Hogwarts, Victorian Xmas, Kinlet Hall and Albert Hall Min Curve

FLJONESESOGR Forum Member

Over time I noticed that the Lionel Hall type locomotives had different stated minimum curves. From various sources I gathered Hogwarts and Victorian Christmas were O-36, Kinlet Hall was just listed as "Traditional O Gauge" and Albert Hall was listed as O-31.

This made me curious as to what was different about their design. I would think it would be the steam chest, but from looking at the parts for them, they all reference the same part; 7101069024, STEAMCHEST/HOGWARTS LOCO.

I emailed Lionel about Hogwarts and Albert Hall, asking what the minimum curve was for them, and if the min curve was different, then what was the design difference between the two locomotives. Lionel customer service emailed back that they should both navigate O-31!

Does anyone have any idea what is really going on? From the forum posts it looks like the real min curve is O-36.

11/25/154:32 PM

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suzukovichOGR Forum Member

Aimed at different audiences? Funny thing is the engine is scale.

11/25/154:36 PM

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TrainWizard5972OGR Forum Member

My guess is that whoever did the write ups for the website and catalogs could not tell the difference between O-31 and O-36.

11/25/154:58 PM

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Silver LakeOGR Forum Member

I have several because I really like the mold. The minimum curve they can do is O-36. The pilot truck hits the cylinders on a tighter curve. If you remove the truck it can make the curve but it will look silly. The passenger cars will do O-31 no problem.

11/25/155:56 PM

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gunrunnerjohnOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Yep, I tried the Hogwarts Express on O31, no can do! It's very close on O36, but it makes it without issues.

11/26/1510:05 AM

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c.demilleOGR Forum Member

I had a hogwarts engine at one time and O36 is bare min. It still had issues on O36 especially on an incline and it derailed a lot on me. It's that front pilot truck as mentioned earlier. My opinion is these engines look great but are actually terrible runners. Maybe they've changed them since I had mine but mine had no momentum flywheel and would slam to a stop if I wasn't careful on the throttle. It was also a very poor puller. It was heavy enough to pull a lot but with several cars it just wouldn't go. Was like it wasn't getting full voltage.

11/28/1510:36 AM

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gunrunnerjohnOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

I did an upgrade to TMCC and fan driven smoke on one, it has no problem pulling four cars around, including a 2% grade. I do agree that the O36 is the bare minimum, but it runs great on O72.

11/28/1510:40 AM

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suzukovichOGR Forum Member

I had the Hogwarts version a couple of years ago. It was a weak runner but I found it had issues on even 048, it ran best on 072. Now I recently purchased the Lionel Chief Kinlet Hall and found it to be a strong runner pulling about 20lbs of Atlas/Weaver/Lionel rolling stock.