My plan is to have two parallel tracks with 1 1/2 inch spacing between them. My Radii are 13 1/2 and 15. Is this too close for comfort? I want to be able to run 6 axle diesels. Please advise.
I've been running 2 Kato AC4400's an SD70MAC with Atlas Articulated Auto Racks, and a GS-4 with all the passenger cars on 11, 12 3/8, 13 3/4, and 15 Inch. All of these are on the same corner. I don't have any issues with trains hitting or derailing.
There are six axle diesels and then there are SIX AXLE DIESELS with a huge difference between say an SD-35 and an SD-90. You won’t have any clearance problems with the dimensions/radius you mention but large six axles, such as the SD-90 will look out of place.
I'm not too worried about how it looks since all my small radius curves will be hidden by either a tunnel or a mountain pass. I'm more worried about sideswipes. What is the minimum spacing between the two tracks anyways?
not sure on the minimum spacing distance, the NMRA probably has something on that. If you're working with sectional track though there is kind of a "built in" spacing. You line up the ends of the sections so that they are in the same line. it's hard to explain, but look at the curved sections here and you can kind of see what I mean. http://www.katousa.com/cgi-bin/dl/dl.pl?dl.mif,Ntrack.pdf
Atomic: Thanks for the file, that really helps as far as knowing what spacing is. From your charge it looks like one radius to another is 1 1/4, so my 1 1/2 should be plenty. Too bad, I have to measure that throughout the curve since I'm using flex and not sectional.
When we are talking about spacing, it's measured from Center Line right? I just want to make sure it's not Rail to Rail or else it's all wrong. lol
I use 36 inch HCD's. I find the center of the door 18 inches from the end and the sides. I mark where those points cross each other. I figure what I want for an 'edge buffer' (usually 2 inches)...and mark that from the edge of the door. I then take a push pin and stick it in the center of the door that I marked. I use thread or light string and tie it to the push pin...I then wrap the other end around the tip of a pencil...find my outside edge marks...and scribe me a half circle for my outside edge for my trackbed. You then glue down your trackbed with the outside edge touching that line. You can then glue the inside trackbed with its outside edge right against the already glued down trackbed. When you lay your flex track...this will give you the 1 1/2 inch center to center on your parallel tracks. It's reallly simple....JMO .
1-1/2 inch spacing should be plenty. You can measure it several ways. Left rail to left rail, right rail to right rail, or center line to center line. Since the rail to rail measurements all use an object you can see, they are the easiest to check. Center lines can be determined, but they are not physically marked on the track anywhere. All three measurements produce the same number at any one point.
Makes sense. I'm a newb and don't want people to confuse Left and Right rail measurements if that was the standard. I get it now. Thanks!
