what is min radius that can be used with these cars? will not be a yard switched train, but a thru frieght.
I would think 22" would be the tightest, and then that would have to be slow. I’m sure they will go tighter, but you have coupler swing and truck travel to worry about, and it won’t look so good.
Glenn
That is totaly dependent on the brand. Athearns should make 18" but most people say 30" is the minimum for 87’ passenger cars and this shouldn’t be any different in my opinion.
Give the curves the maximum you can get away with, with th espace you are limited too. Long sweeping curves will always look better than tight, sharp curves that have to be negotiated really slowly!
Ian
I’ve stayed away from 89 ft cars in total because even 30" radius isn’t really enough, especially if you’re running several of them.
At a Club I used to belong to (Grafton, VA) they have 40+" radius curves and several years ago a member ran a train of over 70 auto racks (3 Kato engines up front, 3 more mid-train, and 2 pushers–all non-DCC). He was able to run the train (took up over 1/4 of the track) but it wasn’t fun–it was downright painful (stringlining of cars).
My current Club runs modules (40" radius) and long cars have a different problem–uncoupling due to uneven track in the horizontal mode caused by modules not perfectly aligned in the horizontal mode. The typical HO coupler has about a 1/8" gripping surface. When you take an 89 ft car and have it cross over from one module to the next and they aren’t perfectly aligned, you get a lot of inadvertant uncoupling.
My 2 cents worth–long cars (especially 89 ft autoracks but also Walther’s AMTRAK Superliners) aren’t fun to run due to the need for large radius curves (to avoid stringlining of cars, bumping corners of adjacent cars, and hitting trains on adjacent tracks) and problems with uneven track (increases inadvertant uncouplings).
we run n scale the tightest turn we have is 24 " . we run long trains like 10 to 50 cars of the 89 ft. auto racks and dont have problems . just the thing to keep in mind is that it dont look pretty going around tight turns with long cars but the turn around is not seen aways so .
My N-gauge autoracks (Con Cor and Micro Trains) do very well on my 18" curves. Absolutely no problems. My home layout is composed of 5 modules and these cars track beautifully across the joints. But you must ensure that your track has no kinks in it, is alligend horizontally (as mentioned above), and that both railheads are at the same elevation when looking at the cross section of the track.
I ran a 13 car train of Walthers auto racks on my 30" radius minimummainline–they ran fine but didn’t look good.
My HO layout’s min. radius is 30". I operate (3) full length passenger cars, (5) Accurail bi- and tri-level level autoracks and (4) Athearn 85’ boxcars with no problem. But as you eluded to in your question, all the long freight equipment is part of a thru-freight only, that stops only once [on the main] to either add or setout power and lift a cut of cars. It traverses switches (all Peco mediums) at both ends of the staging yard without incident. I should also mention that the passenger cars and the 85’ boxcars have been converted to body-mounted couplers. If the cars look a little “awkward” to you, even on 30" curves, add a few trees or a structure to the near side of the curve. Cheers, and enjoy.
Minimum radius depends on how the couplers are attached to the car. I highly recommend using the Walthers swing bracket/coupler pocket (these come with the Walthers 89 ft autoracks) as the cars will safely negotiate a 24 inch radius. Body mounted couplers, as used on shorter cars, will always need a larger radius.
Using the Walther’s coupler mounting setup, your minimum radius limiting factor will then occur when the ends of the cars touch. Using Kadee #5’s this is a little less than 22". If you use the longer shank version Kadee couplers (numbers 26, 36, or 46) you can get the radius a little tighter.
As previously stated, these cars become great trackwork and clearance checkers. I run them on my HO modular club and use them to adjust the layout sections to avoid the disconnecting mentioned in an earlier post. I have been running them for 3 years and they run flawlessly. Also, remember to check your scenery and structures along the right of way otherwise you will find out the hard way.
Having said they run good, I will point out that the cars need a little tweaking to do that. First, replace the Walthers wheelsets with properly gauged 28" metal wheelsets of your choice (I used Kadees). Next, remove the model molding line where the coupler bracket swings. Then, lightly sand the back of coupler pocket to remove any small burrs. Next, lightly sand the bracket plate (this the item that gets screwed to the car and holds the bracket in place) on the side towards the coupler bracket. When you are done with this, assemble one car and check the coupler height. Especially check for up and down movement. If you see any movement (I’ll restress ANY), disassemble the coupler and add a styrene slim in the coupler pocket to fill the gap. Using either 0.005 or 0.010 styrene, I cut a piece to the size of pocket opening and cut a hole for the coupler center post. I put the shim in, then the coupler spring, then the coupler. After building 9 of these cars, I found this nec