I appreciate the responses so far!
Seems like, realistically, this engine wont work on O-36. I kinda figured so, but hoped this might be one of those rare exceptions where the engine functions on smaller curves than you would expect... The curse of living in a condo: never enough room for trains.
I'm also not too keen on the idea of the PS-2 board potentially failing on me at some point in the near future. Especially since this engine would be a used purchase.