Hi everyone. I ma building a mid 50’s Santa Fe layout. My minimum radius is 36" and I am wondering if any one knows if there is a code 83 curved 36" inside righthand turnout? I want to place it on a hidden return loop with the hope for later expansion. Regards Phil
The largest frog # that Walthers/Shinohara makes, as far as I know, is a #8 in curved turnouts. In that case, they advertise the outer radius as 36", which isn’t going to help you. You might try making your own turnout, either from scratch or from a kit, maybe a Central Valley kit.
-Crandell
I have to agree with Crandell on this one. I have a few curved turnouts on my layout, The selection is very limited, so handlaid turnouts would be the way to go.
Walthers-Shinohara makes four different sized Code 83 curved turnouts in left hand and right hand profiles.
As Crandell indicated, the #8 curved turnout is a 32" inside radius and a 36" outside radius.
the #7.5 curved turnout is a 28" inside radius and a 32" outside radius.
the #7 curved turnout is a 24" inside radius and a 28" outside radius.
the #6 curved turnout is a 20" inside radius and a 24" outside radius.
That’s pretty much it.
Rich
Peco makes code 83 curved turnouts, but I don’t know offhand what radius(es) they offer – you may be able to find this data by going to the Peco web site in Great Britain. They usually just call their turnouts small, medium, or large.
HO Code 83 is the exception here, in that the PECO C83 line includes numbered turnouts (5, 6, 8) with a straight diverging leg.
The PECO C83 #7 curved turnout inner leg is probably effectively about a 34"-36" radius. I believe that it’s nominally 36", but the path through the frog may be a little tighter.
To be absolutely sure, testing a sample with your pickiest equipment is always the best course. But virtually all commercial HO equipment should be able to negotiate that inner leg. I assume your 36" minimum is a cosmetic minimum, not a functional minimum.
And of course, it’s also always an option to rework your track plan to avoid the need for the main track to take the diverging side of a curved turnout.
Byron
I’ve build my own turnouts with PC board ties and I’ve used Central Valley turnouts. They’re very easy curvable! I did so at my Diamond Valley module.
Wolfgang
Peco publishes a “plan” for the curved #7 turnouts (http://www.peco-uk.com/Downloads/SL-8376%20&%20SL-8377.pdf) which might provide guidance.
A discussion on the Atlas forum suggests 60 in outside, 32 inside
I have mentioned earlier that actual measurements indicate a 6" radius difference between inner and outer:
30"/36"
26"/32"
22"/28"
18"/24"
Dante
I have a couple of these and those dimensions are probably right. I made my own 3rd PlanIt version and the numbers I came up with were 64 and 30. I printed it out and seemed to get a good match with the real one, but I guess I should go back and verify…
Edit: Just did a quick verify and my 3PI model is a bit off, but not by much. The area this turnout is going in is not critical, so I can make up the difference by fudging with the flex afterward.
In any case, the radii look to be low-60s/low 30s, which won’t help the OP.
Dante,
That could well be. I should have mentioned that I referenced the Walthers web site for those measurements, not actual personal experience (except for the #7.5 which I own and it fits well into my double mainline which contains curves of 32" and 30" - - go figure ! )
Rich
Thanks everyone. This is a help, I will either have to build my own or redesign my idea. Thankyou all for your feedback regards Phil