No, I am in HO, never had any trouble though.
My minimum radius is 18" which is also my largest.
What sort of equipment do you run? Standard gauge or narrow? Steam or diesel?
On a prototypical note, I know at least one early switcher (the Alco S-1) was designed to go around curves as narrow as 48 feet (or so says my Proto 2000 box.)
my mainline minimum radius is 26 inchs (space permiting) and a minimum of 24 inchs in my yard.
We have 34 inch minimum radius on the club’s outside corner modules. My reverse (inside out) corner has a whopping 57 inch radius.
Hey milesdf,
What kind of equipment do you run? GE 44 tonners and 26’ ore cars? I know my 50’ box cars with body mounted couplers won’t handle a 9" radius much less my 89’ autoracks. Are you putting us on?
20 inch going up inside a 22 inch loop.
Well, when I started designing the layout years ago, one of my “Givens” was - All mainline track radius will be a minimum of 36 inch. With reality being what it is and all though, the mainline radius looks like it will end up being more like a minimum of 30 inch, and the branchline will be a minimum of 26-28 inch radius.
I have a shelf type modular layout in a small spare bedroom. I use 24 inch radius on both of my curves.
Minimum on the railroad is 30". Maximum gets up to 44" on the main.
No, I am not putting you on. They sometimes come uncoupled though.
I have a 20" min. I would prefer to have at least 30", but I don’t have that kind of space or money. I am going to try to work some 6-axle units around those 20" curves. It will be fun.
Reed
22 inches on the mainline - would love to have a wider radius, but then I’d have a point to point - and a short one at that. The mining branch, though, has a 15 inch minimum radius, but it’s served by 70 tonners and shorty ore cars (and a tourist train with 36’ coaches, but that’s my bit of whimsy!)
I voted 28". I have a curve that came out at 28" and 30" double track. The original intention was 36". I’m using Peco medium and large switches, but one of my stations has some small ones, so I think that’s down to 24".
Maximum radius? I have a 60" tracksetta gauge that I use. Above that, infinity.
Kind of a loaded question since everybody has different spaces to work with. As a person with a standard 4x8 layout, I sorta envy those who can say 30 inch minimum- well, maybe someday. I went to 18 " minimum so I could have room on the edges to do a little scenery work.
What sometimes comes uncoupled? Again, what sort of equipment do you run on a 9" radius curve?
Who knows the type of HO locomotive (a specific Shay, for example) that can handle the tightest possible radius for a small mining pike. I have three turns that approximate 12"
Ed
Most two-truck Shays should handle 12" with no problem. If you don’t object to using diesels, a 44-tonner, 70-tonner, S-1 or SW-1 will glide around 12" radii without a bobble.
Due to my limited space, I had to use 15" on branchline and 18 & 22 inch on my mainlines.
My latest plans have 38" minimum on the mainline [8D] but I may have to go as low as 24"on a couple of wyes (on the non-mainline legs) that I really can not eliminate. These were important operationally. Unfortunately, one wye leads into a passenger station and I will have passenger cars going through these tighter radii. [:(]