0-8-0 and #5 turnouts.

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hey folks,

Would a Proto 2000 0-8-0 have any problems going thru a #5 turnout? What would the minimum radius they would operate? I have a dock/urban layout and the turns are pretty tight. Right now the biggest power I have is a 44 tonner. I really liked the sound on the proto2000 but dont want to put out that kind of money if I cant use it much.

Thanks.

2

Repairman,

The newly released Proto 2000 0-8-0 switchers with sound are improved versions of the first releases and now have a full set of pickups in the tender. So, you shouldn’t have problems with it hesitating in turnouts or crossovers. Minimum radius? 18" for sure. Not sure about 15". VERY nice looking locomotives [:)][tup]

Tom

3

Not sure about number 5’s, but mine have no problem going over Peco Medium radius turnouts

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/album508/aac

Jon

4

If you check this page on the NMRA’s site http://www.nmra.org/standards/rp12_3.html you’ll find that item 11in the table has the radius that you are interested in. For #5 turnout it is 26". Note that for a #4 it is only 15".
Enjoy
Paul

5

I would imagine that the Heritage 0-8-0 will perform well down to about 17" in radius, maybe a bit tighter. As for #5 turnouts, there should be no problem what-so-ever.

6

Mind goes in and out of #4 like nothing, lots of 18" in radius in my switching area, the new ones run so nice and the sound is the best I’ve heard, even better then my BLI. It crawls along and never stalls even on #6 switchs. The first run without sound are not as good.

7

While I haven’t been running that particular loco, I have been operating a variety of 8-drivered steam locos through #5 turnouts and specialwork with no problems. That 26 inch radius between the points and the frog should handle any loco that isn’t actively unhappy on 24 inch radius curves.

Chuck

8

#5’s were standard minimum pn the club layout I was in, a compromise between 4 and 6 which at the time was not available.
#4’s are not 15", but snap switches are 18". #4 is maybe about 24"
should not be a prob an #4’s.

9

Hi there I have very sharp curves on parts of my layout but they are transition curves… down to 14" in parts but transition curves none the less www.xdford.digitalzones.com FYI . The two 0-8-0’s work well if a little tight for taking a load around… limited to 8-9 freight cars.

Hope this Helps

Regards

Trevor

10

Atlas #4’s are really #4 1/2’s. Other brands #4’s may or may not be larger.
Enjoy
Paul

11

Pretty much anything will go thru a no. 5 turnout !! I have a no. 5 turnout that creates an S-curve (it’s a spur track parallel to the mainline). I can put pretty much anything up to my BLI 2-10-4 thru it no problem. Only thing might not work would be full-length passenger cars with body-mounted couplers. Truck mounted ones I’ve tested work fine though.