Radius

pauly · Post by **pauly** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:01 am

Latley Iv stopped worrying about the scenery on my railway but because Iv got to worry about soemthing (Autism related issue I think) Iv began worrying about the sharp radius I use on my line.
Its LGB R2, Iv only got a little garden unlike most on here who seem to have many acres at their disposal.

its tighter than Id like but hey its better than the feared R1 curve :shock:

what radius do you use on your line.

Narrow Minded · Post by **Narrow Minded** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:04 am

R2 (and some R1 Ssh!

)

Same problem as you, I only have a small garden to play in, so the line is a "perimiter hugger". I've tried to hide the curves behind features - the loco shed, a wood and a cutting.
By enhancing other parts of the line with scenery, (hopefully) the eye is drawn away from the tight curves.

I've used the idea of "scenic breaks" all round the line, so even when you stand in the middle, you can't see it all. For example when I sit out having a coffee, all I can see of the railway is the back of Brinsley Lodge shed, part of Westwood Station and the start of "The Alley". I can see where the line crosses the garden path, but really don't notice it, just like I can see the whole garden but little or no evidence of the line.

"Smoke & Mirrors"

Anyhow, it's narrow gauge, the curves are meant to be sharp aren't they????
(I keep telling myself that, holding out against the temptation to re-lay it....................again!

)

Keith S · Post by **Keith S** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 7:56 am

Never mind Pauly. I like to worry too. I'm never happy unless I'm unhappy about something.

Dr. Bond of the DVLR · Post by **Dr. Bond of the DVLR** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:55 am

Well I don't know what the radii of LGB track is in old money but can tell you that most of my curves lie around the 2ft 6inch rad mark,
with a 2ft rad return loop planned!

GardenRail · Post by **GardenRail** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:19 am

Mr. Bond of the DVLR:50641 wrote:Well I don't know what the radii of LGB track is in old money but can tell you that most of my curves lie around the 2ft 6inch rad mark,
with a 2ft rad return loop planned!

My railway is fairly small and has sharpish curves of necessity. The trick with curvature is to use transitional curves – just like the big railway For instance if you have 'a tight corner' to fill then use your fixed curves to cope, but remove one of the sections and, using flexitrack on the straight-ish parts of the line, curve the track in to meet your fixed section. In fact if you ensure that nothing is quite straight (just varying curves) then the whole will look a lot better and your steam locomotives will run more prototypically as well. One curve is about 2ft 8in at its sharpest point, but I run a coal-fired Fowler with the distance between tender and loco shortened. The transitional nature of the curve makes the railway 'flow.'

SLRmidge · Post by **SLRmidge** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:19 am

Having lately started relaying a curve at the bottom of my modest sized garden, we've tried to put in a transitional curve this time.
The tightest bit is in the middle of the rockery stone area..........

METHSSNIFFER · Post by **METHSSNIFFER** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:24 am

What is a sharp curve anything less than 2' 6" radius I would thought. Any 040 loco would transgress a 2' radii. I have sharp curves and I open up the gauge on the outer rail. As I have white metal chairs and pins this is easier to do. But with plastic sleeping its best to remove the rail cut out the sleepers and rethread them without the webbing and space accordingly

METHSSNIFFER · Post by **METHSSNIFFER** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:26 am

SLRmidge:50645 wrote:Having lately started relaying a curve at the bottom of my modest sized garden, we've tried to put in a transitional curve this time.
The tightest bit is in the middle of the rockery stone area..........

Could you have utilised more of the space towards the fence and round the back of the tree

Steven.T · Post by **Steven.T** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:30 am

What are the actual values for the radius of curves in 16mm scale, R1, R2 etc?

SLRmidge · Post by **SLRmidge** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:54 pm

METHSSNIFFER:50647 wrote:
SLRmidge:50645 wrote:Having lately started relaying a curve at the bottom of my modest sized garden, we've tried to put in a transitional curve this time.
The tightest bit is in the middle of the rockery stone area..........

Could you have utilised more of the space towards the fence and round the back of the tree

Possibly, but then when I take photos, which I like to do, the background would be of a fence instead of foliage.

GTB · Post by **GTB** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 3:55 pm

ste234:50649 wrote:What are the actual values for the radius of curves in 16mm scale, R1, R2 etc?

Converting into units I can visualise and then rounding off, LGB R1 is 2', R2 is 2'6", R3 is 4' and R5 is 7'6".

SM32/SM45 is 1:19 scale, so multiply the LGB radius by 19 to get the nominal prototype radius. It works out that R1 is 38', R2 is 48', R3 is 78' and R4 is 143' in full size, more or less.

No idea what radius contractor/industrial lines actually used with 0-4-0s, but the smallest Hunslet 0-4-0 tanks were claimed in the Hunslet catalogs to be able to traverse a minimum radius of 21', which is smaller than an LGB R1 curve.

As soon as you add extra wheels to a loco and fit larger drivers, the minimum radius starts going up. The Sierra Leone 2-6-2T was limited to a minimum 2 chain curve (132') according to Hunslet.

Regards,
Graeme

pauly · Post by **pauly** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 4:12 pm

Mr. Bond of the DVLR:50641 wrote:Well I don't know what the radii of LGB track is in old money but can tell you that most of my curves lie around the 2ft 6inch rad mark,
with a 2ft rad return loop planned!

I believe an R2 is the same as a mamod curve.

Steven.T · Post by **Steven.T** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 4:21 pm

Thanks for that Graeme, I was wondering what they were, couldn't find anywhere that said these.
Cheers,
Ste

MuzTrem · Post by **MuzTrem** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 6:34 pm

I do have a few LGB R1 curves on the MVR, though most of them lead into larger radius curves. Our Wisbech and Upwell coach will just about squeeze round them, though she does require special extra-long coupling chains!

Russell copes fine because of her flangeless centre drivers. Nevertheless, they are not really ideal and I think I will try to set the minimum radius at R2 if I ever get a house of my own with a decent-sized garden...

dougrail · Post by **dougrail** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 6:43 pm

*takes notes* Moral of the story - stick with R2 minimum curves?

pauly · Post by **pauly** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:04 pm

dougrail:50675 wrote:*takes notes* Moral of the story - stick with R2 minimum curves?

yep

dougrail · Post by **dougrail** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:53 pm

Duly noted -thanks chaps!

Mrs F Controller · Post by **Mrs F Controller** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:20 pm

If it's any help we have got a big garden but somehow we still ended up with 2' 6 curves! We just seemed to want to go just round that corner. It isn't a problem what radius your curves are as long as all your locos and rolling stock work on them as it is after all your railway. But the problem does come when you have an open day and someone comes round with a shay and then expects to whiz round at a tremendous speed and get round the curves at the same speed!

They only do it once mind!

Pendo Pilot · Post by **Pendo Pilot** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:23 pm

Talking of radius & issues does anyone else have problems with IOM 4 wheelers? My only one is terrible & binds like heck on nearly any curve. The wheels look way chunky & don't seem to offer much slack side to side.

pauly · Post by **pauly** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:27 pm

The reason I brought this up is because my LGB 4-wheelers seem to offer a lot of resitance on curves.

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