Dear all,
Can you help me with the minimum radius and minimum turnout for trouble-free operation of these cars:
Thank you.
Great thread on curves! Thank you!
hi
since these cars are about 70 feet, #6 switches are needed. Not really the most appropriate cars, considering the min radius, switches and trainlength in your trackplan.
Smile
Paul.
Märklin (and Märklin compatible) cars tend to have other trucks, other underbodies and other couplers than American cars, and generally can take far sharper curves than American cars.
I know I have run passenger cars on 375 mm (14.7") radius curves, with no derailments, without modifying the cars in any way. They look like shit going around such curves (massive overhang), but they do not have any problems doing so.
Posters here will mostly be used to American equipment, which needs wider curves. Rule of the thumb for American quipment is that minimum radius should 3 time the length of the longest rolling stock, and if you want automatic coupling on the curve with Kadee couplers or equivalent couplers (i.e. self centering couplers with springs) curve radius should not be less than 5 times the length of the longest rolling stock.
Depending one what you need to do with the curve - just run through it without derailing, run through it and look good, couple and uncouple on the curve, couple without adjusting the couplers or whatever - the answer might be different for your cars than it would be for American cars.
I also believe you are using Märklin K sectional track - where the selection of curve radii available may dictate your choices.
Might be better to ask that question in a forum that has lots of people using Märklin 
Smile,
Stein
hi Edmunds,
Stein is right, but already in booklets by the German staff (PitPeg) of Miniatur Bahnen dating from the 60’s the Märklin and Fleishmann radii of about 15 inches were considered inappropriate for coaches and longer freightcars. Even for their 20% shortened coaches. In the past Maerklin also sold curved track with a 22 inch radius (55 cm), as they do today.
But their trains run through those 15 inch curves and switches without any problems, as long as the trains are pretty short and pulled. Coupling and uncoupling can´t be done on those sharp curves however. Here you have IMAO a design issue. You have coaches (24 cm, about the same length as the proposed cars), switches and engines from a previous layout, so it would be relatively easy to lay down parts of your new plan and check operation over it.
Question is how to use train length, in your case 30 inches. An engine with two 70 feet long cars or an engine with 5 short 2 axle European cars.
If i remember well I have seen wonderful pictures of Faller trucks using railroad cars for parts of their journey. It would be a dream to model.
Paul
Paul, that is exactly what I’m after ;).
There is this other thread of mine with the layout plan. I posted the latest version below again. While the current plan does not include this for a plain lack of space in the room I have available, I will be able to add sections in the ends as the layout moves upstairs or maybe before that for a roadshow situation. These sections will include motorail (what they call cars-on-the-train in UK) terminals. Now, I want to make sure that the mid sections I’m building now, do not cause any problems.
The operational “cause” for the motorail will be two-fold - the trucks will not be allowed to pass through the town on the left (need to come up with names now :)) and there will be a high mountain section, where it will be more efficient for most of the freight to take the train, rather than small serpentine roads.
As for the freight cars - I could not find the information from Maerklin on minimum radius for these, so I asked. I was also worried about turnouts. You use #4s, #5s and #6ses here and it seems there are a minimum turnout for a car length. The trouble is, they don’t have these numbers in Europe. Maerklin is one of the few manufacturers that actually has two different turnouts - short and long. The short are considered “normal” and this is what I am using. But as some folks have suggested - if all track takes all cars, then there is no need to specify minimum radii, so everything makes sense now. Clearly, these cars will look no less than uggly on my ~18-22" curves. Since I would have to re-build them anyway with all the guide wire (to guide the steering arms of the front axles), decoders and infrared LED (for dc-car decoders on the cars to stop and start) it does not really have to
hi Edmund,
the problem often is pushing a train, and coupling and uncoupling on curves.
Since you are running rather short trains, it might end well, but i would try it out with the coaches you have.
Paul