Yes, John Armstrong called the affect of easements as reducing the “coefficient of lurch”. In other words, with the spiral easement, two long cars will not have as much offset between them as they enter into the curve, thus reducing the “lurch” into the curve and fewer chances of derailments.
If you use springy flext rack, you don’t even need to use a templet. Just draw the center lines as illustrated in the earlier diagrams with the curve centerline offset by the prescribed amount - such as 1/2 inch for 30 inch curves. Then at about 9 inches from that point, allow the flex track to spring in where you lay it roughtly half way between the two centerlines at the offset, and for another 9 inches allow the track to spring in until it matches the centerline on the curve. Done. I don’t even draw the center line because the spring of the track forms the proper spiral in. Works like a charm. Of course you could draw the center line after tacking the track down but it isn’t necessary and will be covered up as you paint or ballast.
Probably not. A very rough quick sketch suggests that it may not quite fit in 6’X10’ in HO using flextrack, even with a very steep grade. With sectional track, it would require even more space.
The tracks are probably a little closer together in this sketch than they would need to be to incorporate the different tiers of track as in the original O Gauge plan. You’d also need a vertical transition at the other end of the grade, but that would be easy to include. Access would be needed to the center of the benchwork. (oops, and the legend should read 6’X10’)
As others have noted, there are lots of HO 5X9 plans on the Internet, although they may not be as packed as the original O Gauge plan for all the reasons noted in this and your other thread.
I have made a layout on anyrail and it looks good excpt I do have 15 inch curves so I would like someone to look atn this and give me ideas to mak this work with 18 inch curves, i will email you the fine if you reply. I don’t know how to attach the file or picture here.
I understand now, so I want to keep this type of design, so any suggestions on layout plans, I did the work on the anyrail software and it was tight with 15 inch curves but I want this type of yard, don’t have to be up and over but it looks nice. Like I said i did this layout in the O scale lionel and had old post war engines run and I used all Ross track, and it looked and worked nice. So I thought if it was a smaller scale it would take less room, i see now that is not true. So I ask all of you here for ideas to build my layout, I have had no lucjk online finiding plans. Someone here can take this design make chnages so it works and post it so i can build it. I am asking for help here, I need my hobby back soon. Thank you all for your help so far. The most I can go is 8 X 6 is the max for work space.
Lionel O Gauge vs scale HO content deleted, repeats earlier posts.
Back to easements. Some time around 1950, Ed Ravenscroft made ‘foobie’ easements by using radii R - 3R/2 - 3R - tangent, each larger radius segment as long as a heavyweight passenger car. He was using Tru-Scale milled roadbed. At about the same time the club I later joined made ‘flex Tru-Scale’ by cutting most of the way across tangent and wider-radius pieces, then laid honest logarithmic spiral easements. I personally use the ‘offset the tangent, locate the two ends of the easement and let the flex track do its thing’ method, which seems to meet my simple needs.
I won’t give dimensions - I work in Metric units, which peeves the ‘Loyal Order of English Measurement’ squad.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in 1:80 scale, aka HOj)
Yes, but that is a significant change in size of the models from O Gauge to N. You might want to see some N scale in a hobby shop or at a train show before making the shift to be sure that you are happy with the smaller models. (Personally, I model in N scale, but it doesn’t suit everyone.)
You seem to be in a hurry to find a plan. If your major requirement is a small yard, there are many published plans from which to choose in HO, including the Atlas HO layouts, many of which are designed for their sectional track and are squashed into a 4X8 or so. (Many of these concepts would be better if relaxed into a larger space, in my opinion).
HO sectional track generally is not as robust as the O Gauge Lionel Fastrack you may have been using. KATO HO Unitrack is an exception and works quite well.
But if you wish to duplicate the overall arrangement of the original O Gauge layout in 6’X8’ with sectional track, then N scale will work. KATO also makes N scale Unitrack, which works well.
