I was in the Walther's Catalogue this morning and looking at the pics of the double curved turnouts. This caused me to raise my eyebrows.
I always thought radius of a curve was measured from the centreline of the track. Is this correct or is it measured on the inside rail?
Fergie
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959
If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007
Fergie,
That is correct. Normal scale model railroad track is measured from the centerline. I think some tinplate stuff measured it from the outside rail.
Walthers Curved Turnouts - Be aware that those numbers in the Walthers catalog are not really all that accurate. There was a discussion about a year ago and after a lot of measuring, it was found that the inside radius was consistantly sharper than the advertised. If you have some Ribbon Rail gauges, I would check out the physical product before purchasing,
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Thank You Jim
I suspected so but wanted to make sure. I'm in the process of going to 30" mainline curves and as luck would have it I have a requirement for a double curved turnout with 30" outer radii curve. The inner curve required is a 18". Peco has a 60"/30" which I don't have the realestate for and their mid range double curve appears to have a 28" outer curve, which is not quite big enough. Is there another option?
Fergmiester Thank You Jim I suspected so but wanted to make sure. I'm in the process of going to 30" mainline curves and as luck would have it I have a requirement for a double curved turnout with 30" outer radii curve. The inner curve required is a 18". Peco has a 60"/30" which I don't have the realestate for and their mid range double curve appears to have a 28" outer curve, which is not quite big enough. Is there another option? Fergie
Fergie, there is always, "That other option" - which I consider to be the only option.
Handlay the desired turnout to your own specifications, using raw rail (or modified flex track,) wood ties, three point gauges, an NMRA gauge, a big flat file and a soldering tool that can transfer a lot of heat quickly.
Note that a true curved turnout can't be assembled in a commercial jig with a fixed-number frog. It has to be built up on site, carefully. BUT, once completed and in service, it is far less likely to give you heartburn than any commercial product. The best part? Since it doesn't have to fit into a bubble-pack, you can use full-length (36" or one meter) stock rails and long frog rails, which lets you avoid a couple of rail joints on curved track. That alone is priceless.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - on hand-laid specialwork)