Title, basically. It’s a RailKing Triplex (O-42) on an O-36 layout.
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If it derails and causes a short circuit or falls off the track and onto the floor then, yes, it can be damaged.
MELGAR
I see so many folks try & cram engines through curves they ain’t meant for!…my buddy Melgar is spot on, and I’ll add, ….when you folks try and cram these engines through too tight a curve, you’re grinding the C-R-A-P out of your flanges!….the flanges on most of our locomotive’s ESPECIALLY all the later Railking offerings, are die cast!…not steel!….only the tire itself is steel, …so when you wipe out your flanges, and she jumps the tracks permanently, ….guess what!? …..it’s drive block replacement time!…and that gets expensive!…or worse, it ain’t available and you’re *OL……it doesn’t take long to grind down a flange when you’re purposely attempting to grind them off on curves the engine ain’t built for!!…..
Pat
@harmonyards posted:….when you folks try and cram these engines through too tight a curve, you’re grinding the C-R-A-P out of your flanges!….the flanges on most of our locomotive’s ESPECIALLY all the later Railking offerings, are die cast!…not steel!….only the tire itself is steel, …
Good points. Thanks.
you can also tear up the gears and mess up your motor. thats why it is so important to use large enough curves
I give you another. I've seen more than one o guage steamer where the paint was scraped off of the counterweights on the drivers from rubbing on the rods. Not good.
Message heard load and clear. Thanks, all!
The other option is to run smaller locomotives that are made to run on 031 curves. Some are outstanding models, IMO. For instance, check out the steam and diesel switchers on the Switcher Saturday thread each week, most of which are made to run on sharp curves.
The smaller locomotives also tend to be less expensive, which can be a huge benefit, IMO.
Wide curves and big locomotives that are made to run on them are also wonderful, but some hobbyists like me have space constraints that make wide curves unworkable.
As Melgar mentions, derails will probably result in short circuits. The worst collateral damage therefrom can possibly be damage to the onboard electronics in the engine. It's often enough to ruin a day...as many will testify. Why risk it??
Many years ago I went to Virginia City NV and road the tourist train. It was about 30-60 minute ride. It was a diesel engine. The flyer noted a steam engine. I asked what happened to it. The route had gone through an original 1800's tunnel. The tunnel had collapsed a couple of years before. They thought it was strange a tunnel had been made to begin with since it was a short route around the foot hill. So they extended the track. Then they found out why. They had made the curve too sharp. It wasn't long until the wheel bearings on the steam engine were taken out. It was down for repair. The Tunnel had been made to allow a flatter curve without adding miles of track. Basically I was told they weren't train engineers, they were learning the hard way.
It looks like the V&T has taken over tourist rides now.
Tourists were few and you could talk to the residents at the time. One had just lost their car when an underground mine collapsed under their drive way. It sucked the car in out of site. There are hundreds of miles of tunnels in the area. 90% of the gold and silver is still there. Too hard to get out of the rock.
Actually, no one really knows why an engine was rated for O-42 so we do not have enough information to be able to tell you whether or not it would work on O-36. For example, maybe the manufacturer found that their engine would hit the switch engine on O-36. In this case "maybe" the engine could handle the 36" curve if you used O-72 switches... who knows? Or maybe the manufacturer found that their engine's coupler could not handle an "S" curve on anything sharper than 42". In this case "maybe" the engine could handle the 36" curve if you used O-72 for any "S" curve... who knows? Or maybe the manufacturer found that their engine was too heavy and could not tolerate the abrupt transition from straight track to O-36 curves. In this case "maybe" the engine could handle the 36" curve if you used simulated easement sections of larger diameter between all straight sections and tight curved sections... who knows?
Like a lot of things in life, I'm sure there are some "gray area" examples where one could get by with tighter-than-rated curves. As the post above stated, perhaps the engine doesn't deal with 36" switches due to motor placement or size.
Overall, I'm with Arnold above. My new layout is reasonably small and even though I found a way to have 42" and 54" curves on one main and 54" and 72" on the other, I'm sticking with engines that require no more than 31". Cost is a factor. So are aesthetics. Virtually no overhang anywhere.
