Largest minimum radius

[frenchtoast]

Just wondering if anyone has encountered or owns a loco or even some rolling stock that needs a minimum radius far beyond that you could imagine. Far beyond 11"

Partly wondering as i'm guessing some of the larger steam locos arent going to like many curves with a radius less then 11"

 

[Will_annand]

Well, our club has a Minitrix Decopod, 2-10-0 and it runs on 11" radius curves with no problem.

Only ones bigger than that fellow would be the articulated steamers.

 

[ezdays]

I have a 90' SP Hi Cube boxcar that can't make it around a 12" radius. I've not tried to run it, but I can't even push it around without it derailing. I also have a Bachmann 4-8-4 that can make it if I'm careful and everything is just right that day. I got them both last year, along with a lot of other cars and engines when I bought a layout and all the stock that was on it. I might just put that car on a siding and let it rust.

 

[Zman]

It also depends on the design of the trucks. I have a 2-6-0 Mogul that has flanges on each wheel. It tends to stutter along turns with a radius of smaller than 9". However, I recently bought Aethern's latest release of the 2-8-0 Consolidation, and it actually runs better than the Mogul because the inner wheels have no flanges, effectively making it a four-wheel truck. The slight sacrifice in prototypical appearance is a small price to pay for the performance.

 

[Matthyro]

My only thoughts about minimum radius is that the larger the radius can be, then equipment will look better operating. Nothing worse than wide hangovers.