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Showing results for tags 'mth hudson'.
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Hi all. I'm new to model railroading and outdoor/G scale/1 Gauge. I'm building my first layout and I need to "phone a friend" with experience (but I don't have any friends that do model railroading), hence why I'm posting. I'm space constrained to about an 80' figure 8 or oval layout and I'm trying to figure out if I can get the height for an elevated crossover for that 8 or not. My setup: - MTH Hudson engine (ray is fixing it up for me) - No more than 8 cars (less if long passenger cars). figure total train length limited to 15'. can shorten it further it its the difference between me getting that crossover or not. - my tightest turns at the top/bottom of the figure "8" are slightly gentler than the minimum R2 MTH rates the Hudson at (R2 for MTH is slightly over 5' diameter, I will have 6' diameter 180's) - I will be using the "post and open stringer" method to lay my roadbed (https://familygardentrains.com/primer/roadbed/ladder1.htm) and thus I figure 10" of clearance + 0.5" of track height + 1.5" of stringer height means I need to gain 12" of vertical over slightly less than 40'. So rounding down, over 35', 12" of gain is 3.0% grade. - H&R stainless track Here are my questions: - With only running 8 cars on an MTH hudson, how bad is a 3% average grade on a straight track? - Does the answer change for a slightly better than R2 curve (ie will my train fail to make it up an R2 @3.0%)? - Is it better to increase the % grade on the straighter sections and decrease on the R2? It makes sense to me the answer is yes, but then how to figure out how to divide the % grades between straight and curve portions? - More general question, with an MTH Hudson what fails as I increase % grade with 8 cars on an R2 curve, is it wheel slip, engine stalling, or the train derails? Also as long as the train makes it up, what is issue or problem? Is it just more wear on the traction tires and so if I replace them frequently problem solved, or is more serious wear happening inside the motor? Googling these sorts of questions all the info seems to be based on experimentation by building and seeing what works. I'm trying to gain some insights before building. I’m hoping someone with an MTH Hudson can give me insights on their grades, curves and train lengths. thanks in advance for your help! -keith