Re: Old versus Modern Track laying methods

Hi,

Even or square (as I am used to calling them - don't know where I got it any more) rail joints do not work better than staggered joints in Live steam. When we built out 7.5" gauge track, we'd build track panels with square joints and transport them to the track. Then one rail would be attached to the longer rail of the staggered rails. The second rail would be loosened and slide up to the remaining rail to be attached and the screws tightened again. Of course 1" aluminum rail is a lot lighter then 85# iron or steel rail.

We always rolled our rail since our radius was in the 35' to 65' range. I'd guess that about a 200' radius would be about the cut-off for bending rail of any sorts. For what its worth, a 30 degree curve is about 191 feet.

Also a piece of trivia (SG), I have somewhere a speed chart for the PRR that shows maximum speeds and minimum radius for PRR's locomotives. Their 2-8-2s, 4-6-2s, 2-8-0s were rated for curves down to about 150-200 feet. The thought was that they did not want to rebuild all their tracks as newer power was brought in. I'll see if I can find it if you are interested.

Just my experience.

Doug vV