Hey guys! I’m new here. I recently purchased a Lionel Legacy Mallet. It runs good, but is barely happy with my Atlas O54 curves. I look to expand my layout by a foot and a half at least if I can. How many feet long does your table need to be to fit a Lionel O60 loop with two pieces of 10 inch straight track on each side? I also have the same question for Atlas O63 with also the same amount of straight track on each side. How many feet long does My table need to be? I actually use fold up tables for my layout for the record. My layout is 5x7. I would like to expand it by 6x7 and a 1/2 to save some space conflicts. Thanks in advance.
Firstly, I’m presuming that by “two pieces of 10 inch straight track on each side” you mean something like this:
and not this, which will change things noticeably:
Well, track size is measured along the center rail. So for O60, you’d want to probably add a good two to three inches of clearance–but more is better, and having a nice gap between the edge of the track and the edge of a table helps prevent derailments from becoming expensive. So the minimum would be a 66x86 inch table. Which, of course, is an odd size, so you’d be better off with 6x8 feet–but 6x7.5, as you were planning, would also work quite well. For O63, you’ll want to have, as the minimum, more like 69x89 inches. A 6x8 foot table would fit that quite decently, but a 6x7.5 foot table would be a little tighter than I’d recommend, coming in a just 1 inch above the minimum!
All that being said, in general, the larger you can make the table, the better.
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A clear Plexiglas fence might protect derailments in the area ‘in front’ where curve transitions to straight.
That’s something I really need to install on my railroad…
Oh I planned on that a while ago.
If I can do a 6x8 I will. Just that it’s hard to find folding tables that are 2x6. I’m trying to keep my layout as modular as possible.
That’s very true. A 6x2.5 might work as an expansion, and give you a little more room, to boot…
I have a folding table as sort of the heart of my layout–that table is 6x2.5 feet.
Question. If you want an Atlas O63 and O54 loop table, will I need to have more straight track or is O63 wide enough for that kind of accommodation? I really like Atlas track.
Ah, this requires some experimentation. There would be three inches of clearance between the track that way, so what you would have to is measure the overhang of your rolling stock. I presume you know how to do so–and if not, I’d be glad to explain it.
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Judging by what you’re telling me, I probably am better off with Lionel O60. Hopefully Lionel fasttrack doesn’t give me the same fits as it did when I got back into this hobby, and switched from HO to O gauge. Regardless, my Lionel Mallet should be a little happier as long as Lionel O60 is flatter than Menards O54. That forced me to switch to Atlas O54. I guess I will have to have Lionel O60 loop with Atlas O36 in the middle and Lionel O27 on the inside. I will get some foam boards or shims and plywood to level the track, because I will probably get tables that fold in half. And I will strap some plexy glass onto the sides of the tables. In the future I hope to expand it to all Atlas, because it’s the best track. I thank you for your help.
Well, what I’m saying is that that’ll depend simply upon the overhang of your rolling stock. But if you’d rather not measure the overhang (which I understand–it can sometimes be a real bother!), then the O60 ought to work. O60 to O36 is a pretty huge jump, so I can’t see any problems there.
I thought Lionel’s choice of ‘standard’ curve radii was to allow easy nesting of curves net of typical overhang.
Well, that’s the theory… In practice I would be uncomfortable doing so without measuring. And even O31 and O27, for example, are very close.
Really, if you’re going to run scale articulated engines, you SHOULD be looking for a way to lay O72 minimum.
Assuming by “Legacy Mallet” you mean the USRA 2-6-6-2, that’s definitely on the smaller side of articulated locos(I have one in C&O 1309 trim) but really, find a way to do O72 if you can.
If not, make the extra space for O63 vs. O60…
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I’m Only using an O36 loop to have more straight track. Make the layout look a little bigger. I will by a quarter of both O60 and O63 for measurement. If it’s a tie, I’m going with O63. If O63 needs 6x8 I’m probably going with Lionel O60. Then again I could just do 6x8. BTW I’m glad I joined this forum. Everyone really is helpful.
It’s rated for O54, and can take O54. 
Just go slower. Arts Model Trains ran it on O48, sort of. I don’t recommend doing that. They look cooler going slower anyways to be honest. I wish I had room for O72. Maybe one day I will. Whether it’s O60 or O63 it should be happier on those curves regardless. I care for my New York Central Mallet enough to give it more comfort.
Lionel definitely pushes the limits.
I have a half dozen or so scale articulateds, this among them. Even if it is rated for O54, it will thank you for the widest curves you can use. It is small enough that it doesn’t look TOO crazy on O72.
Lionel allows a lot of swing in the front engine, and the rigid wheelbase is not that long.
I can tell you too that I have squeezed my Lionel Y6b(larger, but not huge) around a single section of O63 in a yard track, where my 3rd Rail Y6b, which is fine on O72, jumped the track on O63.
I love my USRA Mallet too, enough that I did this too it from my precious stash(and yes, it does run better)
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I follow that logic!
Welcome aboard SteamGuy93! 
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