I am getting set to start construction on my double track mainline loop. My plans call for a minimum radius on the mainline of 10' (this may go as high as 12' depending on how I can negotiate trees, etc.). I will be running big 1/29th scale power (mostly diesel, battery powered) and good sized passenger and freight trains. Effectively, I am hoping that the topography will allow me to have my entire mainline level, although the terrain is going to make it look like it is going up and down. I am concerned about how close each track can be to the next one (ie: separation of track centers), particularly on curves. Are there any standards for recommended distance for straights and curves? I don't have any plans of buying a Big Boy, but I have some friends that may want to run theirs on my layout. Not many freight cars over 50', but virtually all of my passenger cars are 85'. Any suggestions, comments, things to look out for, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Another area that I am interested in is a source for 1/2" thick cedar planks. I would be using this to make 1/2"X1/2" lumber for various things such as trestle bents, etc. Thank you.
I run some big diesels myself including the big USA SD-70MAC and have 3 mainlines indoors. You can look through my photo albums and see how close my tracks are together to give you a idea and I also run big 55ft USA modern freight cars and have no worries about any bumping. One to make sure of is watch how you lay out your "S" curves. I found when going into a right curve that you need at least a 2ft straight section before going to the left or vice versa, but thats because I run big diesels with knuckle couplers. Also try not to put switches in a curve, big diesels and big freight or passenger tend not to like that too much, derail city. Well good luck, thats all I can think of for right now. Oh by the way since you live in New York, be careful of the frost line, you should probably use Split Jaws expansion track thru out your layout for contraction between heat and cold, if not your track work could look like a pretzel one day. Split jaw also has new instant road bed which is easy to install with 1/2" PVC piping and makes a real reasonale priced way to set up your layout, nothing will rot as the road bed is composite material. You can check out this new road bed system in my 2009 York G scale photo album
Thank you. Thank you for your response. I was at York this past weekend, my first ECLSTS, and I really enjoyed it. My thing in the industry is installing battery and sound systems, so I was intrigued with quite a few of the offerings. I spent some time with Jerry from Split Jaws, and I use his product already. The PVC roadbed is really nice, but, the lack of disposable income precludes my ability to use it. I built my first outdoor project last year and it weathered the New York winter very well, so I will be starting the next phase, which will be a double track modified dogbone layout running through the yard that I built last year. I will take a look at your pix, as I am interested in operation, and I don't want to experiece some of the problems of others where trains rub against each other on curves, although I want to get them as close as possible. With the exception of a few 35' straight sections, most of my layout will be with curves as it can give the impression of size. I am doing everything I can tohave the mainline be perfectly level, even though it may not look that way. All of my turnouts for the mainline will be Aristo #6's. I am goiong to make a serious effort to eliminate the possiblity of derailments as I plan on running big trains.
I have USA trains #6 switches on my layout, I used two to make a crossover. They came out to 8" center to center, that's what I used for track spacing.
are you sure you're talking about 10' radius not diameter ? most used usa tracks are 10' diameter. and you'll definitely need much more than that to run a bigboy.
Hi, Thank you for your response. Yes, my minimum radius will be 10' (20' diameter), but most of them will be at least 12' radius. I'm not planning on running a Big Boy, although I do have friends that have them, and they may want to when I get done with the double track mainline. I just don't want anything scraping anything when they pass each other, but I do want the double track "look."
