I am getting ready to start a new layout and plan on using Woodland Scenic foam road bed and Atlas Flex track. How far apart should the foam or the tracks be? I have never liked the spacing on my previous layouts, as I have always thought I placed the tracks too far apart. Thanks for the help!
Running 2" centers for straight track and transition with the use of easements to 2 1/2" on curves.
2" centers for yard work OK, however some will open the centers for “fat fingers” or to read reporting marks. Do a mock up and find what works best for you for those yards.
Depends on what era you are modelling. Of yore they were closer together. If you build subway or commuter rail they are pretty darn close. The EIRE RAILROAD was the first to put more space between the lines, and so was one of the first to be able to carry larger loads into the New York area.
Modern Railroads want them further apart. New York Central used to be a four track mane lion, but two tracks ahve been torn up. NOW NYDOT wants to put tracks back in and it’s “no deal”. CSX wants them much further apart than what they were of yore: Ergo the need to acquire more land for the ROW.
Trains are Taller and Faster, freight trains are wider with longer loads requiring greater separation on curves to prevent side-swipes.The railroad also wants more space for ground crews to work on the track, get their pick up trucks in there and etc.
But in the 1:87 world, controlling factors include the table, the curves, equipment lengths and wheelbases, and of course, just what looks good.
LION laid the outer track of his helix, put his longest passenger car on it, attached a marker pen to the inside corner of the train and ran it around the curve. Him put the pen in the outside middle of the car and ran that around the curve. This gives you the “envelope” that this track requires. Measure from center line to outside curve, and give that same distance from the inside mark to find the centerline of the next track LEAVING ROOM FOR ERROR! the second track will have a tighter radius and thus a greater overhang at both the belly and at the ends of the cars.
For most other applications, the LION either did “just what looks good” or accepted the natural spacing of two tracks at the cross over. Him thought th
BNSF, this is a type of question that (as you might expect) has been brought up for years. This is where groups like the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) have established standards or recommended practices to help different company’s products to match up and to keep us from having things go “bump” when they shouldn’t.
It may be a little imposing at first, but the NMRA standards for clearances is found here:
http://www.nmra.org/standards/sandrp/s-8.html
One has to scroll down a bit to get to the HO chart. There, one will find that the preferred minimum distance between track centers for straight track is 2 1/16 inches, a distance that is admittedly wider apart than what real railroads would do, but which allows for human fingers. On curves, the distance increases to allow for the overhang of the equipment, and the prior recommendation of 2 1/2" on curves is a good guide. If you plan to run long equipment (85’ passenger cars, auto-racks) on tight curves, you may wish to expand that clearance even a bit more.
Please don’t be put off by the amount of information that is available for what should seem like a simple question; just know that others have faced most every problem that you will encounter and feel welcome to ask for insight or suggestions.
Bill