Removed the 19 inch radius and went with 17 inch and 15 inch radius. The 60 foot passneger cars look great on the curves, very little overhang, frieght cars are good too. Went with the two inch foam on open grid. The 1x3 seems to be very good for the bench.
doctorwayne DonRicardo I have an open grid for benchwork, stringers 16 inches on center.I am considering 1/4 inch ply as a foundation on which to glue 2 inch pink insultion board. Do you think 1/4 inch would be too thin, or would it work? My first layout, shown previously as a sketch, was in HO scale, a 4'x8' layout with 1"x4" framing and cross members on 16". The table top was 1/4" plywood, as was the roadbed where portions of the track were elevated. There were no problems with it, and it was eventually sold. There was no foam insulation board, though. Wayne
DonRicardo I have an open grid for benchwork, stringers 16 inches on center.I am considering 1/4 inch ply as a foundation on which to glue 2 inch pink insultion board. Do you think 1/4 inch would be too thin, or would it work?
My first layout, shown previously as a sketch, was in HO scale, a 4'x8' layout with 1"x4" framing and cross members on 16". The table top was 1/4" plywood, as was the roadbed where portions of the track were elevated. There were no problems with it, and it was eventually sold.
There was no foam insulation board, though.
Wayne
With Caboose manual throws.
Can't believe the price of the foam and lumber!
DonRicardoI have an open grid for benchwork, stringers 16 inches on center.I am considering 1/4 inch ply as a foundation on which to glue 2 inch pink insultion board. Do you think 1/4 inch would be too thin, or would it work?
I uased 1x4s for the perimeter and 1x3s for the cross members, with 2 inch foam for the subfloor. I agree, we tend to overbuild.
Laying in the track now, glued the foam to the framing, and the cork to the foam, and am gluing the track to the cork. I lay in my switches first then fill in with flex track.
The freaking foam has gotten expensive, $50.00 for a single panel!
As an experiment I tried using 1/4" luan plywood and 1" insulation board on 12" centers (1x4) for an HO module and there were no problems. It convinced me that we overbuild in most instances.
I am using 17" radiue curves, using flex track, code 80. When the code 80 rails are painted a rust color, and the ties a weathered gray, the height difference is not so obvious for the code 80, and the balast makes it even less obvious. I use code 80 so my older cars will run well, code 55 causes some problems with those older cars and their larger flanges.
The inner curves are 16 inch radii.
Thanks for replying. These cars came with two extra diaphrams, the ones the cars come with do not meet together but leave a gap so I assume the extras are meant to fill that gap. The question is how to apply them> Those diaphrams are the reason I was asking about radius.
The Atlas cars are two wheel trucks, with diaphrams between the cars. I will try the 15 inch radius and see how that works out with the diaphrams attached.
On the last layout I built, many years ago, I used the 3x system for radius, but was not running passenger cars. These cars are 5 inches long so the 15 inch radius sounds good.
My Atlas cars are painted for the Conway Scenic RR here in New England, up New Hampshire way. Maine Central and Boston and Maine owned the track rights back when, so this will be a Boston and Maine with EMD GP40s near the Saco River, using both passenger and freight services.
Both my previous layouts were small freight only Western Maryland coal runners.
I have an open grid for benchwork, stringers 16 inches on center.I am considering 1/4 inch ply as a foundation on which to glue 2 inch pink insultion board. Do you think 1/4 inch would be too thin, or would it work?
I have two sets of Rivarossi 60ft passenger cars. They are very similar to the atlas models. I run them on 15 inch curves with ease. The only modification I made was switching the three wheel trucks to two wheel trucks.
JJF
Prototypically modeling the Great Northern in Minnesota with just a hint of freelancing.
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Thanks for replying. Like that layout, too.
Thanks for replying. I have two new Bachman EMD GP40s, they seem to pull well.
I will be using open grid with 2 inch insulation board as a base.
ndbprri am not in n gauge BUT those curves are the equivalent of roughly 30" radius in ho which will handle full length 85' cars easily.
I agree...my first HO layout, a 4'x8', had an outer radius of about 22" at both ends (and both on grades). There was also an inner oval, with a radius, again at both ends, of about 18", and inside that, at one end, was a loop meant for turning locos (and trains). I would guess its' radius at around 14" or 15" - it easily handled a train of 60' HO passenger cars.Here's a rough sketch of that layout...
i am not in n gauge BUT those curves are the equivalent of roughly 30" radius in ho which will handle full length 85' cars easily. the grade will be a function of your engines ability to overcome the curvature simultaneously with the drag
I am getting back into model railroading. Due to limited space, I will be building a n scale layout, 42 inches by 84 inches.
I purchased four Atlas 60 foot passenger cars. They are 5 inches long. I am thinking of using a 15 inch or16 inch radius for these cars. They have between the car diaphrams. The track will rise about2 and 1/2 inches. Code 80 track, Atlas, with flex track. Any suggestions concerning that radius and how will the elevation affect the curves?