If i want to make a 90 degree turn and the loco i want has a minimum raius of 22 then can i make a 11 degree turn i am lost and dont know what the heck i am saying
Are you confused?
ennout
yup
Your minimum radius is 22 inches plain and simple. Anything less will be a problem anything more will work and look better. Lay out a curve with at least a 22-inch radius and swing it around for 1/4 of a circle.
Bruce Wilson
Barrie, Ontairo
No. If your loco is rated at 22" you need to go 22"or larger. (24", 28", ect.). 22" radius track will make a 44" diameter circle. 3 peices of 22" radius snap track will give you a 90% turn.
Wrong, you need 4 pieces of snap 22" radius track to make a 90 degree turn. 3 pieces of 18" radius will make a 90 degree turn.
Rick
My guess is that he is still confused…[:o)]
Jacob,
Sounds like you are equating radius with degrees…I think? [%-)]
Your radius is how big your circle will be. As already stated, a 22" radius will yield a 44" diameter 1/2 or full circle. Sectional track comes in specific radii (plural for radius) and degrees. In Atlas track, each piece of 18" radius curve is 30 degrees, and each piece of 22" radius curve is 22-1/2 degrees. As Rick pointed out, 3 pieces of 18" make a 90 degree turn, and 4 pieces of 22" make a 90 degree turn.
The easiest way to make a 90 degree turn is with sectional track. You can use what’s called “flex-track” but it’s a bit trickier to use. Flex-track is, as the name implies - flexible, and is really handy for making curves that you just can’t achieve with sectional track.
Jacob, does that make it as clear as mud now?
Tom
Richard (ennout),
I love your signature picture. Did you by chance happen to see your shadow this past Thusday? I’m ready for Spring…
Tom
Let me take a stab at this. If you drew a circle with a compass and you stuck the point into the paper The radius is the distance from the center (where the point is stuck in the paper) in a straight line to any point on the circle and it is always the same distance. A full circle of track contains 360 degrees just like a compass. If you drew a vertical line through the center of the circle and out through the edges on both sides of the center you would have divided it into two halfs each having 360/2 or 180 degrees. Then if you drew a horizontal line on the circle through the center you would have divided each half again by 2 so 180/2 equals 90 degrees. now in model railroading you have two possibilities for discussion here. You have a very small table (4 x8 feet) that requires the train to turn and go back the way it came on the opposite side of the table or a much bigger table that only requires you to turn 90 degrees and travel along another side. Radius is important because if you want to do the first example the diameter of a 180 degree turn is twice the radius since it involves two straight lines opposite each other from the center to the edge of the circle. So if I have a 36" wide board and I want to turn and go back the way I came the biggest curve I could use would be 36"/2 or 18". If the board is 48" wide the biggest curve I could use is 48"/2 or 24" radius. If I could find a board and get it in the room that is 200 feet wide I could make curves of 100 foot radius since the radius of the curve is 1/2 the maximum possible width. BUT in order to fit the center has to be moved in from the end by the length of the radius also because otherwise it would go off the end of the board.
ooo i get it
If I could add a caution to our friend, you do NOT want your curves teetering on the very edges of your layout, so you will probably have to do one of three things: use Flex-track and make a hybrid curve that doesn’t let your precious engined come so close to the table edge that it will come to harm if it should derail and tumble off the outside of the curve; or, add a couple of inches of layout surface to each side of the curve where it nears the edge of the layout; or, stick with snap track like EZ-Track and live with 18" curves.
If you were to ask me what I would do, I would add surface and get the widest curves possible for the sake of good running and looks…the locos hang out over the curve when it is too tight.
CAUTION!
Don’t forget that the radius of a curve is measured to the center of the gauge (where the track nail holes are.) Without easements, a 17 1/4 inch radius curve on a 36 inch wide board (or a 23 1/4 inch radius on a 48 inch wide sheet of plywood) will put the ends of the ties right on the edge, very uncomfortable for someone with expensive locos and a weak heart.
tstage,
Yep, I saw my shadow, Now for 6 more weeks of play’n with my train befor I have to do any thing outside.
ennout (in-n-out)(Rick)