484 Niagara Steam Locomotive

[myhat50]

What is the minimum radius turn for this Engine.

[ACY]

22 inches is the manufacturer's suggested minimum radius. I know it will derail very frequently on 18" radius.

[Doneldon]

hat-

It depends on the loco. Some will mysteriously derail and others will equally mysteriously stay on the track. You just have to try it to see which you have.
                                                                                        -- D

[uncbob]

hat-

It depends on the loco. Some will mysteriously derail and others will equally mysteriously stay on the track. You just have to try it to see which you have.
                                                                                        -- D

That can be due to the cables going to the tender
How they line up is very critical

[ACY]

That can be due to the cables going to the tender
How they line up is very critical

Bob that is a reason they may derail, but the point is that, there will be times when no reason for the derailment can be identified, except for you are running on 18" radius track. For a lot of my larger Bachmann steam, I have locos that have no apparent issues and they will derail on 18" radius but not on 22" radius.

[uncbob]

The cables tend to kink more and push the tender offline more on the tighter radius but maybe it is the amount of play in the drivers from engine to engine

[ACY]

I think it has to do the the second thing you mentioned, some are more rigid which causes problems on 18" radius.