Superelevated curves

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi guys, I need your advise; as I was watching a DVD showing heavy freights struggling on my favourite road (the Tehachapi Pass of course!) I had some sights of trains twisting around curves and countercurves, of course at a low speed (around 15 - 20 mph). My feeling is that these curves are not superelevated.

So I have a few questions:

-on prototype railroads are all curves superelevated whichever the radius and maximum allowed speed?

-If yes, has someone here a mathematic rule to share (radius versus speed, radius versus angle of superelevation, speed versus angle of superelevation, or other)

-about superelevated curves on a model railroad: is it an help for easy train rolling, or is it at the contrary a trend for the cars on the curve to derail inward?

Every advise should be appreciated, as I’m just begginning to lay track on my main layout.

Cheers,

Dominique

2

Not all curves on prototype are cuperelevated, only those where trains travel at high speed.

Sorry, I have no idea about that.

You can superelevate curves on your model railroad, however, it will only be for look and won’t really affect your operation unless you do it wrong (elevation too high or too sharp) which would cause your train to derail.

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Once you’ve gone superelevated, you won’t go back… Even if it is just for looks. ( I personally believe it’s also a performance enhancer) [:O] kinda like on the real railroads…
and I don’t think it’s done only on highspeed route… but on any route where they are trying to maximize speed potentials…
Nothing is cooler than looking down some branchline that’s nothing but lumbering superelevated curves… whether you’re out in the woods of Pennsylvania, or in my basement…[:)]
but, to get back to point- it’s easy to do, and looks good.

It’s all good, Dan

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Jack the outside rail up to four inches, and see that the center of gravity on a freight is at the drawbar! ACJ.

5

[quote…and I don’t think it’s done only on highspeed route… but on any route where they are trying to maximize speed potentials…
[/quote]

The WP superelevated mainline curves on its 3rd Sub (the Feather River Canyon) despite the fact that much of the track was restricted to 25 mph, and most areas weren’t faster than 35 mph. Photos of WP’s Reno Junction siding (on the 5th Sub) show that it appears to be superelevated also, despite carrying a timetable restriction of 10 mph. Of course, superelevation was also present on faster track elsewhere.