Is there an easy transition from 100 to 70 as far as joiners go? Or is it easiest to solder a joiner on to the 100, crimp the end, and solder the 70 on top of the joiner?

As I'm looking at it, there's really only like two feet on the layout that aren't buried in concrete or dirt.....

Micro Enineering makes transition rail joiners code 100 to 70. Item #26-002.

The experience of those modelers in the modular club who have tried the transition joiner (not sure if it was Micro engineering or not) was that they were not very strong and liable to collapse at the transition point. The preferred method that they all recommended was to install a code 100 rail joiner on the code 100 track, and then smash the other end of the joiner and solder the code 83 track to the smashed end making sure that the alignment is correct. I don't remember for sure, but I think one member found that he could slide 1/2 of a code 100 joiner over the flattened end of the joiner and slide the code 83 rail into the 1/2 code 100 joiner, and then solder it all together. Our club requires code 100 on the mainline because some members have old style Rivarossi locomotives with the pizza cutter wheels that they have installed decoders on to, and the code 100 is required to provide clearance.

I had to pick up some replacement glass for the house today. The glass house is just a block south of Shamrock. I heard a familiar "toot toot" when I got in the car. I came across a local getting ready to switch the scrapyard. I got some video and a couple pics on my phone.





The video:

http://suburbanscreen.com/images/movie%203.mov


I also went by Discount Model Trains in Addison which is near one of my vendors, convenient! I ended up getting enough code 83 for the whole layout, plus a centerbeam to see how bad the longest car I'll need will look on the 15" curves. Looks pretty bad, but will be mostly hidden.



The parts you will see won't look too bad though.
http://suburbanscreen.com/images/2011-12...14_647.jpg

one of the issues is coupling these long cars with shorter ones. A huge mismatch between the couplers might lead to problems.
This should be tried out too.
Paul

paulus_jas Wrote:one of the issues is coupling these long cars with shorter ones. A huge mismatch between the couplers might lead to problems.
This should be tried out too.
Paul

I coupled a shorter car on each end of the it and rolled it through the turn by hand. I even jerked it like a rough running loco would do. No uncoupling from that so far.

Check it with another long car like a second center beam flat, as well as a locomotive. That way since you know a short car will push it through the tight radius ok, you will also know about any other restrictions that you may have to add to your operation.

Wow! I've done some wild things in the hobby but,never used long cars on 15" curves.. hock:

I'm shocked the shorter cars didn't derail..

Learn something new every day.

There are railroads with ridiculously sharp curves. The Bush Terminal Railroad/ New York Dock Railway/ New York Cross Harbor Railroad/ New York New Jersey Railroad has/had a turn on 2nd Avenue and 41st Street in Brooklyn that would probably translate into a 15 inch radius in HO. The curve was so sharp that it actually cut through a corner of a building. One of the problems that the railroad had was people parking their cars in the curve. The railroad crews would have to wait for the owner to move their car. Not so easy when you have about 20 industrial loft buildings averaging 10 floors each. Hitting the horn on the locomotive didn't always produce quick results.

Take a look at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.carendt.com/scrapbook/page87/index.html">http://www.carendt.com/scrapbook/page87/index.html</a><!-- m --> where this sceme is featured

I remember that one. I grew up a mile from the scene that he modeled. For a guy that had never been to Brooklyn, he did an admirable job. Great work.

When you see that long car going threw those tight turns you almost need to hear the wheels squealing !!!!!

Hey, if it negotiates the curve w/o derailing while coupled to a loco and other cars I say go for it. The slow orders and careful switching will be part of the operating fun.
Ralph

On the PRR in Columbus there was a curve so tight that any locomotive larger then a SW1 was prohibited from the curve So,we used our train as idler cars in order to switch the industry.

The junction between the B&LE and PRR/Conrail In Butler PA was so tight that they used it to test the prototype for the 89' flats. They kept refining the original until it wouldn't derail.