Minimum Radius for HO ?

[Anonymous]

I am new to this hobby..
I have not begun yet, just bying books and magazines. But I am already planning my first track layout.
My big question is: what is the minimum radius for a curve for HO scale?
Can I go with 18 or 20 ? Someone told me not to go under 24? The problem is my space is limited I would rather have smaller cruves.

Daniel.

[Jetrock]

It depends largely on what sort of rolling stock you'd like to run and what sort of atmosphere your layout will have. The bigger the rolling stock, the bigger the curves you'll need to run it reliably. If you want to run articulated locomotives or 80-foot passenger cars, use the biggest curves you can fit. If you want to run short switcher locomotives and 40-50 foot boxcars, 18" or even 15" radius curves will fill the bill. If you don't have room for broad curves and want to use big long equipment, rethink your approach or find a way to have more layout space.

Of course, you can also go trolley and have down to 6" curves, but then you have to hang trolley wire over it and it kind of limits your options if you're more fond of diesel or steam.

[CP5415]

Daniel

You can get away with using an 18" curve. Some say you can't but if space is at a premium, go for it. You will have to watch out for that some types of locomotive & rolling stock don't take to kindly to tight curves. I have one that's hidden in a tunnel. I have had no problems with any of my equipment on this curve. This includes AC4400's & Rivarossi 85' passenger cars.
I hope this helps.
Gordon

[eastcoast]

HEY THERE
I tend to agree with these guys.
I have tight space as well on my layout and still am able to run a 26 radius for my
85 foot passenger cars. I also do limit operating on my other tracks as they are 22 radius for the less than 60 foot cars. Nothing tighter than 22 radius though,than you'd be restricted to what you can run. To over come my problem , I built the larger radius track as close to the wall as possible and then went from there. Then again, I do have a full bedroom layout built shelf around the room. I found that island is OK but very limited.

[Jetrock]

There is a lot to be said for around-the-room shelf layouts--the focus is on the trains rather than scenery, you're viewing curves from the inside rather than the outside (which makes them look better), you can have broader curves, and they're relatively economical and are well-suited for modular construction.

Of course, since I'm modeling a trolley-era industrial layout, my layout has 12" radius curves--but then, my equipment consists of small diesels and electrics and 40 and 50 foot freight cars, and derailments due to the tight-radius track were a common occurrence on the prototype I model so I figure trains popping off the track adds some realism. ;)

[Anonymous]

There used to be a O scale christmas display when I was a kid. It had a mallet running on it. And boy was it BIG!

Anyways the curve was tight for it and the over hang from the front part of boiler was substantial. I remember a telephone pole that kept getting knocked down every few laps by the engine. The keeper would grumble and remount the pole occasionaly I dont think he ever figured why.

Watch your clearences on curves. Sideswipes are nasty.

Lee

[JeremyB]

I have a 18 degree radius curves on my layout, But I stick with smaller equipment like 40 foot boxcars and smaller loco's like GP-9's, GP-38's,Gp-35's I did get a SD40-2 but I found it difficult to keep a train behind because it would swing out so far at the back that it pulled the cars right off the rails.also stay away from the larger freight cars like that Auto-Racks and the Intermodal cars they don't look quite right on sharp curves and there quite a headache when they de-rail they look quite neat but sadly they can't be run on the sharper curves.

Hope that helps a little,

Jeremy

[tomwatkins]

It really does depend on what locomotives and rolling stock you're going to run. Many 4 axle diesels and very small steamers will make around an 18" radius curve, but they will all look better and operate more reliably on larger radius curves. If your curves are also on a grade it's even more critical. If at all possible I'd stay with 24" as a minimum for HO. If you don't already have a copy of it, pick up a copy of Track Planning For Realistic Operation by John Armstrong. It's full of really good useful information on what works, what works well and what is likely to cause trouble and aggravation.

Tom Watkins

[preceng]

Don't cut yourself short,if you reading and planning you have already started. I have same opinion as most above. I use 18", but I am happy with the smaller equipment. I try to look at it as being able to run more cars (bright side and all that...). If I had the room, I would go larger. Another issue w/ the 18" is that you have problems getting couplers to couple if the cars are on the curves.