Would this loco work on 18" radius or only 22" or greater?
Anybody have one? How do you like it?
Thanks
This may be silly, but I will answer myself, now that I found out from the retailer, rather than just deleting this…in case anyone ever wants to know and searches for posts on P2K 2-8-8-2s.
Product documentarion shows that it will run on 18" curves.
Kid, it will almost certainly run on 18" track, but that track will have to be very finely laid and tuned for that locomotive to perform well on 18" curves. Leaving aside how it will look on 18" curves, the tight curvature will place the tolerances of the trucks and the drivers near or at their limits much of the time. This raises the probability of derailments to the point where you may become disenchanted with the idea over time.
If you are only wanting to know if you can squeek this locomotive around curves such as these in a few slow movement sections on the layout, that would probably be just fine, but if you intend to run scale speeds with loads, expect the odd hiccup now and then, especially if you allow humidity and temps to get away on you seasonally if the layout bench is wooden.
Wider curves look better and operate better as a general rule. Still, you have to live within your space.
Yeah. That is just what I was thinking. I have a 2-10-2 that is just about the maximum for my layout.