smallest curves on your layout

[Anonymous]

My newly completed area 3 has almost all 1.1 m rad curves, however i have had to have 2 onlly R 2 aprox i e bigger than R1 but smaller than R3.

Rgds Ian

[Anonymous]

My newly completed area 3 has almost all 1.1 m rad curves, however i have had to have 2 onlly R 2 aprox i e bigger than R1 but smaller than R3.

Rgds Ian

[Anonymous]

Mine a r-1 (4 ft dia) . I've been thinking of redoing it using r-2 (5 ft dia), but I'd have to move a few small trees and bushes. We rent, so a larger layout just isn't in the cards for the forseeable future.

[Anonymous]

Mine a r-1 (4 ft dia) . I've been thinking of redoing it using r-2 (5 ft dia), but I'd have to move a few small trees and bushes. We rent, so a larger layout just isn't in the cards for the forseeable future.

[Anonymous]

im 8' 10' thats all nothing smaller.

[Anonymous]

im 8' 10' thats all nothing smaller.

[Train 284]

Mine are 4ft. I'm operating a narrow guge layout, so it works good.

[Train 284]

Mine are 4ft. I'm operating a narrow guge layout, so it works good.

[ghelman]

My layout as it is today has 4 ft dia (1.22 meters) because that is the room I was trying to fit it in. But, I am enlarging to another part of the yard. The plan is to have nothing smaller than a 10 ft dia.(3.05 Meters) The new section will be reserved for the larger trains.

[ghelman]

My layout as it is today has 4 ft dia (1.22 meters) because that is the room I was trying to fit it in. But, I am enlarging to another part of the yard. The plan is to have nothing smaller than a 10 ft dia.(3.05 Meters) The new section will be reserved for the larger trains.

[Anonymous]

The smallest curve on my G.R.R. IS 6 FT. ben

[Anonymous]

The smallest curve on my G.R.R. IS 6 FT. ben

[Chompers]

my minimum is a lgb R2 curve.

[Chompers]

my minimum is a lgb R2 curve.

[markperr]

Outdoors 8 ft

Indoors 4 ft

[markperr]

Outdoors 8 ft

Indoors 4 ft

[Capt Bob Johnson]

My main line is currently 20', however when I get the mountain division built it will be down to 15'. It has been the plan to maybe use some 10' in yards or on sidings when I get around to building them. My rule was nothing smaller than 10'!

[Capt Bob Johnson]

My main line is currently 20', however when I get the mountain division built it will be down to 15'. It has been the plan to maybe use some 10' in yards or on sidings when I get around to building them. My rule was nothing smaller than 10'!

[Tom The Brat]

The smallest in the shop layout is 11.5 ft diameter. The biggest is 16.5 ft.

[Tom The Brat]

The smallest in the shop layout is 11.5 ft diameter. The biggest is 16.5 ft.

[Shadowbourne Inc]

When I started my layout last year I was using 4ft curves which was working good for my moguls and 0-4-0s but after purchasing my LGB Mike this year I finding it binding up on R1 curves. I am also having problems with keeping it from derailing on manual switches, any suggestions? All my track and switches are LGB. Rolling stock is a mixture of LGB, Bachmann, and Lionel.

[Shadowbourne Inc]

When I started my layout last year I was using 4ft curves which was working good for my moguls and 0-4-0s but after purchasing my LGB Mike this year I finding it binding up on R1 curves. I am also having problems with keeping it from derailing on manual switches, any suggestions? All my track and switches are LGB. Rolling stock is a mixture of LGB, Bachmann, and Lionel.

[Anonymous]

Firstly; I really should not be getting involved in any non metric conversations, however maybe the local authorities won't find out.

I have to agree with Smoggy, I use LGB's tightest curves and I must say my LGB Mallet and its associated carriages (600mm long) look really strange, as does my ICE train on these curves. I have many in my reversing loop but I have no choice as I am determined to make my railway fit my garde and and not the other way around. To put an LGB Mike through my reversing would be an incredible sight. However I do have a few of these tight curves on my main line and I have no trouble with them at all, as I run only LGB rolling stock.

I used some second hand LGB R1 curves but nearly all my track is LGB and Garden Railway Club of Australia club track, which is similar to flextrack only better in my opinion. But I do use LGB curves as minimum templates to compare any curves I do make and it works for me.

Regards

Ian; Kawana Island Tropical Railway.

[Anonymous]

Firstly; I really should not be getting involved in any non metric conversations, however maybe the local authorities won't find out.

I have to agree with Smoggy, I use LGB's tightest curves and I must say my LGB Mallet and its associated carriages (600mm long) look really strange, as does my ICE train on these curves. I have many in my reversing loop but I have no choice as I am determined to make my railway fit my garde and and not the other way around. To put an LGB Mike through my reversing would be an incredible sight. However I do have a few of these tight curves on my main line and I have no trouble with them at all, as I run only LGB rolling stock.

I used some second hand LGB R1 curves but nearly all my track is LGB and Garden Railway Club of Australia club track, which is similar to flextrack only better in my opinion. But I do use LGB curves as minimum templates to compare any curves I do make and it works for me.

Regards

Ian; Kawana Island Tropical Railway.

[Anonymous]

I use LGB R1 curves (4ft) but I stagger them.i.e. 1x curve,1x straight,1xcurve ect until I get the right turn.I find that it looks smoother when running and stops wheelspin on a heavily loaded loco.Troy

[Anonymous]

I use LGB R1 curves (4ft) but I stagger them.i.e. 1x curve,1x straight,1xcurve ect until I get the right turn.I find that it looks smoother when running and stops wheelspin on a heavily loaded loco.Troy

[Anonymous]

Hi
My tightest is LGB R1 on the main line a MISTAKE made at the begining of construction.
Now buying live steam locomotives is a pain and the larger Electics other than LGB are out of the question untill I get too stage three if i ever get there
regards John

[Anonymous]

Hi
My tightest is LGB R1 on the main line a MISTAKE made at the begining of construction.
Now buying live steam locomotives is a pain and the larger Electics other than LGB are out of the question untill I get too stage three if i ever get there
regards John

[jtrost]

Jumping in the middle, I'll dive into two of the topics. Mininum radius I use is about 4 ft. A few spots may be tighter but most is 4.5 ft or greater. My Bachmann Consolidation handles them nicely and it all looks good enough for me.

Flex vs. hand laid track is the other topic. I hand laid most of my track. Cut ties from Trex decking and used 1/2 inch spikes (stainless). The Trex holds the spikes well enough that the rust/no rust issue becomes irrelevant. The big issue for me was cost. Hand laid is considerably less expensive. That is if you don't mind 2 to 4 hours on your knees to spike a few feet of track. Hand laid is A LOT of work. The interesting thing of this is that I find I like the appearance of hand laid on the Trex ties more than flex. I had to use flex on bridges and trestles where hand spiking would have been difficult but am not thrilled with the look.

There's my two cents worth.