Getting back into the hobby

[Anonymous]

It has been a while since I have been in the hobby of model railroading. I have retained my HO Scale locomotives and rolling stock. My first model railroad was a 4X4 set and at that time I had only two locomotives and few rolling stock. I am up to about 7 locomotives and about 20 pieces of rolling stock. I have an area in my basement that is 12 X 20 feet. My main issue is trying to figure out how I can lay track so that I can run a locomotive with say (4) Walthers 85' Amfleet/Horizen coaches. I have been trying to stay away from using 18" radius track. Is 22" radius acceptable for this? Aother issue is figuring how to determine % of grade. In my notes I have that 2% is an acceptable grade. All of my previous layouts were boring because there was no grade.
When it comes to my passenger trains I wanted to model push and pull service and build along the walls. I would plan on finishing it in sections but would like to at least start with working on the grades and laying track. I am impressed with the layout in Model Railroader March 2005 issue ppg. 49 -55.
I have a whole collection of HO scale vehicles from Atlas, Boley, Herpa, ConCor, Road Champs, Monogram and others that I would like to incorporate.

If you have have any answers to my questions please let me know.

[CP5415]

Welcome to the club silverado

Walthers cars will go around 22" curves with no problem.
Some will say that it doesn't look correct, you should go with a larger radius.
If you have the space, go for it. If not, don't worry about it.
I have 22" curves on my layout on the mainline & I've have no problems with Walthers 85' cars with these curves.
2% grades will depend on the locomotive power you're using.
I have 3.5% on my 9x12 layout & my Proto 2000 PA has no problem pulling 6 of these cars up this grade.

Feel free to ask questions if you have any.

Gordon

[tigerstripe]

If you have that much area available skip the 22" consider going as large
as possible, 30" with easments.
As for grades 2% is a rise of 2" over a length of 100", so the easy way would
be to screw a block of wood (2X4) to an 8' stud, 96"
also try a 1" piece on a yardstick 3% grade.
Woodland Scenics makes a foam roadbed product with grades built in that is flexible so you can use it on curved sections also.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Gordon,

What kind of tools did you use to scale your 3.5% grade? How prototypical are roadway grades for automobiles?

Chris

[CP5415]

Chris,

To be honest, I didn't measure the grades until after I built them which is why i have 4 different grades on my mainline.
I put a riser at a height tall enough to get a train through a tunnel & went down from there.
I'm still working on my trackwork so I haven't started work on scenery.
If you want, I can show you pictures of my benchwork.
May take me a few days to get them but I can email them to you if you like.

Gordon

[Anonymous]

Gordon,

Sure. I would like to see pictures of your bench work.

Chris