Does anyone know the minimum curve that the Lionel postwar 2500 silver series aluminum Passenger cars can run on?
They should be good for 031 diameter curves or larger.
You might get away with running them on 027 curves, but I wouldn’t count on it. Some 031 products can tolerate 027 curves, some can’t.
Here’s a website that’s a gold mine for Lionel post-war information.
Thanks for the input Flint.
I use that site all the time too. Actually I looked on it prior to posting and it just said “larger O Gauge track.” So that could mean just about anything.
I’m with you. I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work on O31 or larger. I know it will have a lot of overhang on the curves, but that’s okay.
You’re welcome!
And back when those cars were new overhang on curves is something very few people concerned themselves with.
I run Williams (the real one, not WBB) madison cars on O31 and it’s a bit dodgy at the couplers. 15" cars are about the limit of what I’m comfortable with.
They will run on O31, but not on O27. That is, unless you are willing to trim off the skirts. I have done this and run a train of eight cars behind a Santa Fe ABBA lash-up on O27.
They were cataloged in “O” (and later Super O) sets, so the 14.14" radius of O track is satisfactory for these cars. They will awkwardly negotiate O-27 curves, but will not come even close to going through O-27 switches as they will hit the switch motor housings.
I’ll be using 036 and larger so it sounds like I’ll be ok. Thanks everyone!