Ho scale and tight turns

[Anonymous]

Looking to run 85’ amtrak cars on my layout. I’m running on a 4X8 sheet, and most turns are 18"-24". I’m not too worried about the realism of the cars hanging outside of the turns, there’s nothing I can do about that on a 4x8. What I want to know is if anyone has tried running 85’ Con-cor Amtrak phase IV’s on that tight a turn?

Thanks

[Metro_Red_Line]

Looking to run 85’ amtrak cars on my layout. I’m running on a 4X8 sheet, and most turns are 18"-24". I’m not too worried about the realism of the cars hanging outside of the turns, there’s nothing I can do about that on a 4x8. What I want to know is if anyone has tried running 85’ Con-cor Amtrak phase IV’s on that tight a turn?

Thanks

I have, and they can make it, as long as the couplers are truck-mounted.

But I must tell you that if you’re into running long, modern cars (Superliners, Amfleets, Auto Carriers, TOFC flatcars) then you will start to get disappointed. Moreover, even if the cars will make it on the curves, they won’t look very good, with a very bad toy-like overhang.

HO was great when all the freight cars were 50’ or less and we all ran 4-axle GP9s. But now with longer cars (and longer locos) HO is no good anymore unless you have a large amount of space (as in a club layout) where you can run 33" radius curves at the very minimum. If that sounds unfeasible to you, might you consider converting to N scale. That’s what I did, I can now run trains on 18" radius curves without shame. And with everything HO now Ready-To-Run with inflated prices, the once-expensive N scale is now pretty much equal in price to HO.

N looks better than ever, and even HO institutions like Athearn are now making trains in N scale (including the new F59PHIs and Bombardier commuter rail cars). I decided to sell all my HO trains and am now building a nice 4x8’ layout in N scale. You can do WAY more on a 4x8’ than you can in HO. Make the change!!!

[Anonymous]

Looking to run 85’ amtrak cars on my layout. I’m running on a 4X8 sheet, and most turns are 18"-24". I’m not too worried about the realism of the cars hanging outside of the turns, there’s nothing I can do about that on a 4x8. What I want to know is if anyone has tried running 85’ Con-cor Amtrak phase IV’s on that tight a turn?

Thanks

I have, and they can make it, as long as the couplers are truck-mounted.

But I must tell you that if you’re into running long, modern cars (Superliners, Amfleets, Auto Carriers, TOFC flatcars) then you will start to get disappointed. Moreover, even if the cars will make it on the curves, they won’t look very good, with a very bad toy-like overhang.

HO was great when all the freight cars were 50’ or less and we all ran 4-axle GP9s. But now with longer cars (and longer locos) HO is no good anymore unless you have a large amount of space (as in a club layout) where you can run 33" radius curves at the very minimum. If that sounds unfeasible to you, might you consider converting to N scale. That’s what I did, I can now run trains on 18" radius curves without shame. And with everything HO now Ready-To-Run with inflated prices, the once-expensive N scale is now pretty much equal in price to HO.

N looks better than ever, and even HO institutions like Athearn are now making trains in N scale (including the new F59PHIs and Bombardier commuter rail cars). I decided to sell all my HO trains and am now building a nice 4x8’ layout in N scale. You can do WAY more on a 4x8’ than you can in HO. Make the change!!!

Converting to N isn’t an option. Again, I’m not worried about asthetics. I know it will look cheesy, I’m not worried about that. I’m just making sure it will work.