Finally retired and have plenty of time to lay my track.I would like to know the amount of clearance need between two tracks safe enough for two trains to past
Boneheadbassboy
Wheeling/Lake Erie
Old AC&Y
Let me be first to wecome you to the forum ! [#welcome] You will meet a few guys from your area on here down the road ! I’m using 3 & a half inches , from center rail to center rail, but with gargraves track. The others that will come along, may have some more accurrate figures. For me, I like to put a signal bridge over the 2 tracks & so this works ok for me. Try to get on the Coffee Pot, as a lot of guys post there each day. I’m not too far from you & maybe see you at a train show this fall or winter. Thanks, John
Thanks for the info.I’m using Lionel “o” ,but slowing switching over to GarGrave.I do all the shows,Berea,Medina,Sharon,Pa.
Boneheadbassboy
Akron,oh W&L.E.
The “safe to Pass distance” between tracks really depends on how big your trains are and the amount of overhang you get on the curves… If your using Tubular your curves are O-gauge O-42, O-54, O-72… keeping your tracks parallel with those distances should be fine. Where all the engineering comes in is if you switch to Atlas with it’s 4 1/2 C to C over the whole product line or Ross with 4 inch C to C from O-64 and up.
IMO I like 4 1/2" Center rail to Center Rail.[2c]Just my [2c]
I use 2 7/8" in the yard, around 3 1/2" on main-line tangents, and as much as needed on curves. The problem on main-line curves is that, although you might have enough clearance on the tangent, the inside train must swing out as it enters the curve. So pulling the inside curve back from the corner to increase the corner clearance does not help. However, a spiral, which starts with a gentle curve and then gets sharp in the middle, can move the inside track away from the outside (before the outside curve begins) with relatively little swing-out where it matters.
Thanks all.The help was greatly appreciated
Boneheadbassboy