Hello everyone, im stuck. Can someone tell me the maxium radius curve i should have on a 5' island in order to make it look as real as possible? Im modeling HO scale. Thanks!
Help guys, im lost!
- Thread starter trainsteve2435
- Start date
5' is 60" so a 28" radius should just barely fit on there leaveing 2" from the edge of the table, cutting it a little close
N
nachoman
5' wide? the largest possible curve you could have is slightly under 30". If you scaled that up to prototype proportions, that would be an extremely tight curve. So, to make it as real as possible, get as close to 30" as you can. But, you want to stay away from the edges, because having the track right along the edge does not look realistic. I would go with 24" radius, and then leave 6" room between the edges and the track for scenery. It's still gonna look weird if you run long passenger cars or articulated steamers, but shorter cars should look okay.
Kevin
Kevin
Thanks josh, so how much room should i allow if im going to scenic the edges of the track as to look like a mountain, im modeling the AT&SF?
hmmmm thats a good question, your going to want a little more room as Kevin said, specially if you want to have mountains and such in the area. Mybe going with the 24-26" radius would be best. It would allow you a little more realism on the scenery part
Hey, thanks to both of you, and im only going to be running a train as big as an SD40-2, do you think it will look alright on a 24" to 26" radius? Thanks!
How much room do you have around the edge of the 5 foot section and between it and whatever is opposite it? If you have a little extra space, you could run the track near the edge of the benchwork to get a larger radius and then run your mountain side down the front of the benchwork a bit. Going all the way to the floor might take too much space and make the reach in difficult, but extend the scenery down 6-8 inches would add a lot more to the layout than the space it takes. If you use the Bragdon Geodesic foam scenery materials to make it rock with a little grass, it will be flexible enough that an occasional bump won't hurt anything. It would not be strictly prototypical, but a small rail fence on the outside of the curve could serve to keep trains from falling to the floor if they should derail in the curve at the edge of the layout.
Not sure if this will help but just trying to give more options. What im going to try is glue scrap pieces of foam close to the edges with caulk so it will be strong. Then carve these down and form into small stone wall / mound type about a inch or so high.
Thanks
Thanks
rogerw, thats basically what im looking at, but myne will be on a down grade from 4" to 0". as it stands right now, i changed my radius from a 30" down to a 24" radius to allow about 5"-6" from the edge of the table to the outside edge of the track. i like your approach, it looks good. also, im open to all ideas and suggestions, you guys on this forum are great!:thumb: