Distance between parallel tracks?

Torpedo said:
OK, but I thought prototypes typically run 13' spacing, which I make to be about 1.8 inches for HO. Do they run less in the yards, or do I need a refresher course in math? :oops:
Click to expand...

Not for the yard tracks..Here is a look at the spacing.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=55613

As you can see there is very little space left between the tracks.
Let's look at mine again.

Yard-shot.gif


As you can see at 1.5" I still have some room left.
 
Speaking as a former brakeman the last place you want to be is between the tracks if one cut of cars was being pulled by another crew.
Out of curiosity where are you getting your information?
 
THANKS ! What a Great source of info this forum is ! Sorry for my slow reply -- been away on business travel. Not to worry prodigy2k7 -- I took a close look at your pic and the other ones ! When I find helpful hints in every reply -- I realize how little I know- one would think there would be something I Already Know.

Thanks Y'all
Steve In Bama
 
I don't know if anyone mentioned this. However, I was playing around with some cork road bed and flex track and noted that when you lay the cork side by side and center the track on it you get a distance of 2" center. Coincidence? I think not!
 
When I lay my Midwest HO cork roadbed for 2" track centers, I am left with a 1/8" gap between the 2 pieces of cork. The roadbed itself is 1 7/8" wide. I think this roadbed is used to represent an average mainline roadbed. I doubt that your roadbed manufacturer was telling you anything by making theirs 2" wide... just their idea of what is "average" mainline roadbed.

I was going to use 2" centers for my interchange yards, but now that Brakie has pointed out you can go smaller, I just may, to save a little room. Maybe 1.75" for me.
 
cidchase said:
1.5" center-to-center in HO scales to 10'10-5/8" in real life. AAR boxcar width is 10'-8". That would give you less than 3" clearance between cars. I have measured the track spacing in an industrial yard in Memphis and it was 14' even.
???
Click to expand...
I calculated the same thing. I also did a web search trying to find a reference to parallel North American standard gauge track of any kind with less than a 13' center to center distance. I could not find anything. I'm sure there must be something out there, but I can't believe it is as little as 10 foot 10 inches.
 
That 3" clearance sounds a little close to me! Surely those cars rock a little, especially over imperfections in the trackwork, sounds like the cars would be scraping on each other sometimes?
 
brakie said:
I like 2" centers..I really like your track spacing..You see I do not and will not accept derailments as part of my operation plan.


Food for thought on yard track spacing..
For yard tracks I like 1.5" inches so it looks like a real yard.
Like so.

Yard-shot.gif
Click to expand...
Brakie, 1.5 inches doesn't compute, as a couple of us have mentioned, and while looking for something else, I stumbled on this post you made over at Trains.com where you indicate you use 1.75 inches in your yards:

http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/36003/ShowPost.aspx

1.75 inches scales to 12.7 feet, which is close to the 13' I understand used to be standard in some yards in the past. May we assume 1.75 inches is the correct figure for your yard?
 
Ya I dont know what roadbed you got, I got 1/8 inch ish left over for 2 inch parallels as u can see in my image above
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom