________________________________________________________________________________
Allow me to put all this into perspective.
I have purchased a Regner Vertical Boilered Shay for no other reasons than,
1) I liked it
2) I wanted a live steam engine with all the fittings (Gauge Glass, etc...)
3) I really love early North American Railroad equipment
4) The Regner will negotiate 2ft radius curves
5) I want to build a logging train!
Mostly however, I bought the Regner with some money left to me by my Father who adored the Shay design of locomotive and who introduced me to railway & steam 40+ years ago.
Along with the Regner I purchased some LGB track with 2ft radius curves.
It was not long however, before I came to realise that although the Shay would negotiate R1 curves it looked rather odd doing so.
I had bought the R1 because I was sure that was all I could get into the limited garden space space, although I quickly began to doubt this. Not sure what to do next, I bought some R2 curves and had another think.
I soon came to realise that even the R2 was tight and decided that I really should take a look at what was realistic and what would fit....
Below is a track diagram of what I now believe I can achieve.
The principle dimensions I have to work with are 28ft width & 16ft depth.
THIS IS ALL USING LGB TRACK SECTIONs
I've made this diagram using a downloaded image of the LGB Track Stencil, enlarged, printed and track sections cut & pasted onto several sheets of A4. Then scanned and resized in Photoshop.
I have now opted for 4ft radius curves throughout, including points.
The only exception to this rule is four R2 sections in the centre of the balloon loop. The curves into the balloon are R3 (4ft) but transition into R2 and then back again to R3. This is the very best I can do in the space allowed to me without divorce!
Also note that the main line route from the terminus on the right, out and back, only negotiates the straight section of ALL points when entering from the point throat. This means that no train needs to negotiate point frogs on the curves hopefully reducing derailments?
I need to fill in the rest of the garden details and upload another plan, but I wanted to add this to the forum for discussion by the other members and listen to any suggestions.
