Track spacing, 30" radius

[Anonymous]

I am not sure if this topic has been discussed lately, so please excuse me if it has. What is the minimum distance between track centers for 30" radius curves in HO scale? I know I have this information someplace, but with the tearing down of the old layout, and building of the new one, all things model railroad related, are in a state of disarray.
Thanks for any help.
Paul

[michaelstevens]

The conservative approach would be to use your NMRA template's full width (2+1/16") to the centerline of the track on the inside (i.e. at a radius of 27+15/16").
If you are putting the second track outside of your 30" radius track, you can probably cheat a little, if you need to.
Note that the foregoing will be OK for 85' long equipment -- BUT 4-8-8-4 steam locos may need more separation -- it always pays to test before finalizing your layout.

Enjoy !!

[IRONROOSTER]

NMRA's site has this page http://www.nmra.org/standards/s-8.html in their standards section. It covers most of the scales. There are three values based on the type of equipment you run.

I heartily recommend using the NMRA Standards and RPs when planning a layout.
Enjoy
Paul

[dknelson]

I am using a uniform 2" spacing on my layout. Using cheap brass flex track I picked up at a swap meet, I constructed some sample curves to see how my full length passenger cars and E units and autorack flat cars would deal with this.
My conclusion was that there seemed to be no problems down to curves of 38" and 40"
but below, such as 36" and 38", that some equipment came DARN close to interfering with the other track. I did not experiement down to 30 but I think you'd want to use the 30 and 1/16 spacing mentioned above. My own decision was to go with 40" and 42" curves whenever possible on my double track mainline. If I need to go to 38" for special situations I can do so with confidence.
By the way ... 2" may seem close but it is way wider than prototype minimums. Tony Koester mentioned in an issue of Model Railroad Planning that true prototype track spacing might not only pose problems on curves but also poses problems for our full size fingers if we need to pick up a car or use an uncoupling tool.
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

A comment to dknelson. Have you ever used brass track before. I used some back in the 1960s and unlike nickle siver track the oxide is non conductive. I spent all my time cleaning track just to get trains to run. I wish you the best, but I don't think I would do that.

Ed

[dknelson]

Thanks for the warning Ed, but what I was talking about was an experiment, not layout building. That is why I said I used cheap used brass track for this purpose. It was solely to build a sample of curves as an experiment, not the layout itself, and has already been thrown away as its purpose has been served. I never even hooked up electricity to it.
Likewise I experimented with some ideas I had for yard ladders using brass turnouts purchased at a swap meet. Got 'em dirt cheap, did my testing, dumped them. My first layout was brass. I had all the usual problems with it.
Dave Nelson