Just had a thought and wanted to see if anyone has ever tried this experiment. Take 2 of the 89’ cars and hook them together with long shank couplers and see if they would not derail going around 18’’ radius curves.
I know the recomended turn radius is 22’’ but suppose you put a long shank coupler on the rear of the first car and one on the front of the second car and join them together, would it be able to navigate such a turn. What do you guys think and has anyone ever done this.
Will
Up to a point, if the long shanks are also on the trucks and you removed frame-mounted appliances that might/would hinder the increased need of the truck to swing…sure, it should work well. Not on the bodies, though, because the lower the radius of the centerline the more pronounced the displacement relative to the centerline will be the vestibule leading edges’ centerlines that follow the major axis of the frames.
-Crandell
A hypothetical answer . . .
It might work, but they will look terribly ridiculous on straight track because of the large gap between cars.
Hypothetically you could mask the coupler’s longer shank with a Walthers cushion underframe extension grafted into the Walthers swing coupler adaptor kit. How far do you want to go in making a large redius car gain minimal functionality on a tight radius? It would still look silly IMO.
Two better ideas,
Switch to N scale or buy a bigger house.
Just my opinion.
Sheldon
I generally try and keep all my couplers the same size, short as i feel it loos more prototypical. In your case I would either try and make the curve a larger radius or just sideline the car on a siding some where on your layout. I have plenty of modern 85’ long freight cars that look really cool and run great but they don’t fit the era I model and would a little silly being pulled by a 4-8-4. Some times you just have to realize that you can’t use a car no matter what.
Yeah I plan on starting the switch to 22’’ radius from the 18’’ that I have now. I currently use power loc track which isn’t the greatest product but it does the trick for what I need I guess. As soon as I can come up with a solution to get power to the layout via straight sections without having to solder lines to rails rather than 18’’ radius terminal rerailers that I currently have to use, I will make the switch.
Really wish that life-like would make straight track terminals.
Will
EZ track accommodates up to a 35.5" radius if you need the all-in-one sort of track. Otherwise, buy the bigger house - it’s not about need but rather want. Needs require justification whereas wants exist totally on their own merit.
Will, make your own power track. Just solder some wires to a straight section. Drill small holes on the outside of the rails and use alligator clips as heat sinks. Low what iron say 15 watts should work.
Problem with sharp turns is the coupler cannot travel as far as needed. Try shaving off a 8th of a inch off the coupler box. Coupler will be able to move more side to side.
Cuda Ken