# track knowledge needed



## Dansgscale (Jan 9, 2010)

I have been looking at ebay lately and considering purchasing some used brass track to rebuilding my outdoor Christmas layout, but I can't make heads or tails out of the descriptions of the curve track. How do I tell what the diameter of the curves sections are when fully assembled when they say things like 22.5 or 30 degress I am just looking for curves to make 4 foot diameter curves. I know these being 24" radius.

So what is the radius of a 22.5 degree curve and what would be the radius of a 30 degree curve. 

Does anyone have a trasnaltion cheat sheet for the LBG part numbers and what the diameter or radius of thier curve ections. I can figure out the straight sections ok as they are in millimeters.

Dan S.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Those degrees tell you the part of a circle, not the curvature of the track. 

so 30 degree curves are 12 pieces to make a complete circle, irrespective of the actual radius/diameter. 

22.5 degrees goes into 360 degrees 16 times, so 16 pieces make a complete circle. 

Here's my LGB cheat sheet: *http://www.elmassian.com...trong>** 

Please pay attention to the distinction between "true" and "closest" in the column headers. 


Regards, Greg*


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Dan

You'll find that with only the degrees available (e.g. 30 & 22.5) you're not going to really be able determine the diameter/radius of the circle of track because for example Aristo-Craft has multiple diameters in both 22.5 & 30 degree (i.e. 12 & 16 sections per circle) sections.

The closest that I can come to a track database suggestion would be to buy a copy of Stan Silverman's (MLS - stanman) "Handy Converter", which has a listing of dimensions for Aristo-Craft, LGB, Piko, & Train-Li sectional track components. Just click the link below, then scroll down to the "Large Scale Track" example screen and click on it to see what it looks like, it has a lot of other nice features also. If you find that you're interested in maybe purchasing a copy, then just scroll down to the bottom of the screen you're on.

Stan Silverman's - Handy Converter[/b]


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

if you seek 4 foot diameter curves, the magical description is "R1". LGB at least calls 4 foot diameter R1. and there are many R1 curves avayable, because most buyers seek larger radii. they should be priced at about 2/3 of the price for other track. 

edit:
R1 curves normally come in sections of 30° and 300mm/1 foot length. (there are shorter sections , but they are scarce)

edit 2: but not every 30° curve is R1.


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Fantastic cheat sheet Greg. 

Would make a great iformation sheet in a FAQ thread if only we had one. 

Randy


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## armorsmith (Jun 1, 2008)

Dan, 

See if the table on this site will help with your search. 

http://members.westnet.com.au/susprog/AristoTrack.htm 


Bob C.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

That's a nice chart, although some of the LGB stuff is not exactly correct. The LGB numbers are off just a little bit though, well within the ability to "tweak" to fit. 

The LGB numbers are not always even numbers, as seen from my chart. 

As an aside, it's amazing the number of different curvatures Aristo offers. 

Greg


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## armorsmith (Jun 1, 2008)

Greg, 

This link was posted when I asked a question about 'exact' radius/diameter on the Aristo forum. I am in the process of designing a fixture to build my spline/ladder road bed and for me, 'close' is not good enough when building fixtures. All of the Aristo and USA track I have worked with has a bit of 'tweak' ability. Good info nonetheless. 

Bob C.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yeah, that's the best table I have seen on the Aristo track. My numbers are correct on the LGB, it took a lot of looking, but got the numbers from official LGB documents. Some people have "rounded" the numbers a bit. I was trying to find the "fabled" R4 track/turnouts... got some nibbles, but no really hard data. 

My opinion is to try to start with the best and most accurate numbers you can get, because there's errors in every step it seems. 

Regards, Greg


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Here is my basic understanding of LGB curves ans switches/turnouts. 

LGB 11000 is R1, 1200mm, 4 foot diameter 
LGB 15000 is R2 Odd size little under 5 foot diameter (train-Li R2 is 6 foot diameter) 
LGB 16000 is R3, 2400 mm 8 foot diameter 
LGB 18000 is R5, 3600mm 12 foot diameter. 

I personally think LGB R2 was designed for dual track usage on circles with a minimal clearence. 

All the rolling stock by LGB was made to traverse 4 foot diameter curves. Might not look good, but will not derail!! 

Switches 

12xx0 is R1 
16x00 is R3 
18xx0 is R5 

Remember that track from LGB was metric and conversion to inches is approximate. 1200mm is really about 47 3/8 inches, not 4 feet. 

PS, the 3 foot long switch by USA trains is 36 inches, not a metric conversion.


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Dan:

According to my LGB catalog, the diameter of the R5 circle (center of track to center of track) is 4640mm. This works out to 15.2 feet.


If they made an R4 that would be closer to 12' (3600mm), but as far as I know they never did. 


Chuck


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

This is why I bought a track bender from Axel at Train-Li! This way, even if I have some curves that don't _quite_ match up, I can run them through the double-track bender and _voila! _Everything is exactly as I want it!


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I believe the smaller radii were chosen to allow parallel curved track. 

Greg


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## hi-railer (Jun 15, 2010)

The track cheat sheet is a nice piece of information. I have finally begun my overhead railroad after several years of thinking and planning. I have gained a lot of knowledge lurking here the last couple of years. I recently discovered USA trains 8ft diameter track is also not exactly a 48" radius. I am attempting to learn sketchup for drawing several of my bridges and decided I need confirm the radius before I create an engineering disaster in 1/29 scale. I will post details of this in a thread I will be starting on my layout adventure.


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