Here's how cars overhang and sweep on curves
With wheels closer to center of car, sweep is greater
Wheels closer to ends increase overhang
From the All Gauge Model Railroading Page
Tricks for better layouts and more fun
Size and scale make a big change. Take O Gauge - three rail O, specifically, not the two-rail wienie variety. Three-rail O makes it very simple. If you have a lot of room for long straightaways and wide, gentle curves, go scale. If you don't, there's always the ten-inch cars. Still too big? Well, classic O27 is 1/64, which is even smaller. O gives you a lot of freedom that way.
Not for G! Though G scales range from 1/20 to 1/32, it doesn't work as nicely as O. Everything is BIG in G Gauge. Slipping to another scale in hopes of finding smaller trains just doesn't work as well as O. First, most of the 1/20 and 1/22.5 is Narrow Gauge. It is already small, as far as 1/20 scale goes. At « inch to the foot, 1/24 is the middle ground of G. It is also exactly twice the size of O Scale at 1/48. While much is of the Narrow Gauge variety, it tends to run big. Most of the 1/29 and 1/32 is sized for standard rather than Narrow Gauge. In other words: you cannot use a scale, within G, to determine small versus large.
Why fuss over size? It is a general rule:
For the best action, short straightaways and tight curves sue short cars, while long straightaways and gentle curves demand longer cars.
Therefore, if you have an 80 by 40 pike with the smallest curve being 8 foot diameter, you would go for the longest things you could find. If your pike is 5 by 12 and it uses 4 foot curves, you go for the shortest.
Action is a matter of three things: trackwork, scenery and car selection. Your layout has to use trackwork that is the right blend of turns and straights. Your scenery has to work with trackwork to make the best visual effect. Your cars have to be the size and type that work best with your layout and scenery.
The main limiting factor in layout design is available space. More precisely, it is the amount of space and its shape. Indoor layouts usually have obstacles such as walls, water heaters, and other impedimenta. Outdoor layouts will have terrain obstacles, both natural and man-made, plus trees, shrubs, etc. Obstacles change the shape of available space.
Space determines the length of straightaways, the best diameter curves and the general shape a layout might take. Good trackwork is a matter of implementing available space to allow the most varied movements, without being totally chaotic.
Scenery for G comes two ways. Some is already there, such as plants, trees, rocks, garden structures, etc. The rest will be added later. Good trackwork will make the best use of existing scenery and is itself enhanced by judicious application of added scenery. Use what is there to your advantage.
For instance, our railway was faced with several pre-existing features. The most conspicuous was the brick planter, and right alongside was the brick-lined walkway. I made good use of the planter by running a tight loop around it, using 5' track. The area between the planter and walkway is double-tracked, since the outer and inner loop pass tightly there. You can work your track around trees and through shrubbery. It takes time to work out the details. Take the time! The end result is worth it.
In all but the shortest layouts, you will want to have a stretch where a train can pass in profile. This "profile track" should be long enough to accommodate 2/3 or more of your average train. Its view should be unblocked and it ought to be perpendicular to the main "viewing area", if possible. The viewing area is the place from which the pike is viewed most often. Large pikes will have several profile tracks.
Curves add interest to the journey, which is why the most exciting track plans have the right balance of straights and turns. Have ta least one place where part of the train curves out-of-sight, either behind a tree, into a tunnel, behind the brick well (as on my pike) or even through a small miniature building. Once again, it adds interest.
You might consider changes in elevation. Grading has to be very gentle, especially with big G trains. A slight change in grade will have a marked effect on how your railway looks. Grading is a tool that adds immeasurably to the appeal of a garden railway.
Your available space and scenery affect your track choices. What of clearance? Cars are wider than track, and without proper planning, could collide with scenery and other obstacles. Folks new to the hobby think car clearance is a matter of the height and width of the car. There is also the problem of "sweeping," as I call it. On curves, the corners of cars swing outward, while the inside between the wheels overhang. Overhang looks unsightly and can rap scenery.
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Here's how cars overhang and sweep on curves |
With wheels closer to center of car, sweep is greater |
Wheels closer to ends increase overhang |
Take a train heading for a tunnel. If the track is straight, all you need account for is the height and width of the car. If the approach is curved, then sweeping becomes a problem. Too much overhang or sweep will prevent the car from entering the tunnel.
The tighter your curves, the more sweep and overhang. Likewise, longer cars tend to overhang and sweep. One other factor is placement of trucks. The closer the truck is placed to the end of the car, the less sweep and more overhang. Obversely, the further trucks are from the end, the more sweep and the less overhang.
Longer cars will either overhang or sweep more than short ones.
Your curves determine what can and cannot work on your railway. Likewise for clearances. To make clearances work for you, make sure they will accommodate your longest car's sweep and overhang.
Going the same speed, a train with shorter cars tends to look faster than one with long cars. Small pikes with tight curves demand shorter cars and locomotives. Granted, some pieces will not handle tight curves. The Aristocraft Pacific steam locomotive and Heavyweight passenger cars both need 8 foot or wider curves. A standard G 40' boxcar model will overhang like crazy. On the other hand, short cars look stubby on long straightaways with wide curves.
For small pikes with tight curves, the smaller cars work to their greatest advantage. One special area is Narrow Gauge, especially 1/20 scale. Narrow gauge thrives on short cars. Very tight curves work well for the short "economy line" kits from HLW, vintage-type pieces from Aristocraft and the Bachmann 1/20 lines of cars. Locomotives like the 0-4-0 Porter, "Lil' Critter", "Eggliner," 20-tonner, center-cab, 44 tonner and Rogers steamer work very well. 4-wheel freights are a good choice, especially if you love Narrow Gauge.
You can get away with using larger locos and cars. The Baldwin 2-4-2s and Ten Wheelers from Bachmann will do nicely. However, most diesel requires at least a 5' curve. If you use 5', you can easily step up to models like the HLW 4-4-0, Aristocraft Consolidation, Alco FA and RS3.
One thing that makes short cars look good is to have a few tall cars. A couple of boxcars, even home-made "whimsey cars" add to the action. You need not limit yourself to ore cars and low gondolas! A few tall pieces will make your train look better on even the tiniest pike.
If using 5' to 8' curve track, you can use most of what is out there. Middle sized curves allow for use of Ten-wheelers, Consolidations, FA1s, RS3s, 40' boxcars and the Sierra passenger cars. The ideas in mid-sized layouts is finding the balance. Trains will rarely be more than five or six cars. Mixed consists prevail.
The sky is the limit, so go long. You can run the greater sized steam and diesel locomotive, plus full-scale passenger cars. Long trains really do look great on a large pike. That doesn't mean the little guys are gone forever. Smaller trains do well in freight yards and smaller railways attached to the main pike.
Some folks buy whatever strikes their fancy, and that's what they run. Some are strict adherents to matters of scale and prototype consistency. There are those who invent their own trains, which range from amusing to outright wacky. Most of us are well within these extremes.
No matter how wacky or mundane your railway, it helps to have a sense of order keeping it all together. Even the most whimsical garden railway works better if it has a purpose.
Ask yourself these questions:
Every railway has a reason for its existence. Having a reason behind yours adds to the fun, whether you seek a concept supported by historical fact or invent one that's totally off-the-wall. For example, The Conover Street Brick Mine Railway started for fun. When we needed a purpose, it was simple: hauling mined brick to market. Of course, we also added such functions as local passenger and freight service. The main reason remains a hauler of mined goods from our "mine." Maybe yours has other purposes. It could be another kind of mine, a logging road, an industrial pike, bridge line or short line. Even if the railway is entirely whimsical, a purpose helps define it and...well, it gives you a few new ideas for future projects on your pike.
A Railway has a region where it works, and that it serves. Coming up with a place is part of the fun. The other part is naming it. With naming the place, you also name That sense of "here" again helps in devising future projects.
Railways usually work for someone, or several "someones." Industrial, mining and logging pikes tend to be the servitor of but one, while short lines serve many. That service might be commuter service to a region. Or you could be hauling freight. Who you serve determines what you haul, which brings you to the next topic.
With few exceptions, a railway's job is to haul some kind of cargo. What does yours haul? Think in terms of those it serves. Your railway may only handle end products or raw materials, but most haulers carry both. What you haul determines what kind of cars you need. If you're hauling passengers, you need passenger cars. For granular substances like gravel, coal, concrete, sugar or grain, try hoppers, ore cars and gondolas. Logs use log cars, flats or gondolas. Liquid freights can be shipped in tank cars, or the liquids packed in containers can be hauled by gondola, reefer or boxcar. Perishables go by reefer. Smaller dry loads are the province of the boxcar, and anything too big for the boxcar goes by flat or gondola. Whimsey fans can invent their own peculiar cars.
Among the few non-cargo trains would be firefighting trains, armored combat trains and maintenance of way.
Railways can be old or new. Most are set within a particular era. Each era had a technological limit. For instance, prior to 1890, steam was the top of the line power source. Around 1910, electricity became more available. The gasoline engine was becoming available around 1905, and was almost common by 1910.
Technology is also limited by region. Electricity was getting downright common in New York after 1910, for instance, but was barely known in Arkansas. To this day, there are places where steam remains more common than other forms of power. So what's the technology of your pike, insofar as time and place? That helps define what you will want to run.
These questions will help, but then, you may just decide "anything goes." No problem. It's your railroad, you run it your way. Enjoy it your way!
G is the favorite gauge for whimsical model railroading. Its large size makes it idea for scratchbuilding and kitbashing, and the quaint design of Narrow Gauge equipment plays right into the fun. You can make your own, either by using existing models as a base, or building from the ground up. What with the greater availability of trucks, wheelsets and detail parts, the sky is the limit for the creative hobbyist.
By the way, our Narrow Gauge photos show close-ups of cars that you can build in miniature.
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