There is no reason you Couldn't model the Modern era with 18" Curves!! Sure, you won't be modeling mainline operations, but you can still model a shortline!! Motive power: A Geep, MP-15a, 44 tonners, SWs, anything B-B trucks. Rolling Stock: 2 bay covered hoppers, 40-50 foot gondolas, 40-50 foot tank cars, 2 bay/three bay coal hoppers, Shorty Highcube boxcars...coil cars Small line, small industries... Your road might observe speed restrictions, but otherwise, you can very well do it.
As Watash says, most 50' cars will run fine on 18" radius. The problem is they may not look good doing it. And perhaps more importantly, they may limit the amount fo scenery you can have close to the track. Still, if you model a short line, you can certainly manage those curves quite well. No dash-9s pulling stack trains at 60MPH though.
I have 18 inch radius curves and my era is modern. 1990-present. And I'm into everything looking realistic. And I have those long centerbeam cars and stack cars and although it's a little tight, it doesn't make it look any less realistic. Definately not as bad as a Lionel train going on a tight radius. So if you're looking to model modern era, I wouldn't not do it because you have 19 inch radius. The only cars that won't fit are those long auto-racks, and any other specialty freight cars there are that I can't think of right now. Just a little side note on modeling modern era: I think this is the best. You can add anything! New equipment obviously will get featured, but you can use old engines and cars too for excursions, museums, etc. I see old engines and cars that I didn't even know were in exsistence all the time! Two weeks ago, I took an Amtrak trip upstate NY. I passed a New York Central F7, and a New Haven F7 just sitting in a siding in operating condition! The paint was fresh and it felt like it was 1965. I also saw a Long Island Railroad MP15 switcher in the old gray paint moving down the tracks. And I always see cabooses, so you never know what you're going to find on the railroad. The idea of modeling a museum just came to me the other day. I'm sure it's been done before, but no layout that I've seen. This would be great. You can have a yard with all vintage power, have excursions, and still have modern freight running. I'm not too hard about having the surroundings perfect according to my rolling stock. I could run a Genesis Amtrak train then a Boston & Mane E8 with 1960's Passenger cars. Although everything has to run and look realistic, it really doesn't matter that I figured my layout's location to be somewhere in PA and I have a BNSF engine running sometimes. As long as that BNSF looks to me like a real train pulling a heavy load, I don't mind.
Thank You to everyone. I have an idea of what types of cars I want to run now, but let me switch gears to ask about brands for a moment. The Life-Like Proto 1000 cars. Does anyone have them? How would they compare to Atlas Trainman and non-genesis Athearn? I'm speaking in both mechanical and cosmetic terms. I see some I like such as the 100 ton hoppers and the 50' boxes, but it's hard to tell from a catalog picture. -Everett
I've got some LL Proto 1000 cars, Atlas Trainman, and a lot of "blue box" Athearn. Athearn rates last out of the three makes as far as I'm concerned, but Athearn cars are the base of a lot of people's rosters. Athearn tank cars and reefers can be a pain to assemble, but take a little time with them and they'll turn out OK. Athearns tend to look better with weathering - tends to make up for the lack of detail. The only complaint I have about Trainman cars is the shiney wheels - at least they're metal. I have some car kits that I have spent hours assembling, such Proto 2000 series and Branchline Trains Blueprint series - they look really great up close and have great detail, like grab irons you need to apply, etc. - but from a distance they look pretty much like the Yardmaster series which have molded on detail (like Athearn cars), and Yardmaster cars take a lot less time to assemble. I'm finding more and more that I am tending to buy more pre-assembled cars...
Oh sorry, my bad. I was asking about the RTR versions of those 3 makes. I keep forgetting they are available in kits as well. Thanks for the information Tim.
I was about to post my thoughts and then ran across Watash's post. He basically covered the whole what can/should I run issue quite nicely. As to train car brands. There are many brands. You are best off experimenting with different cars. I would advise learning to install Kadee couplers on everything. Also good wheel sets make a huge difference.
Hi traingeekboy I agree 100%! I suppose *most* everything with a few exceptions will mechanically work, just could have a cosmetic issue with longer cars and the way they would navigate the tighter turns. Atleast that's what I took from it. The only problem with that is, I don't really have a lot of money to experiment. I was hoping someone who had already put out the money for those 3 brands could point me in the right direction. I'm going to assume those 3 are pretty similar unless someone tells me different. I suppose that is my plan on the couplers. Seems like they are extremely popular. How difficult is it for someone not familiar with model railroading to change them over? How much does it cost to convert a car to Kadee couplers? Do you use a certain model number? Is the model number determined by the type of car being installed on, or is it determined by what you intend to do with said car? Or is it a cosmetic thing? The good wheel set comment, all the cars I listed come with metal wheel sets. Is that good enough or is just being metal not the determination if a wheel set is good or not? What defines a "good" wheel set? Are wheel sets all a standard size, or do you buy them depending on which trucks you have? I thank you good people for all the help. -Everett
Old Life-Like cars are bottom of the line. They're still somewhat detailed, but the Athearn rolling stock are just magnificent. I buy them the most. Very realistic! I just bought a Proto 1000 box car. It was okay, except for the steps in front of the wheels. They're alittle too "thick" for lack of a better term. This is the main problem with the cheesy old Life Like cars.
Freight Cars The layout here is set in the late 1970's on a SP branchline. As for couplers I only use Kadee. Installing them is usually a simple process. Most of the time it is a drop in swap. The Kadee height gauge is a must. If your couplers are not uniform in height you are going to have problems with unwanted train in twos. Don't waste your money on the Kadee imposter couplers. I use only Kadee trucks on my freight cars. Wheelsets from Kadee and others can be used in the trucks that come with the car and should be OK. Plastic wheels are usually cast and in many cases are not round or the axle isn't centred in the wheel. This gives a car the shivers when it rolls on the track. Weight is another factor. Many cars are underweight. I use a quick and dirty standare of 1 ounce per 10 scale feet of car length. A 50 foot car would weigh 5 ounces. I have a 3.5 ounce minimum for cars under 35 scale feet and a maximum of 7.5 ounces for cars over 75 scale feet. The NMRA has a weight standard as well. Hope this helps out some.
Yes, that was helpful thanks! It seems most of the HO cars I've been interested in have metal wheel sets installed from the factory. I think I would use Kadee couplers just because I guess everyone can't be wrong. The coupler thing is very confusing to a newbie such as myself and I'm not really sure what exactly to buy, or how to install it, or how to adjust it.
I 'think' if a car comes equipped with the plastic McHenry coupler, that Kadee has a drop-in replacement for it. Then to be sure, check it with the Kadee height gage and add washers if needed to fit the gage exactly. I believe Kadee has a coupler to fit almost every manufacturer's product, even Rivarossi passenger cars. When in doubt, check with Kadee or ask here before "hacking and hewing" on a new car or engine. .
Watash, thanks for the help. I went to Kadee's site and they had quite a bit of information on there. Cleared a few things up. Trainboard is my number one source of information
I have athearn Sd40-2's and they are near their limit on a 18" radius. For trouble free operation I would stick with some GP series locos and no longer than 50ft rolling stock if you are going for the diesel era. I just got a athearn 5pc trailer train/container set and no way is that going around an 18" radius, the corners are almost touching around a 22" radius curve.
rkcarguy, That is why the manufacturers made such long couplers on RTR HO rolling stock, and allowed such great swing to couplers. By going to the French type Talgo truck (with built on coupler), it allowed the cars to go around the toy curve track OK, and saved money at assembly. That is also why street cars and trolleys had round front and rear ends. They have to go around a city street corner! I think real box cars were only 4 feet apart when coupled. That's why freight couplers were made to only swing 9° from side to center, so they could safely go around the tight curved switches and curved track in the yards. (That figures out to be .511" between HO box car ends, on a 49" to 52" radius, and safely clear a man hanging on a ladder between the cars.) If the 'rivet counters' do not have their cars coupled with no more than 1/2 inch between them, then 'they' are operating out of scale, and according to their own LAWS, must CEASE AND DESIST immediately, if not sooner!!!
