Hopefully Cuyama will weigh in on your question. I and a lot of others would defer to his opinion and judgement. He does layout design for a living.
Bear "It's all about having fun."
Until any plan is drawn to scale, it’s impossible to know what all of the issues might be. But yes, S-curves can be a problem, especially with longer modern equipment or full-length passenger cars in any era. Note that the Marias Pass layout seems to have at least a longest-car-length section of straight track between curves. There also seem to be spiral easements leading into the curves, a good idea for performance and appearance.
With so much of the Original Poster’s plan in tunnels and snowsheds, moving equipment onto- and off the tracks may be a little tedious. And some might grow tired of watching trains orbit – but that’s a personal preference, to be sure.
Good luck with your layout.
Byron
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
cuyamaUntil any plan is drawn to scale, it’s impossible to know what all of the issues might be. But yes, S-curves can be a problem, especially with longer modern equipment or full-length passenger cars in any era. Note that the Marias Pass layout seems to have at least a longest-car-length section of straight track between curves. There also seem to be spiral easements leading into the curves, a good idea for performance and appearance. With so much of the Original Poster’s plan in tunnels and snowsheds, moving equipment onto- and off the tracks may be a little tedious. And some might grow tired of watching trains orbit – but that’s a personal preference, to be sure. Good luck with your layout. Byron
I plan on running mostly maxi-i s and enclosed racks behind tunnel motors, but that mostly depends on what i can afford. Do you have any idea what would be a good minimum radius for this type of layout? I threw out the 18" number but would like to shrink that down a bit. I am in a bit of a bind for width. The layout is going to be built in the detached garage. It is either going in the corner infront of a car, or in the attic of said garage. both have their sortcomings.
Lost in the snow
Why not buy the original track plan in the old magazines that featured it. I believe it will be a little easier on your part than guessing.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Bering, you are doing this in N scale...right?
yes sir bearman
I guess i will buy the mag, i never even thought that there might be a trackplan in a mag.
Does anyone know what happened to Nscaleaddict? He hasn't posted on his blog in over a year.
If you are modeling N-scale then it seems to me that all you have to do is deal with those two S curves. 18 inch in N scale is very broad.
I am not worried about the radius, i just want to get nice sweeping curves.
BeringI am not worried about the radius, i just want to get nice sweeping curves.
Great, and in N scale, your overall of 4' will give you that.
Stretch out the radius at the ends, as much as you can, use the length of your layout to bring the track back in a little, to add interest, and then curve it back out to do the radius on the other end. That way you avoid the parallel track to the edge of the layout, and avoid any drastic "S" curves.
I love the idea of a layout built just for train watching, and fantastic scenery.
Mike.
My You Tube
There is a MR track plan called
The Salt Lake Route
N scale 4'x9'
Here is something a little different.
http://s350.photobucket.com/user/thomasweekley63/media/N%20scale%204%20x%2010_zpsbfsa0bex.png.html?sort=3&o=0
graymatterThere is a MR track plan called The Salt Lake Route N scale 4'x9'
That layout is a different direction from what the Original Poster was describing, since half of the layout consists of turnouts, industries, etc.
I think the OP has a great looking layout because that is what he wants, and if he can deal with the S curves and scenic it in winter I would love too see the final product.
Bering, I will defer to others, but 18" in N scale will be sweeping.
I did a bit of math and 18" radius would put me darn close to the proto radius of the eastern most tunnel. So thats pretty cool.
I am smrt. No idea how I got that number, some times my own stupidity amazes me. For reference the correct radius would be about 41" in N.
BeringI did a bit of math and 18" radius would put me darn close to the proto radius of the eastern most tunnel.
18" radius in N scale should look great, but that's equivalent to about a 24-degree curve -- much tighter than the prototype. Or any mainline curve on the Southern Pacific.
whoops, edited to more accuratly fit the truth.