News:

Please read the Forum Code of Conduct   >>Click Here <<

Main Menu

Tanker Minimum Radius?

Started by YellowHillsCentral, June 08, 2010, 01:13:31 AM

Previous topic - Next topic
Print
Go Down Pages1
User actions

YellowHillsCentral

June 08, 2010, 01:13:31 AM
hey all-

I am building an indoor switching layout indoors to scratch that itch that my outdoor loop can't. The room I am building in is very limiting on what I can do (11' x 20') and at this point I have built a 6' x 12' table to house my layout, the Corvus, Dedelphis, and Mustelidae Railroad. It has 5' diameter curves and a single siding with R1 switches on either end. My question is that if I spliced a Bachmann 2-8-0 to a 0-8-0T, do you all think that it could negotiate (at least) the 5 foot curves, if not the 4?

Thanks all,
CJLM

Kevin Strong

#1
June 08, 2010, 11:56:09 AM
Yes, it will. The 2-8-0 (even stock) can make it around a 2.5' radius (5' diameter) curve once you modify the footplate between the loco and tender so it doesn't get in the way. Modifying the loco to an 0-8-0T (which sounds like it would be a neat looking loco!) would get rid of the footplate issues. You may find it bogs down a bit on the tight curves, but that's physics and not much you can do about it.

A few things to consider, though... While the 0-8-0T sounds great, you're going to have to move the cab back a bit so the fireman can actually get to the backhead to shovel coal--probably on the order of 1.5" or so since the stock backhead sticks out the back of the cab. That's going to create quite a bit of overhang on the back corner of the cab. Make sure you've got the clearances on the outside edge of the track to accommodate that.

Also, watch the couplers. If the couplers are body-mounted, they're not going to have a whole lot of swing to either side. That, too, will come into play with the overhang of the cab, as the coupler will be well outside the centerline of the track (possibly on the outside of the rail). If the couplers on the locomotive are body-mounted, and the couplers on the rolling stock you're to be moving is truck mounted, you'll have derailments at every curve. (If the couplers on your rolling stock are body-mounted, they're not going to like the 2' radius switch by any stretch of the imagination.) My suggestion: while it may not be the most aesthetically pleasing way of doing things, make sure your couplers have l-o-t-s of swing! I think you'll find the couplers to be the limiting factor in how tight of a curve your trains can take, not the locomotive's wheels.

Later,

K

YellowHillsCentral

#2
June 10, 2010, 12:52:11 AM
Kevin,

I have seen your work and love your models. Do you have any suggestions for an Interesting switcher? I love saddle tanks to no end, and want something to help my 0-4-0T push those loaded hoppers up the grade! I'm thinking about possibly doing diesel as well, but I would love to have another tanker. A possibility that has popped up is making a saddle tank out of an aristo craft C16, but for various reasons in the past, it has been dropped everytime it came up.  :-\ what is need is an engine that can negotiate that 4' diameter run around and mine switches without delay. And of course, the rattier it looks, the better! Please, if anyone has any ideas, just let me know.

Doneldon

#3
June 10, 2010, 04:17:03 AM
YHC -

Why not another 0-4-0T?  I think two of them double-headed would look super, two little teakettles teaming up to get the job done.
                                                                               -- D

YellowHillsCentral

#4
June 13, 2010, 12:13:21 AM
I would be lying if I said that o have never considered that. However, 0-4-0 saddle tanks are just hard to fund cheap these days. =[ I was hoping to make an engine that looked as if it were consisting of many engines over time. A true scrap bucket ;) As I said, the uglier the better.. And recently I have considered maybe looking at a small 0-4-4-0T.

I do have an Aristo Craft 2-4-2 that has been sitting in my scrap yard for sometime, still in running shape, but her drivers seem too big. =[

perhaps I should looking into diesels.... Hmmm

Doneldon

#5
June 14, 2010, 02:19:31 AM
YHC -

There are some Bachmann Columbias around but you need to be sure that you get one that has an intact gear case.  I bought one on ebay that technically ran -- it could move itself -- but it was immobilized by any grade or revenue cars behind.  Luckily for me, I sent it into Bachmann with the repair charge and they put a new drive system into it, motor and all.  I believe this was an excellent example of Bachmann's favorable service policies.  The $25 could barely have paid for the shipping and administrative costs associated with the repair.  It runs well and looks good, too. 
                                                                              -- D

YellowHillsCentral

#6
June 14, 2010, 10:17:11 PM
Thanks all. I have some ideas set aside. However, after our basement flooding last night, the CD&M shops are looking quite, bogged down, for now. On a side note, I was lookig around last night for 5 ft diameter switches. Would that be R2 or R3? Certainly it would be R2 if R1 is 4', right? Anywho, does anyone know where I oils get my hands on some of those?

Most Appreciated,
James 

Doneldon

#7
June 16, 2010, 04:59:24 AM
YHC -

Omigod!  A man after my own heart.  His basement is flooded and what is he worried about?  Where he can find 5' compatible switches.  That's great.  Some folks would say your priorities are screwed up but I'm right there with you.  After all, you can't do anything about the flooding, right?  So you might as well stay in train mode.  Congrats.
                                                                     -- D

YellowHillsCentral

#8
June 16, 2010, 02:46:47 PM
Hahah, hey thanks. I've been told that I have a one track mind. With the economy in such a bad shape as it is now, why put the money in to a double main? Blasphemy I say!

Kevin Strong

#9
June 17, 2010, 02:10:21 AM
I've never seen a prototype photo for an 0-8-0T, at least not in narrow gauge, outside frame. In fact,the only 3' gauge 0-8-0 on a US narrow gauge was the Tweetsie's 0-8-0, and that one had a tender. There may have been some export locos like that, though.

Having said that, I'd probably draw inspiration from the "Frank the Tank" conversions done to the LGB/Aster "Frank S".

http://www.steamup.com/sitgonline/forum/articles/frankkrutzkemod/frankkrutzkemod.html

That's a 2-6-2T, not an 0-8-0T, but the aesthetics would be very similar. I think it'd be a really cool looking locomotive.

To your switch question, note that different manufacturers "R" values are not equal. The closest to a 2.5' radius switch is Train Line 45. They make a 900mm radius switch (just under 3') that they call "R2." (LGB's R2 is 2.5') I've reviewed their wider radius switch, and it's very well built. I'd imagine this one would work very well for you.

Sorry to hear about the flood.

Later,

K

YellowHillsCentral

#10
June 17, 2010, 03:30:08 PM
Kevin,

When I started planning my locomotive, I looked at pictures of the 0-8-0T on the Viseu de Sus in Romania. I've shown a few pictures here. I would most likely cut the boiler back so that the that it is shorter, probably just past the drivers so that the cab only hangs over by an inch or two. As for fuel, the prototype had a tender like car that it drew behind it, but I'll most likely keep the fuel on the engine some how, be it behind the boiler or right infront of the cab.

As for the prototypicality, there is none. The railroad we are modeling never existed. The CD&M, a branch line of the Yuri National Rail is located on the ficticious island country of Yuri, located between Alaska and Russia, and was a product of the Gold Rush, ergo the narrow gauge scraggly lines that I have to keep to. So the lack of a original is no problem at all.

Thank you all for all of your help thus far. If anything comes of this, I'll be sure to let you know. If you have any comments or tips or advice, feel free to write.

Thanks all,
James

Kevin Strong

#12
August 16, 2010, 12:18:34 AM
I just ran across an ad from Backwoods Miniatures, and thought of this thread. They make conversion kits for Bachmann's On30 locos, including two rather handsome 2-8-0 conversions to 2-8-2T saddle and side tankers. This is precisely the kind of thing loco I was thinking of in terms of converting the 1:20 2-8-0.

http://www.backwoodsminiatures.com/0n3kits.htm#Bachmann_2-8-2_tank

If I come across another 2-8-0 for a really good price, I'd be tempted.

Later,

K
Print
Go Up Pages1
User actions