# Aster Berk Minimum Track Radius



## wilbeck (Dec 10, 2008)

Is the posted Aster website minimum track radius for the Berkshire and S2 locomotives of 10 ft. (3 M) absolute? Can shorter radii be used? If so, is there an absolute minimum radius? Thanks for any information.


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

IMHO it doesn't matter if the S2 will get around 9 ft 9in or even 9ft 6in radius curves... it will not do it gracefully. The model is DESIGNED to run on a minimum of 3 meter radius and will not perform well under that. If you want to run the engine at a scale 15mph you probably can get around a SLIGHTLY smaller radius than the design spec. Since most people do not do a particularly good job of maintaining a constant radius on their track and introduce [unintentionally] slight kinks in the curves [often at a joint], a curve with a "claimed" 10 ft radius often has kinks that have an effective radius of 9 ft 8in or even less. This makes operation of the loco problematic. 

If the design specification was less than 3 M radius, Aster would say so.


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## wilbeck (Dec 10, 2008)

Thanks. I am planning a garden layout with two loops, one with 12 ft. min. radii curves and a smaller one with 10 ft. curves.


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

The two locos will go around 10 ft at a reasonable speed [witness the Mike Moore and Bednarik portable tracks] as long as the radius is carefully maintained. 

Since my track has a nominal 24 foot minimum radius, a "kink'" is something like 20 ft radius and tends to not be noticed except that sometimes you can see a slight lurching of the train if there are enough cars. 

10 and 12 foot are Ok for these locos. Good luck with your track building [and FUTURE maintenance].


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Dr Rivet on 07 Jul 2013 10:35 AM 
The two locos will go around 10 ft at a reasonable speed [witness the Mike Moore and Bednarik portable tracks] as long as the radius is carefully maintained. 

Since my track has a nominal 24 foot minimum radius, a "kink'" is something like 20 ft radius and tends to not be noticed except that sometimes you can see a slight lurching of the train if there are enough cars. 

10 and 12 foot are Ok for these locos. Good luck with your track building [and FUTURE maintenance]. Running on our inside track a bit over 11 foot radius

I have no idea why the youtube video does not show on the post(shows in the post prior to submit):


www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBajX1MLvJ8 

Try again


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

I will preface this comment by saying ,I do not have any live steam. I have found the running electrically powered engines at or near the manufacturers recommended minimum radius significantly increases wear and tear on the engine and track. Since live stream engines are made to tighter tolerances than most electric engines, would imagine that the wear and tear might be greater on the steamers. Chuck


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