks perform on 20" curves.  I use 25" and 30" S-Trax on my layout.

Craig

It's not so much the length of the car is the issue, it's what interferes with the trucks, couplers and overhang. 

One can theoretically build a 24" long car with 22" truck centers and it will negotiate R20 curves as long as nothing interferes with the trucks and couplers.  The DPH well car clearly has truck and coupler interference issues more than anything else.

Overhang is another thing.  I did an experiment a year or so ago.  The AM Budd car (9-1/8" truck centers) will negotiate an R20 curve:

However they will scrape against the switch lamp housing of the SHS S-Trax switch:

I suspect the same would occur with the Lionel R20 S Fastrack switch seeing it's a virtual clone of the SHS switch.  I can't say about the Gilbert switch, don't have any.  In my mind, removing the illuminated switch stand is not an option and messing with the truck centers is definitely out. 

If I had a permanent layout using S-Trax I would either have to ban AM Budd's from using the diverging route or use different switches.

Rusty

Last year they had a New Years Day sale. 20% off.

The Husky Stack's have body mounted couplers, which makes the geometry a little bit different than your test car.

Craig