SD40-2 on 18" radius? maybe?....

[mdmeyers1982]

My local hobby shop has a DCC equiped Bachmann SD40-2 in the Santa Fe blue and Yellow that reminds me of an engine I had when I was really young.... id love to run this for the nostalgia factor but I'm not sure if it will derail. I plan on having mostly 22" turns on my loops (4 feet wide sections with protective barriors) but I may put one or two 18" turns into yard areas... not sure yet. Would you guys suggest I stay away from this particular engine? I love the look of the 3 axles... and the length... it seems "tougher" than the GP40 I was considering....

Any input? I have until next Friday to decide this...

[Jerrys HO]

md

I have an MTH SD70ACE I run on 18r and it handles fine, no derails. It has very little overhang on my 18r loop as most larger loco's and rolling stock do.

Jerry

[bobwrgt]

It should run fine on 18in. I have several that do.

Bob

[jward]

my experience with 6 axle locomotives on 18r is that most will run on it, but they have a tendency to derailshort cars coupled to them because of the swing out on the ends of the locomotive. coupled to a 50 foot car they will run on 18r without derailing, but couple them to an ore car and they will derail it.

you can do what the real railroads did and restrict 6 axle diesels from certain tracks. if they wanted to service these tracks, they had to use a "handle" made up of idler cars long enough to reach into the track for whatever work they needed to do, keeping the big locomotive on the mainline.

sd40-2s are not only a neat locomotive, they were the de-facto standard locomotive in north america for many years. over 4000 were built, making them one of the best sellers of all time. to railroads in the 1970s and 1970s they were what the c44-9/ac4400s are to-day.

[mdmeyers1982]

Great input... thank you guys..

I think I'm going to pick it up then... found it for $40 (with DCC) seems like a killer price! I would prefer it to have sound though... but it seems these engines with sound are hard to find (maybe space limitation??)..

As for the swing out issue.... could I start with a few 50' cars behind the engine, and then add in the smaller ones with no problem? I'm sure that would look fine...

I also plan on doing a consist in the future... I think that is the correct word... having 2 or 3 DCC engines synched to the same train.... this is possible correct?

[Jerrys HO]

md

The best way to find out is to just do it. If it doesn't work, rearrange till it does.
Depending on your track setup will depend on how they will react. I have put easements in places where the cars would show lifting off the track. On one loco I used a longer knuckle coupler on the back side of the engine.
Yes it is possible to run them together,and yes that is the correct word.

Jerry

[on30gn15]

you can do what the real railroads did and restrict 6 axle diesels from certain tracks. if they wanted to service these tracks, they had to use a "handle" made up of idler cars long enough to reach into the track for whatever work they needed to do, keeping the big locomotive on the mainline.

Yeppers.

And in real life, a lot of time, not always, but a lot of times, yard trackage curves were pretty tight compared to mainline and branchline curves.

Something I've wanted to do to an SD40-2 with that long rear platform is put a Coke machine and a grill back there  

[jward]

to answer the question about swing out. yes, it is possible to use a 50 foot car behind the locomotive and run ore cars behind it. the 50 foot car is about the length of a 4 axle diesel like a gp9, which can handle 18r coupled to anything.

there is also a sort of prototype for the use of a 50 foot car as a transition between long and short cars. on penn central and conrail, it was common practice to use a 50 foot boxcar on the ends of trailer trains, just ahead of the caboose. these trains often needed help over the mountain above altoona, pa in the form of 2 diesels pushing on the rear. it was found that pushing a short caboose against an 89 foot flatcar would cause the front end of the caboose to ride up over the coupler of the flatcar, and derail. the transition car eliminated this problem.

[Doneldon]

mdm-

Test it out at your LHS before you buy it and prevent the
possibility of an annoying chore later.
                                                          -- D