HO Radius

wabana kid

New Member
I am planning a new section on my layout , which is going to be small and the radius is going to 15" my question is what steam engines will run on a 15" radius ?

Cheers
John
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Russ Bellinis

Active Member
Probably 0-4-0, 0-6-0, 2-6-0 Mogul (maybe), 4-4-0, perhaps 4-4-2. If you have a hobby shop that stocks trains, I would suggest you put a 15 inch radius circle of test track on a small plywood board and hook up a power pack to it. Take it in to your local hobby shop and see if they will let you plug it in and test run some steam engines before you buy.
 

wabana kid

New Member
Ho 15" Radius

15" would work best for me, I would like to run a climax or shaw engine, I could be dreaming :rolleyes:

Cheers
John
 

pgandw

Active Member
My Roundhouse Climax will easily do a 15" radius curve. It's a noisy beast under any conditions - needs work!

The AHM/Rivarossi Heisler (2 truck) will also do 15" radius. The Roundhouse and Keystone Shay kits should be able to do 15" radius with some careful work and testing during assembly.

Like Russ said, when using smaller than normal radius, testing is everything. Individual models can vary a lot depending on how well the track is laid, what couplers are installed, what cars they are pulling, etc. Shay minimum radius is going to vary with which side the line shafts are on - keeping line shafts on the outside allows for tighter turns. There are no guarantees due to the many factors - that's why you need to test under conditions as close to your layout as you can get.
 

Iron Goat

Member
John, I have a Bachmann Spectrum 4-6-0 that takes 15" rad. curves (every now and then she'll gripe about it)... I will only use 15" on my ore mine siding, however.

Bob
 
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