Laying track

For one, I have never heard of that done ever. I believe connecting track the way it was intended was to make sure of a good electrical connection, and two, to prevent unwanted de-railments of locomotive or cars. If you want that kind of action put large steel ball bearings in the cars so their weight will shift while running train. Good luck.

TEX
Steve

woojr,

Ed Reutling who posts occasionally on the 2 rail forum has constructed some nicely "irregular" and very realistic trackwork. He may see this and post a photo of his work.

The problem with the rocking motion lies with the laws of physics! Real railcars start rocking from uneven trackwork and continue rocking like a big pendulum.

The rate of motion of a pendulum depends on the size, so real cars, being over 13' tall, sway slowly. Model cars are tiny in comparison so the rocking is very fast and would not look realistic at all.

Tex's idea of a large weight might slow the motion slightly, but I don't think it would ever approach the ponderously slow motions of the real ones.

The track can be made to look realistic, but not the motions.

Jim

Woojr,

Here is a youtube video of an HO Scale layout with crooked track. Very realistic to what I've seen. Hope this help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSUXSRsXsI8

Cesar

I have seen video of folks laying crooked track on garden railways to get a more whimsical look while running their trains.

For an o gauge layout, I would try to lay the track as true as possible. Steve makes a point that it leads to better electrical connections, and I would add it also would lead to other better operating characteristics. I would also offer, that most of us probably don't lay track perfectly anyway.

Jim

My track is both uneven in height and some width. It's not deliberate, more an unavoidable outcome of where my layout resides - atop an uneven raised crawlspace. I can't nail or pin down the track permanently so after running trains for a while, it sometimes 'floats' slightly. As you might guess, my layout is more toylike than realistic. I use rubber bands to bind the track (tubular 027) to optimize connectivity. I enjoy the operating challenges this presents!

Thank you all. Great video. Jim's explaination makes me wonder what a Vision Line "rocking freight set" would look like. Maybe offset axle-wheels?

Maybe the effect is in the cars, not the track.