Radius
Radius
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.
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.
A steam propelled life-style.
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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! )
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! )
- Dr. Bond of the DVLR
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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.'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!
Tag Gorton
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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
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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".ste234:50649 wrote:What are the actual values for the radius of curves in 16mm scale, R1, R2 etc?
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
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...
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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!
They only do it once mind!
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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.
Tommy Dodd may have an ARS key but I have a TASS button & a Rope Ladder, just like pirates, except the TASS button bit.
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