15" Radius turns?

[DrNickRiviera995]

Do any of the locomotives/rolling stock run ok on 15" radius track?  I was just thinking of buying a few packs and trying out the smaller engines like Thomas/Percy/Toby on the tighter turns.  Trying to think of ways to add more track in tight areas.

Any help is appreciated.  Thanks.

[Anthony P2]

most of the 4 wheels stock, like trucks as well as Annie and Clarabel, will do fine on 15" radius track. Bogie stock, like the flat bed trucks, mail trucks or express coaches, might have some difficulty because of their length. correct me if i'm wrong.

[ThomasFan247]

Thomas, Percy, Toby, Mavis, Salty, and Diesel are recommended for 15" radius curves or higher. Like Anthony said, most of the 4-wheeled stock is capable of maneuvering 15" radius curves, and I'm pretty sure the bogie stock minus the express coaches can handle 15". Hope this helps

[jward]

while thomas, percy, et al and the 4 wheeled freight cars are short enough for 15r, keep in mind that if you try to use standard american style freight cars and locomotives you will probably have trouble. this is especially true if you try to back them. for this reason, i refuse to use anything less than 18r.

a better solution if you can, is to extend your table a few inches around the edges. that way, you can use a much larger radius that will allow you to run anything. 24r won't fit on a 4 foot wide sheet of plywood, but add a length of 1x4 along the front of the table and it will fit.

[DrNickRiviera995]

Thanks for the help guys!  That sounds fine to me, I was only hoping to use the smaller Thomas trains on the 15" r areas...not really running anything besides Thomas and it's mainly for my kids to watch the trains run.

I have 22" radius around the outside for Gordon, Henry, Express Coaches etc, and an 18" track inside that. 

[SodorAdventures]

Hey Dr. Nick!

    Just out of opinion, I have found Thomas, Percy, as well as the rest of the small engines not handle 15" radii too easily. Just out of opinion and knowledge, try and steer clear (no pun intended  ) of 15" radii.

[Calebtrain]

My small engines run just fine on it. 

[Anthony P2]

here we go again....

[SodorAdventures]

Hey,


     I'm not starting anything!

            I am just relaying to this man my opinion on 15" radii on a HO Scale Layout. Your more than welcome to give your opinion, but don't completely blow off mine. Once again, I feel like 15" radii are too small for even the little engines. Try and steer clear of 15" just from my, oh 8 years of model railroading experience. But, you are more than welcome to do what you please. -Tanner

[thomasj219]

Depending on the track they are fine I have been modeling for 16 years using HORNBY track and at least one section the layouts I have had, had 15" Radius curvesk they worked fine, especially for the smaller engines.