Rack rail curves?

[Dave H]

Hi alll i'm new to this and need advice badly. I am planning a gscale lgb rack railway. my garden the whole garden is sloped. I can get 12% gradient quite nicely but it would require a 1.5 meter radius curve at the top still on 12% gradient. is it possible do the LGB straight racks bend? will it work with the cogs on the Brunig HG3/3 or will they miss the rack?

your help would be really appreciated

Dave H

 

[Phil]

Nope, won't miss, will still work fine..
Just remember to put more holding clips than normal..
Check this video if you don't believe me..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3GK6RpCeRA

 

[Netty]

I had rack on R1 curves which worked fine with the electric loco (like Phil says, more clips) However I had to modify the coupling between the two coaches to stop them over riding each other whilst being pushed up and round. I just used a small plasticard plate.

 

[coyote97]

I have no experience about the LGB racktrack.

But i did my own one in HO and i have relations to a real rack-RR club.
I think R1,5m and 12% Grade should work fine.
As other told before, the LGB system works with R1 and even steeper grades.

BUT the LGB R3 switches SHOULD work, too (what they dont), so, using a much bogger radius than R1 and hold the grade down to 12% should give u a good operation-performance.
It should be important to give the track a wide "round-out" at the points the grade changes.
Like on not-racked tracks, its no bad tip to choose different grades with different trackbending. the sharper the curve the easier the grade should be.
So you could think about giving the straight line about 14% and the sharp curves about 10%, wide curves can have 12 %.
That gives the locos a more constant running uphills, when power reaches its deadline....downhills the train shouldnt run away with the extremely "short" gear of a rack-loco (what makes them excellent shunters....)

btw: i think 12 % is a VERY fine choice. You should be able to do nearly ever prototypical operation, even relatively hard freight operation (like e.g across the swiss Oberalppass) or like it was on the StandardGauge "Erzbergbahn".

Many model-RRs operate 12% by adhesion, not stopping complainments about the power of the locos.....


Greetings

Frank

 

[stevedenver]

my own experience-nothing like diggle -
use lots of clips-what happens is that on curves as well as longer grades-with temp changes-the racks wil bend slightly with temp and load

also if you can-while the dramatic grades are fun-lesser grades are better-as are lesser curves -especially on a grade-double the drag
i find that only 2-3 cars -shortys-add a great amount of wear and pressure-you can actually see each cog tooth engage if the loco if fighting a heavy load-wear and tear -so i would plan on trains of 1-3 coachs max-3 is a lot imho on even a 15%

finally allow lead in and lead out of the rack onto the flat portions, like almost a train length-this allows the engine to continue to have traction with longer trains or if the track is wet , etc-otherwise the load simply pushes the loco -or the loco cannot pull

and i find using a pot of boiling hot water helps soften the ends , and a pair of gloves, to make snapping them together easier-while i havent broken many by pushing them together-they will break -and a firm clasp is necessary and the cogs are pretty tough on the fingers

 

[Ian_S]

Hi alll i'm new to this and need advice badly.

Dave H

Hi Dave - Pleased to see you took my advice and you made it here

Welcome to the Mad House

 

[Dave H]

Thanks guys that is a fantastic response i will be back with more questions
regards Dave

 

[stevedenver]

dave last year-after house remodel-and a dire need to play trains-
i set up a temporary rack in my garden after not having use of the garden for about 9 months -and removal of all things workmen might like to have, destroy, or come back for later

this is , as you may be able to tell, a gentle grade-
and, while the locos never balked-i will say that about 3 cars is quite a load-
you can see the micro 'jerks' of the teeth engaging under load-
and if you simply push the cars up-you get a real sense of the difference in laod as well
here are some pics as to what i consider a pretty good grade-
not at all what i used to think about-but now that rack rail parts are so hard to come by, im more conservative

they are sensitive to anything other than smooth rail, ie no kinks-especially the steam

 

[stevedenver]

 

[stevedenver]

 

[mike]

the change from level to incline(tranverse) is important, make sure you get it right, at both ends.. testing, going out side, and haveing a go.. is what its all about.. i re did mine 3 times, before i was happy with it.. shame the ex wasnt happy

 

[stevedenver]

cool lights indeed mike

 

[ExeterGeek]

Love the lights.

How do you get the effect of the blue illumination on the viaduct?
Position or shades ? Or some other secret ?

Chris