Track guides/tracksettas less that 9 Inch Radius.

[Twmos Bayliss]

First time adding to the forum so excuse the inexperience writing,
Im writing to find out within the narrow gauge community if there would be much call for 'tracksettas' radius aids smaller than the ones peco have?  What are your thoughts, would some of you like to see some smaller radius track guides available to help with layout building?

[Graeme Dunbar]

Like this?  ;D



95 mm radius

that produced this



which became this



inspired by or at least justified by this



I think someone was producing 3D printed 'tracksettas'. My one was made of 2 mm MDF, something I'll never do again as it is dreadful stuff to shape accurately with such a flimsy shape and I ended up pretty much soaking it in CA glue to give it some substance before final shaping. I see an advantage of 3D printed (or laser cut) ones is that they could be tailored to complex shapes. This may not be so important with 'normal' layouts but with micro layouts where one is really pushing the limits of curvature and cannot afford sections that 'pinch' I see them being useful.

[B.Meldon]

At those small radius it would be almost essential to pre-bend the rails to stop the stress on the chairs and to stop kinks at rail joints, so it would probably just as easy to draw the curve out using a compass and a pencil. That said I have never used a tracksetter and always pre-bend the rails anyway.

[Alan Pollock]

Hi Guys

Unfortunately I don't really see the point in using track setta for less then 9in for a simple reason I don't have many locomotives or rolling stock that is happening going round that tight of a curve and unless you're doing a lot of micro layout for display I'd say you are wasting a lot of time and effort on this but that is just my opinion.

Thanks
Alan

[B.Meldon]

Hi Guys

Unfortunately I don't really see the point in using track setta for less then 9in for a simple reason I don't have many locomotives or rolling stock that is happening going round that tight of a curve and unless you're doing a lot of micro layout for display I'd say you are wasting a lot of time and effort on this but that is just my opinion.

Thanks
Alan

There are lots of 009 and H0e items that will run on curves tighter than 9-inch radius.
For example the entire Minitrains range will run on their 140mm radius track. The only exception is the 0-8-0 where the rear coupling overhang is too long.
The same goes for the Egger-bahn and Jouef range.
In fact it is usually the coupling overhang that is the limiting factor. Obviously there are exceptions to this with larger locos.

However, the tighter the curve the less realistic the layout will look.

[B.Meldon]

Perhaps I should also mention examples of the 00 scale size of the minimum radius used on a couple of well known narrow gauge lines are as follows:

Welsh Highland and Ffestiniog Railway: 18 inch in 00 scale.

Talyllyn Railway: 52 inch in 00 scale. (Yes fifty-two inch!!)

[Graeme Dunbar]

At those small radius it would be almost essential to pre-bend the rails to stop the stress on the chairs and to stop kinks at rail joints, so it would probably just as easy to draw the curve out using a compass and a pencil. That said I have never used a tracksetter and always pre-bend the rails anyway.

Yes, the rails were extracted from the sleeper base and bent using a rail bender of my own devising. The 'tracksetta' was a second line of defence to ensure the track followed the correct line. It might be overkill but not having prior experience of using such tight curves and reading about cases on layouts where there were unintended pinch points.

It helped too to keep the track flat on the MDF sub-base as the glue dried. What I made was effectively my own section of pre-ballasted track. It was inspired in part by Iain Rice's floating track-bed idea.

[B.Meldon]

It helped too to keep the track flat on the MDF sub-base as the glue dried. What I made was effectively my own section of pre-ballasted track. It was inspired in part by Iain Rice's floating track-bed idea.

I am not a fan of 'soft' trackbeds I always try and use a nice solid 1/4 (6mm) plywood track bed with the track pinned down.
However, I can see the advantages in speed and ease of construction using soft trackbeds.     

[cp.409067]

*
Osborn's Models sell a range track laying tools for 9mm gauge under the name "RAY-DEE-EYE". Whilst not of great length, these can be ordered to your choice of radius. I have them in 150mm and 117mm - each case being somewhat short as they are a 30º curve.

https://www.osbornsmodels.com/ray-dee-eye-create-your-own-radius-36687-p.asp


Christopher Payne

[Twmos Bayliss]

*
Osborn's Models sell a range track laying tools for 9mm gauge under the name "RAY-DEE-EYE". Whilst not of great length, these can be ordered to your choice of radius. I have them in 150mm and 117mm - each case being somewhat short as they are a 30º curve.

https://www.osbornsmodels.com/ray-dee-eye-create-your-own-radius-36687-p.asp


Christopher , what material are the 'ray-dee-eye' made from?