Can I run Passenger cars on a 36" radius curves? How Long of a car?

[Anonymous]

My set is small 40" x 11' and all the curves are 36". I would like to add a passanger service to the set but am afraid that I might pull them off the track going around corners. I have seen the old time wooden cars that are much shorter, just not the era I would like to run. Any help would be Great.
Thank you,
Hohobo[|)]

[nfmisso]

Hi;

I believe that you have "diameter" and "radius" mixed up. 36" diameter is 18" radius; 36" radius curves are anything but small.

Based on your alias, I am assuming you are working in HO scale.

The length of car is not as critical as it's design, the Rivarossi and IHC 80' cars will go around 18" radius just fine. The for thier cars, Walthers says 24" min. An 80' car will not look very good on 18" radius.

I would recommend that you choose either Athearn 60' cars or the new Rivarossi 60' cars.

[Jetrock]

Normally, the curves of a layout are measired in radius--the distance from the center of the curve to its edge. If your layout is 40" wide and you have an oval of track 36" wide, then your curves are 18" radius.

What era do you run? You could offer occasional "railfan" trips using old-time passenger cars pulled by a freight diesel, which a lot of lines who once ran passenger service (and some that didn't) still do. Such a train could be a mix of short old-timer passenger cars and 40' gondolas with seats (cobbled quickly out of basswood strips) stuck inside and a bunch of passenger figures in engineer hats.

Or, if you're modeling the fairly recent past, you could justify a Budd RDC-2 or other sort of self-powered doodlebug running short passenger trains.

Of course, if you model any time after 1971, you're pretty much stuck modeling Amtrak. Though a set of Overton 34' passenger cars in Amtrak colors would look exceedingly wacky...

[Anonymous]

The Walthers Budds require 24" Their trucks have limited lateral swing.

Those new Riv cars are pricey. Athearns are more moderatly priced

[Anonymous]

Hoho:

FIrst: Please please, always indicate what scale you are running, its critical to any advice being near the mark.

That said, have a look at the NMRA website ( www.NMRA.org ) under the tab 'standards and recommended practices' for minimum radii for various length cars.

Also, if your layout is actually 40 inches by 11 feet as your post indicats AND you are in HO scale, you don't have much room for passenger cars. Subtracting 8 inches for table-edge standoff you are left with 16 inch radius curves, tight by any standards.

You can expect to run turn of the century wood passenger coaches ( about 50 scale feet with four wheel ftucks) IF your track work is perfect and you operate at low speed. Think seriously about modeling Civil War era. Anything longer will give consistent problems.

Randy