Curved Yard Lead

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I have a 32" curved yard lead and will be backing (11), 40 foot HO box cars(Kadee) into my yard. Does anyone see a problem here?

2

I certainly don’t: you should have no trouble backing 11 or 111 cars through such a curve

3

I think you will be fine, so long as your track work is good–no kinks, tight connections between sections, etc. Free wheeling on the cars and properly operating couplers too. I have curves down to about 25" radius in my yard and have experienced no problems.

4

Is that 32" in length or radius? Assuming a radius, should not be a problem. One thing is, that you don’t have several heavier box cars you might be pushing with a light flat car. Since you say box cars and they’re high quality Kadees too, shouldn’t be a problem

Richard

5

Nope…You should be good to go with 30 cars from any quality manufacturer.

6

I have a 16" shelf on one wall being fed by a 24" shelf on the adjoining wall. I have two mainlines closest to the wall and four yard sidings starting at 22" radius. The other three are 24", 26" and 28". The mainlines are 30" and 32". I am in the 50’s and 60’s era running mostly 40’ and 50’ cars so have had no problems with any of the tracks. As others have stated just make sure your track work is solid with no kinks. The total length of each siding is 7’ to 8’ which I figure can hold around 15 cars each.