Everything I read on good layout planning, calls for easements. But from what I see of other layouts, and many pictures online, in concert with the replies on many, many threads, I do not see many people actually using easements. So lets see what the actual numbers look like.
What’s an easement?
Think of the easement as “easing” into and out of a curve on your layout.
I think the modelers who use sectional track can be easement challenged. I use both, flextrack and Kato Unitrack. For sectional track, I simply use one section of a larger radius entering the curve and one larger radius when exiting. Everything in the middle of the two larger radius curves is the smaller radius. For example. Kato HO Unitrack has a 26" radius curved piece. 8 sections make a half circle. I use a 31" radius at the entry of the loop and a 31" at the exit of the loop.
For a technical explanation, John Armstrong’s infamous book, Track Planning For Realistic Operations has a whole discussion about easements. A search of the word “easement” on the forum will provide additional information.
In that case, “No, I do not use easements”. My layout works fine without them, and any derailments that have happened have been from me doing something stupid.[D)][oops]
I use easements. I wrote a basic program (long since lost) to generate a table of offsets using the formula for the cubic spiral easement. From this I made a template which I used on my present layout. My experience has led me to two conclusions. One, using easements is a good thing as it avoids the jerkiness of entering the curve. Two, my method is overkill - the initial offsets which I calculated at 1/4" intervals were less than a pencil line wide.
Enjoy
Paul
I would imagine that most people that use sectional track are not going to use easements. Larger layouts and people laying their own track are probably using easements.
If you see a movie or video of a model train from the rear as it enters a turn, you can see how violently a person standing up would be thrown against the side without easements. No easements also adds to the toy-like appearance in operations when moving at more than yard speed. One second it’s not turning and the next second it is.
Anything bigger than a 4x8 layout would benefit from easements.
The book mentioned above can get you hooked on the track portion of this hobby.
Easements are absolutely necessary if you want to run big steam and/or long trains. Since rebuilding all my curves using 30" radius to 26" radius easements into 24" radius curves, all my steam power tracks and pulls better. Even that brass 2-10-4 with virtually no lateral play in the drivers settles in and digs instead of riding up on the outside rail!!
I use 18" radius in HO on account of space restrictions, I mostly use sectional track, and I do in fact use easements. Remember that thing about “how you know you are a model railroader when your favorite tool is a rail clipper”? You use your rail clipper to make clips on the plastic between ties to put a small bend in straight track. You can make easements using single pieces of 9" sectional track. Keep making some judicious clips and bend the track to match a template you have drawn on paper or cardstock.
Easements help a lot, especially on the short radius. Now I know that 18" radius doesn’t look like realistic anything but then neither does 36" in HO. But the easement gives an ever so much more realistic look to the track and cuts down on the coupler lurch of long-overhang equipment entering the curve. Without the easement, trains entering curves look just so Lionel like (not that there’s anything wrong with that!).
The one drawback of easements is that they take up space – not the same kind of space as a curve of larger radius, but you have to leave room for the curve entry. Easements can be a problem with fitting them into a modular layout and meeting the requirement that module joins have to be on straight track – you need an additional 9" (I use 9" sectional track for my easements – easements can actually be longer) before entering the curve.
I was in on the organization of an HO modular railroad club, and the folks there wanted to follow standard practices all around and went with 36" curves no easements. I was trying to talk people into going maybe with a 30" curve but with easements, but I couldn’t convince anyone. I was at a big railroad show with a lot of modular layouts, and it seems people use 36" curves without easements, and it works OK – certainly better than my 18" radius with easements, but somehow I feel that easements would make such a layout look that much better, especially with passenger cars with diaphrams on 'em.
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Some of my curves have them, some dont… I have keep them in mind as I lay track but its not always practical for my small layout.
also superelevation. looks good.
Peter
conford
Easements? We don’t need no steenking easemants[:D]!
I use spline subroadbed. Before you say, so what, let me tell you. Nothing makes for a more natural easement and aid to superelevation than spline. Got hooked on it years ago, and I doubt very much that I would ever want to change. Try it sometime, and watch how gracefully scale length passenger cars glide through a curve. Ditto for auto racks and big articulated engines!!!
Determining easements is one of the advantages of having a computer tracklaying program. On Cadrail you can define the easement length and final curve radius and the programs lays it out for you. You can then print and trace it onto the layout.
If you have the patience and enjoy making the spline subroadbed, you are right on the money - there is no better way to do it! I respect the modeler who can build their layout with this method - I only wish I had the time and patience to build this way.
I use the common batten easement, and since I prefer large curves, the easement is a natural. One of my modules is a superelevated 45 degree curve around a river bend. The curve eases into and out of the 72" radius, and my streamliner just flows through it! My 4 unit FT diesel on my freight does too. jc5729
I don’t calculate my easements, I eyeball them. They are necessary for super-sharp curves, and in fact are found in places like streetcar rail, where curves can be unspeakably sharp in the middle, but easements on the ends of a curve keep cars from swinging out into traffic and banging into nearby cars. Just to make Paul Milenkovic feel better about his 18" easement curves, my easements tend to be in conjunction with curves of 12" center radius, with easements that work out to roughly 15-18" radius. Once I start doing streetcar-only trackage that will neck down to 6" center radius curves with 8-10" easements.
i also use easements, but i didn’t mess around with calculating the ‘official’ easment. i have 18 and 24 inch curves and ‘lead’ into them with a slight curve. and those little things make a ton of difference on the way things look when traversing these curves
Dean
We also found them pretty mandatory for tiny steam and short trains, because we’re using very tight radii. Even a short easement smooths out the transition into the curves without a lurch.
Cheers,
Maureen
Now that it is being discussed, I did and didn’t know it. [#oops]
I used 36 inch curves on the main and did ease into them from the straights. I guess it came natural using flex track.
On open grid benchwork, its amazingly fast. It takes longer to cut the splines than it does to use them! Want to see a demonstration?? Check out Allen Kellers videos. Get your hands on #12, in which Howard Zane demonstrates spline roadbed with a hot glue gun technique. I’ve watched Howard do it in person, and on the video, and I can tell you this. It is as easy as it looks![:D]