Curved yard....

seanm

Member
... I LOVE the look of a curved or bent yard. In my current working layout plan, I have included this feature. NOW I realized something. Will I be able to couple up to cars on the curved portion? Maybe not!!

I am working in n-scale and will be using mostly MT truck mounted couplers. The radius used in the yard is about 22"... Will I be able to couple? I don;t have any track up yet so I can't test. Anyone have a 22" radius they could test for me?

Here is the current yard plan

tba5-lower.med.JPG
 

60103

Pooh Bah
Sean: a bigger problem is uncoupling on the curve.
The magazine tests showed that coupling was generally reliable on a curve. It should be easier with truck mounted couplers, but there could be problems if you mix them with body-mounts.
 
I have notable problems coupling on curves - I'm largely kadee couplers, body mounted.

Looking at your design, I'd say the "top" end of your yard is fine - most of your coupling/uncoupling will occur in straight areas anyway. The bottom might be more difficult, as you go into curves very close to your ladder...
 

cyb0rg

New Member
At the risk of sounding newbish...

That seems like an awful lot of yard for that layout, or is there a second level extending from that loop on the top right?

[EDIT] Note to self: Spelling skills rapidly deteriorate after midnight.
 

siderod

Member
I must agree with cyb0rg...that does seem like an awful lot of yard for a layout of that size. I would understand if there was another level, but with only 1, it seems like half your layout, or more, is a yard.
 

seanm

Member
Good point! :thumb:

Yes, there is another level! The second level has more industries some hidden staging and an interchange, so I think the yard may be a little big, but I like yard operations. One thing I may eliminate is the second yard lead and run around. That may be a bit excessive.

Here is a "draft" of the second level. I have made a few changes in this level that do not appear in this picture, but for the most part it is the same. I change the industry tracks on the right to add some more interest there and added one more staging track on the left.


TBA-4upper.med.bmp
 

cyb0rg

New Member
Sweet layout!
thumbsup.gif


I did some testing for you. My grandfather has a lot of leftover track, including about 300ft of flex track. I took the measurements and laid down a bunch of 22" curves, similar to your setup.

I should note that this track is probably over 20 years old, and obviously isn't cemented down. I did measure the radius carefully, though I had everything laid in less than an hour. The locos used for testing are also 20+ years old, but still in working order. All rolling stock had the standard couplers, truck mounted. And one final note before I list my results: I haven't ran a model train like this for at least 10 years. I've done some recent tinkering with my HO set, but nothing in N scale. Here are my results:

I figured 50 attempts would give accurate data. I started with an empty loco, backed in and coupled 1 car. Pulled out, backed in and picked up 2 cars, then 3, etc. I did that until I had a length of 25. I did this twice.

There were 4 uncouplings. 1 was due to a broken coupler, so I didn't count that one and took the reefer out of circulation. So that's 4 out of 50 attempts or an 8% error rate. Given my skill level and all of the other things, I felt like it was a successful experiment.

This doesn't mean much coming from a newbie, but I'd say if you like the look of a curved yard, then go for it. At least in my limited experience and tests, you won't have a problem with uncouplings.
 

seanm

Member
Thanks! This will be in n-scale, but I am pretty sure it will be at least OK. Meybe not optimal, but I like the look so much I don;t really want to change it.
 
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