Hello i want to know how many feet do a 22 and 24 inch radius in ho scale take up in real feet??

railroader9731 Wrote:Hello i want to know how many feet do a 22 and 24 inch radius in ho scale take up in real feet??

Just multiply by 87.1, and divide by twelve. That means 160 and 174 foot radius in real life. I once saw an industrial track that looked like had a ridiculously tight radius. I went on to google earth and measured the actual radius to be something like 350 feet. That equates to about a 48" radius in HO scale!

Should have said for a train table lol my bad

railroader9731 Wrote:Should have said for a train table lol my bad

Convert inches to feet (divide by twelve), and you get 1.83 and 2. Since they are radii and you want to know the diameter of a half circle, multiply by two, and you get 3.67 and 4 feet, respectively. A 24" circle of track would need to be on a table more than 4 feet wide. 22" was chosen as a standard sectional track radius because it is the largest curve one can make and fit it on a 4x8 sheet of plywood.

Ha see now ive learnt something i did not know thanks alot

The nominal radius (whatever is stamped on it - e.g. 22") is measured to the centre-line of the track, hence nachoman's explanation that a 24" would need a table wider than 4 feet.

To be safe, you want to add 1 - 1.5" to a radius measurement, or 2 - 3" to a diameter.

Andrew

And even then, if your tracks are within 2"of a long fall, you should seriously consider erecting a barrier of some kind at the edge, either clear plexiglass, or a robust fence meant to look like it surrounds a field, maybe a hedgrow...even add a healthy half-berm of dirt...anything against which a tumbling and expensive car or engine can come safely to rest.

Or, you can do what many of us do...wait until after your first incident.

-Crandell

Selector Wrote:And even then, if your tracks are within 2"of a long fall, you should seriously consider erecting a barrier of some kind at the edge, either clear plexiglass, or a robust fence meant to look like it surrounds a field, maybe a hedgrow...even add a healthy half-berm of dirt...anything against which a tumbling and expensive car or engine can come safely to rest.

Or, you can do what many of us do...wait until after your first incident.

-Crandell

Naw! Live dangerously. The best insurance against accidents is good trackwork and careful operation.

In this case, though, blind luck may have also played a hand:


Wayne

Wayne! Why tempt fate in such a way!?!

It's like watching a drunken tightrope walker...impressive, but you just know something's going to happen any second...I kept waiting for the train to cut loose and roll back down the grade, or the engine to snag and topple off...

Even so, it's really cool watching it snake up the mountainside like that, and will look even better with some super scenery.

Galen

Ahhh Yesssss,
The sweet sound of a $2,000.00 brass locomotive, telescoping into a crumpled, twisted mess of motor, broken wheels, and scrap metal on a concrete floor.........more, more, I'm still not satisfied.

An ounce of prevention..........."My kingdom for an ounce of prevention" :cry:

Then again, some of do live dangerously. :o

Normally, I don't run a lot of trains up this hill, as it dead-ends just about where the loco stopped in the video. The train shown was probably exceeding the speed limit, but in normal operations, the operator walks alongside the train, making it easy to spot a minor derailment before it becomes serious. There have been only two derailments on this hill: one was a loaded coal train where one truck of one hopper derailed just before the lower end of the high bridge, (below) resulting in minor spillage of the "live" load:


Cause of the mishap was determined to be a split truck-mounting boss, resulting in excessive yaw in the carbody. The 8 ounce car weight probably exacerbated the problem, as total "tonnage" on the loco's drawbar was 100 ounces.

The other derailment was at the high end of the same bridge, resulting in several cars plunging to the riverbed below. A motorist on River Road narrowly missed being crushed by two of the boxcars, which came to rest on the road. Again, damage was minimal, with one roofwalk end snapped off, and the lead weights in one boxcar becoming dislodged.




The accident was attributed to restricted truck swing on one of the derailed cars due to improper clearances between the brake rods and the car's wheels. The excessive train weight (over 70 cars) probably contributed to the number of cars derailed, causing some both ahead of and behind the culprit car to stringline.

After repairs, the same train ascended the hill without incident several times (and also made several circuits of the entire layout). Motive power varied with each trip - steam, diesels, steam and diesels, all locos on the head end, pushers, and mid-train helpers, too.

The "lucky" 26 survived a 3' head-first drop to the concrete floor, from the track at lower left. The turnout is the only power-routing type on the layout, and some careless operator left it lined for the siding (lower level, nearest the aisle). While running a train elsewhere, the 26 and a sister Consolidation, along with their 100 oz. coal train (one can be seen on the siding in the picture below - this is the staging track for this particular train) approached the edge of the layout. The 26 plunged into the abyss, while the second loco had its front end hanging out into space. Luckily, the couplers held, allowing the heavy train to prevent further mayhem.


Once again, damage was relatively minor: a broken front coupler, broken drawbar pin on the tender, and the wires pulled from one of the electrical plugs. (All of these locos have since had the Bachmann wiring harnesses and plugs removed.) The lead investigator determined that "a person or persons unknown had left the switch improperly aligned", but was loath to incriminate any particular individual, declaring the case closed.
Here's the "Lucky 26" after repairs:


Wayne

Interesting, there's some awful familiar names on the locomotives and buildings.

Amazing grade, but if it works, why not. I like outside cliffs, but have kept mine to only a drop of a few inches. The curves are also superelevated just a touch to ensure the train leans in and not out.

Doctor Wayne stated :"Naw! Live dangerously. The best insurance against accidents is good trackwork and careful operation."

Hello Everyone---Here's a couple of photos showing trains on the high line.Not only did these trains climb the hill without mishap,they also backed down as well---just another routine operating session on Doctor Wayne's EG&E

Geared Wrote:..... The curves are also superelevated just a touch to ensure the train leans in and not out.

Actually, that video was shot to demonstrate the superelevation on the curves, but it's not as noticeable there as it is in person. That lead me to shoot this one:


It took several tries, as the camera was plugged-in and kept wanting to unload itself from the flatcar. Some double-sided tape finally solved that problem, but watch out for that last sign post.

Wayne

Great videos Wayne!

I designed my (old) HO layout in such a way that when the lift up-down was down, it would kill the approach tracks. That didn't stop a 2-8-2 (with, of course, a re-detailed front) from performing a 4' swan dive onto a concrete floor when an oblivious operator lowered the bridge. It lost a couple marker lights, had a truck split in two, and had the illuminated number boards and headlight knocked off. It was fine again after a trip through the shops.

On a similar note, my paycar (from the thread at our old clubhouse) took a trip to the floor today. After it and my baggage car received first place at the local NMRA meet, one of the members knocked it off the display track and onto the floor

The body was in 2 pieces, the trucks disassembled, 3 of the 4 box steps popped off, and the end platforms/rails were destroyed. Having not touched it for 1.5 years, I had quickly made a few changes (new underframe, different roof covering, and end platforms) to take it today...but it wasn't finished. Fortunately, I ought to be able to fix it pretty easily...and the end platforms were sub-par castings from PSC which I had planned to use as temporary parts until proper ones are created.

Michael