--- In [email protected], Bill Roberts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> This suggests that a No. 6 switch can handle anything in S scale,
> except perhaps a 4-12-2, if the switch is built to the NMRA
> recommended practice.
Boy oh boy.....I'd be careful with this "assumption/prediction". My
experience (design theory aside for the moment) is that it is
difficult to get an off-the-shelf X-8-X steam loco through a #6
turnout. Yes, it can be done, but frequently a lot of extra effort
is needed depending on the design of the turnout and/or the loco.
Things like widening the track gauge on the curved route, narrowing
the wheel gauge, increasing the point gap, increasing the sideplay of
drivers, etc., etc. have, at times, been necessary to enable a
steamer to make it around the curved route of a #6 turnout.
Was the turnout built properly? Probably not, but it was the one on
the layout at the time. Installed before I knew better. And it
ain't gonna come out. Was the loco built properly? Probably not,
but where else are ya gonna get a NYC Mohawk in S scale? And so
tweaking and fiddling and so forth were needed in many instances. In
one case, the frame had to have a notch milled in it so that the
wheels could be squeezed inward just a bit more. I would simply
suggest that folks check and double check how things actually work
before designing/building a layout based on the theoretical
assumption that all will work just fine with steamers and #6
turnouts. T'aint so in actual practice.
Be cautious...Ed L.
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