Real quick radius please


buicfrank said:
What is the minimum radius for n scale? Is it possible with flex track? Does Kato make a flex track? Thanks. Frank
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Yes, I believe Kato has a form of newly released flex track.

As far as radius goes:

If your running small steam, smaller 4 axle locos, 40' boxcars then you can probably go as small as 9.75" Wouldn't be a recommendation of mine, but its possible.

If you are going to run modern 6 axle engines, and 89' auto racks then I would go in the 15" or bigger range.

Best answer is as big of radius as you have room for.

With some coupler modifications and other tweaking, a lot can run on smaller, but it looks terrible.
 
Most N scale locomotives will be OK on 9.75" radius curves, but the longer locos will look silly with the front and rear jutting out as it rounds a bend at 9.75" radius. For N scale, 11" is MUCH better, and almost all N scale locomotives will be fine with 11" curves.

For example, I have a Kato SD70Ace, an Atlas Dash-8, and a BLI Light Mikdao steamer, and they all work just fine on 9.75" radius curves... but they look a lot better on 11" or greater.
 
BTW, you can get Ngauge track with tighter radii than 9.75, but they are designed for small trolley type cars that are very short and have short wheelbases.
 
Smaller radius for sidings with small switchers.
Larger radius for main line running.
Always shoot for the largest radius that will fit your situation/layout space.
I agree with JeffH.
This does NOT answer you "min radius" question but is just a rule of thumb.
Too small a radius and you find yourself in trouble if you want to run longer locos/rolling stock in the future.

John
 
buicfrank said:
What is the minimum radius for n scale? Is it possible with flex track? Does Kato make a flex track? Thanks. Frank
Click to expand...
I am an N Scaler and the minimum radius claimed is 9.75". That, however, will limit what you can run - engine and rolling stock wise that is. Most N Scalers seem to work on a minimum of a 12" Radius so they can run a better selection of trains with many more, like myself, trying not to go below a 15" Radius so they can run pretty much anything.

In short though - the claimed minimum Radius for N Scale is 9.75" BUT the larger the radius the better if you can. I will add that I have run Kato F7 engines on a small 9" radius pulling two old time passenger cars. I wouldn't recommend it though :)

If you want to use Flex Track then I would suggest/reccomend Peco Flex Track and Turnouts in either Code 80 or Code 55. If you are new to fles track then I'd probably suggest going with Code 80 as it is a bit more robust and a tad more forgiving, also easier to get yur engines and rolling stock on I think :)
 
buicfrank said:
What is the minimum radius for n scale? Is it possible with flex track? Does Kato make a flex track? Thanks. Frank
Click to expand...
Fleischmann and Trix both offer N-scale track at 7.66" (or 7.7") radius, which is probably about the smallest commercially-made curved N-scale track that is made. You could probably do tighter than that with flex track, if you wanted to. In either case, you would be extremely limited in what you could run on such tight turns.

9-3/4" radius would be fine for 4-axle diesels, small steam, and 40'/50' rolling stock. Some 6-axle diesels and large steam can have problems negotiating 9-3/4" radius, and I have known N-scalers that can verify this. 60' and over rolling stock will probably not look all that good, either.

As others have posted, the larger the radius, the better off you are, for both looks and reliable operations.
 
I don't think you'll be sorry. At least that size will allow you to play around a little with your track plan and scenery and so forth. I built my wife a small 18" X 24" oval and was surprised by what I could fit in that space in N Scale without it looking cluttered. I'll try to find some pics of it if you'd like, just so you can see what you can do.
 
Here's another video of the same locomotive pulling a few cars up a 4.5% incline through 9.75" curves at the bottom and 11" curves at the top.

A person on another forum was wondering if a 4-5% grade would be OK with a short train and tight curves, so I put this test together to help that person see what he might be up against.

I'd say it performs pretty well. I would be really impressed if backing through those S curves wasn't on a decline...
 
Where a 2.0% grade in HO is considered "appropriate" N Scale is more than capable of a 3.0% grade plus some as you have demonstrated. And yes, I know HO can negotiate greater grades than 2.0% :)

Anyway @francbuic don't forget to keep us updated on what you are doing and to ask questions about anything, preferably before you try something that your not quite sure about ;) :)
 
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