Hi, I am making a micro N gauge layout and have started laying out the track. I bought a loco from ebay, I will provide a link to it. My question is, can this locomotive run properly on an 17.5-18" diameter circle? I doubt I will be running anything larger than this engine and it has relatively small trucks anyway so will it work?? Engine: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=006&item=160006563418&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1 Thanks In advance. --Ben
It may work but if you can you should go with a minimum of 9-3/4" radius curves (19.5" diameter). This is the standard minimum radius for many N scale locos. With 4 axel locos you won’t have a problem with 9-3/4", but 8-3/4" may stretching the limits.
I have a N scale layout right now that has a radius of 9". I run 6 axles on it just fine but your trackwork has to be flawless.
Okay, well i might be able to stretch it out to 20" total anyway. One more question, Is it imperative that I lay cork, or can I just glue (or tack) the track straight to the board? What is simple that works best?
At that radius any little bit you can squeeze out of it will help. Any easement you can add will also help.
As far as cork or other roadbed, well, nothing is imperative, but, the finished product will look better with the cork, the profile of the roadbed will be much more “real”, and the track will just look better, especially after you ballast it.