banked rail

jimnrose

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Feb 1, 2001
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I'm in need of help AGAIN. Should I bank the rail into and within the curves and if so is a 3 degree bank reasonable? Also does anyone know if the railroads bank the rail in curves and is their a guideline on the recommended angle as a function of radius?
Thanks, Jim
 

Woodie

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Mar 23, 2001
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Northern Rivers NSW Australia
banked curves

I have not banked my curves. I do not think it would make any difference to running. Railways do bank their curves especially on high speed lines. Just like they bank roads and racetracks etc for speed. If memeory servers me correct, there are a few other threads in here that talk about banking curves as well.
 

billk

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Jun 12, 2001
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Marion, IA, USA
I seem to remember reading somewhere that banking (superelevation?) only serves a cosmetic purpose in a model RR, since our models are much lighter than "scale" - i.e. a 2-lb model N-scale locomotive would be considered outrageously heavy, but that's only 320 lbs "scale"! Also the amount of banking used in the prototypes would hardly be noticable in a model anyway. Sounds like it would be more trouble than its worth.
(Sorry no silly picture.)
BillK
 

Woodie

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Mar 23, 2001
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Superelevation

Bill, Yep. That's the word. Superelevation.

Jim, IF you do a SEARCH using SUPERELEVATION it brings up another thread where superelevation is discussed. I dont know how to post a link to a previous thread.
 

scudrunr

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Jul 31, 2001
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Our Buddy might just be having a high speed line go through his layout, I do think that it could allow you to go faster on corners when going faster thanyou should, I think if you want the back to work for you you would have to have a high angle of bank to get any real affects, but modeling a high speed line would be nice to show a bit of bank.
 

Gary Pfeil

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May 7, 2001
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I superelevate the curves on my mainlines. I handlay, but you should be able to adopt the idea to flextrack. Prior to glueing down the ties, but after drawing in the centerlines, I glue ties end to end along the length of the outside edge of the curve, starting about one foot before the start of the curve. I then sand down the ties for a distance of about a foot so as to provide a "ramp". Then it is a simple matter to lay down the ties, ballast and lay the rail. For flex track, I would think you can do the same, the wood ties are a good thickness, I have no idea how they relate to the prototype height. They are easy to install and sand. The elevation is noticable, and trains look great going thru it. I don't think it adds anything to the performance. If you wnat to run at high speeds around fairly sharp curves, the amount of superelevation you require would likely be much greater than a tie. And then slow moving trains might have a problem. It might look unrealistic. Hope this helps.

Gary