Re: Minimum radius curve for Emma Nevada with 144" wheelbase?

AFTX Wrote:
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> Would 175' radius (33 degrees) work? If not, what
> would be the minimum feasible radius?

30 degree curves are already on the sharp side for locomotives of this type.

I'm not sure, offhand, exactly how tight a curve the specific type of locomotive you listed in your original post could handle before the pony truck ran out of lateral play and started binding. The number you list here is likely about (close to or slightly past) the practical minimum. The ET&WNC with 32 degree curvature is the sharpest in regular service I'm personally aware of for Baldwin moguls of roughly that size--slightly larger in that case, but with the same 12-foot fixed wheelbase. Baldwin company literature from that period didn't typically list minimum possible curve radius. Porter did, however; Porter listed its own locomotives with rigid wheelbases in the 12-foot range as being able to take curves in the 165-180 foot range if necessary, depending on the specific class. In all cases such curves are tighter than recommended for optimal operation.

Most railroads that routinely ran on such sharp curves (or sharper) simply acquired engines with shorter rigid wheelbases.