Mainline Railways was a British model railway brand that operated between 1976 and 1983, introduced by Palitoy, the...
Cart 0 Product Products (empty)
No products
Free shipping! Shipping
£ 0.00 Total
Product successfully added to your shopping cart
Quantity
Total
There are 0 items in your cart. There is 1 item in your cart.
Total products (tax incl.)
Total shipping (tax excl.) Free shipping!
Total (tax incl.)
Search Tips
Tips categories
Latest Tips
-
What was the Mainline Railways company?Read more -
What is a Wickham Trolley?Read moreA Wickham Trolley is a small railway maintenance vehicle once widely used across Britain's railways. Built by D...
-
What was the Bachmann 'Blue Riband' subbrand ?Read moreThe Blue Riband subbrand was a significant step in the evolution of Bachmann Branchline, the UK division of Bachmann...
-
Do I need to apply a camber to a tight curve of track on my layout?Read moreApplying a camber to a tight curve of track on your model railway layout can help improve the realism and operation...
-
Avoiding the "Toy Train Look": Realistic Track ArrangementsRead moreA well-designed model railway is more than just a collection of tracks and trains: it’s a miniature world that...
How can I tell how much space a curved track section will take up?
Curved track measurements are sometimes a little hard to get your head around, some are advertised using a radius expressed in mm, some simply use the radius 1,2,3 or 4 system and others talk about the arc. So how can a new modeller figure out what track will fit where?
To figure this out, the measurement you want to concentrate on is the radius expressed in millimetres. The radius of a curved track section refers to the distance from the centre of an imagined complete circle of track to the middle of the sleepers at any point around the circle.
This measurement is useful as it tells you how much baseboard depth is required to achieve a 90-degree turn. Double the number and you now know how much space is required to make a full 180-degree turn and so on.
One word of caution, don't forget the radius is only measured to the centre of the sleepers, so if you are tight for space, the rest of the track's width should be accounted for in your calculations.
Posted in: Tracks
Click here to receive the tips weekly in your mailbox. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Related products
No.3 Radius Double Curve, 505mm (19⅞in) radius...
Price: £ 17.30No.3 Radius Double Curve, 505mm (19⅞in) radius - pack of 4
No.1 Radius Standard Curve, 371mm (14⅝in)...
Price: £ 25.50No.1 Radius Standard Curve, 371mm (14⅝in) radius - pack of 8
No.4 Radius Standard Curve, 571.5mm (22½in)...
Price: £ 29.95No.4 Radius Standard Curve, 571.5mm (22½in) radius - pack of 8
Related posts
-
How to clean model railways track?There is of course the old tried and tested method, the track rubber which does the job, no railway modeller should... - Is Peco track and Hornby track compatible?Peco Setrack and Peco Streamline are compatible with Hornby track as they all share the same gauge width of 16.5mm....
- How often should I clean my track?This a hard question to answer. There are no hard and fast rules about how often you should clean the track. Bear in...
- How do I cut flexible track?Once upon a time I would have said a newly bladed junior hacksaw and some warding files, but these days I would have...
- How many pieces of curved track do I need to make a circle?As we all know it takes 360 degrees to create a circle, a standard curve is 22.5 degrees and a double curve is 45...