Curves, Scale, and Size

[trevor]

After noticing some nasty interferences with my longer carriages on my turns, it became apparent that the curve radii I am using are much too small.

However, when looking at other users layouts in the forum, my curve usage seems to be about average (at least visually).

Currently I am nominally using 300mm radius on my N-Scale layout, which, though looks good on the screen... actually only translates into a 48m actual radius size... way short of the typical 125m ( 781.25mm  at Z). Furthermore, if I built that for real, the carriages would not go round those corners (see image).

It's also not helping that the radii on the standard catalog parts are even smaller than that.

I toyed around with using the larger life-like numbers but the layout would need to be HUGE to accommodate any reasonable amount of track pattern with a LOT of space between.
That in itself is not an issue I guess, though filling the intermediate "white space" with toys would likely kill the frame rate.

Is it better to ignore reality for the sake of a smaller, denser, more interesting layout, or is realism more important.

I am wondering what the general consensus/ experience is on this is...

Best Regards

T

Also wondering if perhaps there is something not quite right with the 4-axle carriage models...the concertina coupler visually seems a tad short.
 

[N-Bahn-Bastler]

Hi Trevor, first Happy New Year,

now, if i understood your question, i myself tried to use large radii in visible tracks, but in non-visible areas i got down to >=250mm, because that is, what in my own experience, was possible with my N-scale passenger coaches (length 165mm) with ROCO-short-couplings or Fleischmann Profi-couplings instead of N-series-couplings. All my coaches don't have the new mechanism to create more length in curves and minimize in straight line, so i searched for a possibility to shorten the distance between the coaches and had best results with ROCO. Now, because the ROCO is no longer in trade, i tried and use the Fleischmann Profi.

And, because my Project home has to be used as real screenplay to be built, that's why i never will build underneath 250mm. If your model is an only-virtual, i would try to realize in visible areas more than 600mm.

greetings, Michel, the N-Scale-builder

Bearbeitet 1. Januar 2017 von N-Bahn-Bastler
3. Bild