How far away should I separate my track that looks realistic but yet still has good clearance for my locomotives?
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On tangent (straight) you can go as close as 3.5" (14 scale feet). On curves is where things get dicey because you have to deal with overhang from equipment on the inside track and under-hang from equipment on the outside track. The general rule I've seen for O scale is 5" on curves from 36" radius (O-72) up to 48" radius (O-96); 4.5" for 48" (O-96) to 60" (O-120); and 4" for 60" and above. This covers most standard equipment, but you still have to make provisions for articulated steam and longer equipment such as scale-length passenger cars, 86-foot HyCubes, and 89-foot Autoracks and trailer flats.
Use of flex track really comes in handy here for increasing/decreasing mainline spacing.
Hope this helps.
NSRailfan100 on my first layout I had 072 curves that I ran the Lionel Big Boy on the outside line and the Lionel C&O Allegheny on the next inner line. The spacing was 4&1/2 in. center to center and one time they hit so if you are running big engines or long cars I would recommend 5 in. center to center just to play it safe. It is A real bummer when you have to tear down mountains tunnels and scenery to move tracks if they are too close and the trains hit when you are running them.
Take care Choo Choo Kenny
Depends upon what you are running and curve radius. Remember you can always have close spacing on straights and wider spacing on the curves to avoid striking engines and rolling stock.
