Originally Posted by NotInWI:
I have been keeping up with the musings on the extra rail side about the upcoming Vision UP Big Boy. I see a lot of people expressing interest in the Big Boy, but they are limited by the max radius of their layout. This got me thinking, with the seemingly new interest and resources put into S by Lionel and (hopefully) MTH, do you think we S gaugers will have to start making purchases based off of the curve radius of our layouts? I wonder if a scale (highrail) big boy would be able to negotiate flyer style curves or if we will start to see the “minimum radius” product specifications show up in future Flyer and MTH catalogs.
Ben
The current 2 point articulation (developed by Rivarrosi in the 1960's) has been succesful on the Challenger, Y3 and the ex K-Line oversized Big Boy. These all run on 20" radius track.
If Lionel were to continue with two motor drive in the Flyer line articulateds, they will likely continue using the two point articulation. I would guess MTH would do the same.
Even in HO, Broadway Limited, the old Proto 2000 line, Athearn and Rivarossi use the two point method. As can be seen on the 3-rail side, there's concern about the overhang with normal articulation, even on some of the larger curves. Even on O72, the boiler overhang is excessive on the articulateds.
It all depends if the S folks start clamoring for prototypical articulation and I don't see that happening anytime soon. I'm comfortable with two point articulation and it doesn't upset my "scale" sensibilities.
Rusty
