if you're in HO scale and you have 18" curves- I have a question

[Anonymous]

if you don't know what radius you're curves are- http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=51416
i know 18" curves have some severe limitations- most 6-axle locomtives don't go around them too well - my question is what are some of the longer cars you run on 18" curves? i run 50' boxcars w/ no problem ----also what 6-axle locomotives do you run on them? my Athearn AC4400 does okay on these curves-- would an Athearn SD40-2 go around them?

[railroadyoshi]

I seem to be able to get Walthers 86ft Amfleet passenger coaches around my 18in curves, but not Budd cars. Its interesting how things change even with cars of the same length because of trucks etc.. My RDC squeels as it goes around those curves, actually, I can't really describe the noise, it was something like i'd never heard before.

[MisterBeasley]

I can run my P1K Alco RS-3 around just fine. I've got a number of Athearn 50-foot flats and gondolas that are OK, too. Also, some old Mantua 72-foot passenger cars, but they do have truck-mounted couplers. The rest of my engines are all 4-axle or less, and since I'm modelling the 60's, most of my rolling stock is 38-40 foot pieces.

[SpaceMouse]

I run small steam. 18" turns are no problem. Sometimes I run areally big passenger. Like 50" and it's still no problem.

[Anonymous]

will an Athearn SD40-2 go around these curves? i'd also like to run some Athearn 56' well cars w/ containers- will these go around 18" curves?

[UnionPacific3985]

When I had my old 4x6 layout I ran an SD40-2 and well cars. The only problem I had was that the containers would flip the entire 5 car set over due to the high center of gravity and sharp corners. The engine worked fine though.

[Anonymous]

originally posted by UnionPacific3985

QUOTE: When I had my old 4x6 layout I ran an SD40-2 and well cars. The only problem I had was that the containers would flip the entire 5 car set over due to the high center of gravity and sharp corners. The engine worked fine though.

they tipped over? well cars are so low to the ground i didn't think they'd tip over --i guess some weight in the bottom container(or in the bottom of the car) would help if they tipped over -- the most cars i have pulled on my layout was 27 and i had a few major derailments- i can only pull about 23 cars safely- now i only have 12 cars that i can even run (i've got some repair work to do)

[Berk-fan284]

My Kato SD90/43MAC and SD40s, Athearn SD75I and AC4400, Dash 9s, SD40s,FP45s all go around 18"curves in fine style. I also have some Rivarossi, Athearn, Lionel articulated locos that'll fly through there just fine (they might look strange but they take the corners any speed I'm willing to go). Ten and twelve coupled steamers outside of Bachmann 2-10-0, and Rivarossi 2-10-2 are about the only long wheelbase rigid locos that can go through that tight a curve. I have two sets of well cars as long as I put the weighted containers on the bottom of the double stacked cars I can take any corner I want at any speed I care to run them.

[joeyegarner]

I usually only run 50' footers one them, I don't have many others longer than that. As far as Locos go, I only have one 6axel unit that will run on mine, it's an older U-28C BB Athearn. The U-30C, U-36C and SD-9's just don't have it.

[Soo Line fan]

I have run P2K SD-60s, Kato SD-40-2s and Kato SD-45s with no problem. I have a couple of Bowser 4-8-4s and a Mantua 2-8-2, which run fine. The longest freight cars are 62ft Athearn tanks and 60ft MDC flats and bulkheads. My longest passenger cars are Athearn and Con-Cor 72 ft with truck mounted couplers.

Jim

[basementdweller]

I can get Walthers Centerbeams around an 18" curve. They have a swinging draft gear box which allows them to do so.
Martin.

[ChessieFan13]

well.........I got a p2k sd 50 a while ago and didnt stop to think about the radius thing at the time of purchase............well 18 radi are the sharp ones you know............ran the loco no problems ............ when i hooked up to cars that is when the shi* hit the fan........every curve a derailment...................every switch with cars a derailment..............pondered on this for a while and suddenly the solution presented itsself...............I cut the inside of the coulper pockets down so the coupler itsself would move more left and right . That fixed the binding that happened on the curves, now i can run my 72 ft tanker behind the sd50 and no problm. Hope this helps J.W.

[BRAKIE]

First just because a layout is 4x8 isn't any sign that one is force to use 18" curves..You see a 22" curve will work as well and will allow you to use those 6 axle units.The thing to remember while designing a small 4x6 or 4x8 layout is to UNDERSTAND what can be done..This comes from thinking outside of the box of (if I may) the Lionel mentality of 4x6 and 4x8 layout design as well as using the space wisely instead of the unneeded mountains,unrealistic grades and some layout books...Once one climbs above those self imposed obstacles then one can plan a great 4x6 or 4x8 layout and have room for those 22" curves..[:D]

The thing to watch with 6 axle units and long wheel base cars on 18" curves is coupler overhang.This is what causes the derailments.Of course there are some locomotives that will not run around 18" curves.

[ARTHILL]

The thing I ran into was getting the scenery to close to the inside edge. My 2-6-6-2- runs just fine as does BLI heavy Mike. All my passenger cars run, but the coupler issue is big and I need to do some rebuilding for dependible operation.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Athearn SD75I and AC4400, Dash 9s, SD40s all go around 18"curves in fine style

thats good to know beacaue i have an AC4400 and i want a dash 9 and a SD40-2

[jrbernier]

ARTHILL,

Are you runing a BLI Heavy 2-8-2 around 18" radius curves? I know my pair will not go through a spur lead with 18" radius. I rebuilt the lead last May so that I would not have this problem.

Jim

[Anonymous]

UnionPacific3985, could you do something about the bottom pic in you signature it makes the page extremely wide , Thanks (i'm sorry for complaing -someone made me remove one of my pics a few weeks ago)

[whitman500]

My Atlas Dash 8-40C went through my 18" curves no problem and was able to pull 100-ton hopper cars as well.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: My Atlas Dash 8-40C went through my 18" curves no problem and was able to pull 100-ton hopper cars as well

well if it'd go throught 18" curve thats good news - that might mean other Atlas loco's w/ a min. 22" curve would go through an 18" curve(that'd be great) i also like the Atlas DASH8-40CW that should come out this December http://www.atlasrr.com/HOLoco/hodash840cw1.htm

[RedGrey62]

Be careful how many cars you pull behind on the sharp curves. You can end up "clotheslining" the whole string. That is, the cars will come off on the inside of the curve as they want to take the shortest route thru the curve.

Rick

[Anonymous]

Rick ,thats happened to me a few times when i pulled 25+ cars if you are careful about which cars are near the engine it works better- shortest cars (40' or less) near the back of the train- long cars (more than 55') near the middle and it helps if the first car has more than the recommended weight so it stays on the track better-- w/ a 12' x4' layout a 25 car train is as long as it gets- if all the cars had free rolling wheels the train could be longer - what causes the cars to tip to the inside is when there is a heavy load behing them- aka. lots of cars

[MisterBeasley]

Unless you are pulling cars up a hill, it's not the weight of a long train that causes the problem, it's the drag. You can reduce that by replacing plastic wheels with metal ones, and by lubricating the bearings of any car that doesn't roll easily. Heavier cars will generally have more drag, because the added weight on the bearings causes more friction. Heavier cars will also cause more problems if you are accelerating on the curve. In that case, weight (or more properly mass) is the issue.

[Anonymous]

My experience is the car length should be 70 or under, and an Athearn SD40-2 is pushing it, but a Kato has not problem whatsoever. An Atlas RS-2 does just fine too. I also run a P2K E6 with no problem, and a BLI Hudson 4-6-4 that is pushing it, but does fine if there are no major track laying imperfections. My 85' cars will run the curves, but I have a double track, so they can bump long things on the next line. The higher quality stuff will run tighter curves and complain less about everything.

Greg