track plans

[rogertra]

Easements on model railroads are there just for aesthetic purposes and serve no real function.

If they were required, then how come you can run trains at warp speed on toy train snap track?

[Conrail Quality]

Oversized flanges, that's how.

Timothy

[grumpy]

Rogertra :
Please explain your comment ( toy train snap track ) . It sounded a bit like an insult.
Don 

[Joe Satnik]

Dear Roger,

In his book "Track Planning for Realistic Operation (3rd Ed.)" pp. 74-75, John Armstrong makes a good case for easements, which help especially in the case of long passenger cars with diaphrams.

"The improvement is so great that operation is better with the sharp but eased curve than with a more gentle curve which springs directly from the straight track."

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

 

[Yampa Bob]

With my diminished sight, I thoroughly enjoy the "clickety clack" of the rail joints, along with the "singing" of metal on metal.  My $4,000+ investment may be small compared to others, but I don't consider my trains "toys". 

[rogertra]

Any HO locomotive, with RP 25 wheels will take a 15" snap track curve at near warp speed.   That is a fact.  Once again, the laws of physics come into play.

Transition curves, John Armstrong not withstanding, are there for cosmetic reasons and nothing else.

And snap track is toy train track.  That's the market it's aimed at.  Sorry if that offends.

[grumpy]

I find your comment offensive . I do not consider my layout a toy train layout . I use EZTrack because it suits my needs . Like Bob I am disabled and if I didn' t have EZ track I wouldnt have a model railroad
Don

[Woody Elmore]

I think a lot of us old timers think of sectional track as "toylike" because Lionel and American Flyer trains had sectional track.

A local hobby shop here on LI has several operating displays and one features Bachmann NS EZtrack. When I first saw the track I was impressed. Being pre-ballasted, it  certainly saves a lot of work.

My concern with any sectional track is that it may be more expensive to use on a large pike.

My general philosophy is to do what makes you happy and ignore the rivet counters.

[Joe Satnik]

Just to clarify,

Snap-Track is a trade mark of Atlas, and has no roadbed.  Most hobbyists use cork roadbed with it.   

From Wiki:

"This prefabricated snap-together track, sometimes called "snap track" — a trade name used by Atlas Model Railroad, which manufactures the track used in many HO scale toy train sets in North America — is normally used only by casual hobbyists or temporary setups. .....(Detailed description of hand laid track for serious layouts).. Another option is so-called flex track, which is compatible with snap track. "

I always thought it was misnamed, as it slides (not snaps) together on its rail connectors.  Atlas's Super-Flex track and Snap-Switches (turnouts) are sold on the same pages with Snap-Track. 

Easements....

If all your couplers are truck mounted, and the bodies are spaced enough not to touch each other, then I agree, easements are good for cosmetics purposes only. 

Body mounted couplers are a different story.  Especially close coupled (short shanked) body mounted couplers.

The overhang of the car 'on the curve' may de-rail the car 'on the straight' to the outside.

You may counter "then just get bigger curves".  Armstrong's quote above addresses that.

Hope this helps. 

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik 

edit: spelling      

[jsmvmd]

Dear Joe,

Thanks a million!

The cork and flex track will be my obvious solution to many of life's little problems.

I will be constructing a new HO layout based on many of Atlantic Central's ideas, sometime soon, as soon as I move my digs, and get out of double harness, if you get my drift.  Still pulling a wagon, though, with 4 lilttle chillen, the youngest is Joey and a train lover!

Best Wishes,

Jack

[Rashputin]

     I don't know how much space you might be able to allocate over time, but the included link is something I thought you might be interested in.  This modeler has a 4x8 at this point and a clear plan for how to expand it in the future to something that fills what seems to be an average size room.  Given his NYC focus he does plan for a double track main line in the future, something that adds to the NYC flavor.  Of course, if you can allocate enough space, four tracks with Hudsons and Mohawks passing one another a speed on a cold winters night would be ideal, but at least double track lets you have the trains roll non-stop when you want to.

   http://home.earthlink.net/~tgstage/index.html


     Regards

[Woody Elmore]

Joe: If I recall the old Atlas ads, the track was called snap track because it was a "snap" to lay.

When I began in HO the track of choice for "serious" modelers was Atlas flex track: three foot sections of code 100 NS rail on fiber ties. The snap track was expensive to buy if you needed a lot of it.

[Terry Toenges]

Joe -
I haven't done any measurements with #5 or #6 turnouts.
I just used the standard turnouts and the 18" radius curves to kind of help out the newbies getting started with EZ Track.

[NewYorkCentralgirl]

do superelevated curves help with larger locos and i understand what you mean YampaBob

[Terry Toenges]

Aesthetic purposes -
Adding scenery, detailing equipment, counting rivets, handlaying track (with the exception of special curves), etc. are only for aesthetic purposes, too.
You can run your train on an EZ Track oval without needing any of the above.