Curved track on a double-track railway

[TheYakEmperor]

Hello, I'm wondering how you'd go about curving a double track so that the distance between them remains the same at all times. I can't find any information about this online, and AnyRail is proving almost impossible to use because whenever I need to curve my double tracks, I'm not sure which length/radii to use in order to not have them either meet or drift apart. If anyone has any tips, that'd be great, thanks. 

 

As a side-note, if anyone can recommend the best manufacturer of trackage (UK), I'd be very grateful. I'm new to this and could do with some advice.

[APOLLO]

I use Peco track.

 

When laying curves this Peco track gauge is very useful

 

https://peco-uk.com/products/6ft-way-gauge

 

Brit15

[njee20]

Anyrail has a utility for “add parallel flex track” which should solve that bit. Actually depending on the radius you may want to ease them apart anyway to avoid long items of stock colliding.  

[Phil Bullock]

6 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

I use Peco track.

 

When laying curves this Peco track gauge is very useful

 

https://peco-uk.com/products/6ft-way-gauge

 

Brit15

Worth buying 2or 3 as they won’t break the bank

[ITG]

4 hours ago, njee20 said:

Anyrail has a utility for “add parallel flex track” which should solve that bit. Actually depending on the radius you may want to ease them apart anyway to avoid long items of stock colliding.  

And when adding that Anyrail parallel track, you can select how far apart you wish them to be. Standard streamline spacing is 50mm to track centres, whereas Peco set track is 67mm. I’m pretty sure Hornby is same.

Also on Anyrail, you can curve track by manual adjustment, or select to add curves to a pre-specified radius and angle.

And if using Streamline for the majority of track on a layout, it’s worth considering using set track if curves need to be tighter radii (ie radius 2, 3 or 4) as flexi track is tricky to curve that tightly. That said, one would have to compensate and blend radii, as the straights would then presumably be at 50mm spacing, using radii designed for 67mm spacing. I have done so with experimentation using varying radii.

Note many RTR stock does not like radius 1.

[Chris Turnbull]

Why not cut two or three short lengths of Plasticard to the width required and use those?  That's what I did on this layout: 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP0m9lwUcxM

 

Chris Turnbull

 

[Nearholmer]

Trad methods:

 

- two short lengths of 1” square timber, with four carefully made saw cuts to act as spacing gauges;

 

- several small bits of thin plywood cut carefully to the required “six foot” dimension between sleeper ends.

[wasdavetheroad]

I use flexitrack in Anyrail a lot for my Kato HO Unitrack designs. Hold on, the Kato track library does not have flexitrack!. No problem, just open a Peco streamline track library and past a piece of flexi onto your design then close the Peco library. 

 

Anyrail flex track is very useful and I use it for making custom curves and straights. When the flexi track piece design is finished you can 'freeze' it so that you don't accidentally modify it.

 

Some advice for final track designs is to adjust the tolerances as small as you can go  in the SETTINGS menu.

 

One additional function I would like is to lock 2 items together so they move as one, this would have proved very useful for designing the modified turnouts I am using.

[Flying Pig]

1 hour ago, wasdavetheroad said:

Some advice for final track designs is to adjust the tolerances as small as you can go  in the SETTINGS menu.

 

 

Also while you're in the Settings menu, set a sensible minimum radius at least equivalent to 2nd radius setrack (it can be much bigger).  Anyrail will warn you if you inadvertantly lay any curve tighter than the minimum you have set by colouring that part of the of track red.  This is very useful if you are making curves by manual adjustment as it enables you to avoid mysterious tight spots.

[KingEdwardII]

I use XtrackCad as my design tool. 

 

If using fixed radius tracks, where the curves are arcs of a circle, the simplest approach is to ensure that the circles have the same centre. They will then always be the same distance apart - and you can set the "correct" spacing at the start of the curve, say on the straight sections the curves connect to.

 

For my preferred approach to curves, where I use variable-radius Bezier curves (one of the options provided by XtrackCad), then it takes more work to ensure even spacing, by playing with the Bezier parameters until the curves are well distanced all along their lengths. It is possible to measure the perpendicular distance between the tracks at any point and then adjust to bring the tracks closer or separate them more. 

 

The technique of printing out at 1:1 on paper and then pinning the printouts to the baseboard helps ensure that the track is placed accurately relative to the plan.

 

Yours, Mike.

[Il Grifone]

For sharp radii I use pre-curved set track. This  avoids irregularities in the curvature and take care of the spacing problem. If laying flexible track, take care to ensure that the ends are curved as it tends to straighten out if this is not done. (it's not unknown for pre-curved track to suffer from this - check before laying. Squint along the rail; any variation will be obvious.

 

As to make: Peco is the obvious choice, bearing in mind that the code 100 is actually H0 with sleepers rather close together.

 

For British track, I use Formoway, but this is only available second hand as it is long out of production. (I'm assuming 00 here.)

Edited November 25, 2021 by Il Grifone

[Bill Radford]

https://proses.com/prestashop/track-laying-tools/22-ho-oo-scale-adjustable-parallel-track-tool-8680979260401.html

 

I've found these are the best thing since somebody invented the knife to cut bread never mind sliced bread!!!

[Michael Hodgson]

34 minutes ago, Il Grifone said:

For British track, I use Formoway, but this is only available second hand as it is long out of production. (I'm assuming 00 here.)

 

That really is a blast from the past.  Is there some reason why you prefer than brand?

[scottystitch]

16 hours ago, TheYakEmperor said:

Hello, I'm wondering how you'd go about curving a double track so that the distance between them remains the same at all times. I can't find any information about this online, and AnyRail

 

 

Further to Nick's (Njee20) post (and others'), this series of screen grabs should illustrate the point sufficiently.

 

I work in N gauge so the radii will be different for you but the principle is identical:

 

It helps to set up some limits first. Click on the Settings tab and then punch in your minimum radius acceptable.  This will allow Anyrail to highlight any curve (in red) that is too tight.

 

Next place a piece of your flexi-track into the work area and select it by placing the cursor arrow on it and pressing the left mouse button.  The flexi-track should turn green. Then select it this time with the right mouse button, and a menu will come up. Select "Curve flex..." and a dialogue box will pop up.  Punch in angle and the radius (in this example in mm) of your desired curve:

 

 

You'll then have a nice uniform curve:

 

 

Select and right click on the new curve and the same menu as before will come up. Select "Add parallel flex", this time, and a new dialogue box will come up.  Punch in the distance you want between the tracks and whether you want the new track to be inside or outside of the original one (I want mine outside the original, so I've selected to the "right"):

 

 

Et voila; two perfectly parallel tracks:

 

 

It's useful to iterate that this process is applicable to any piece of plain track, regardless of whether they are curved or straight, or whether it was a manual curve or a machine generated curve in the first instance.

 

If you have two curves joined together of different radii, for example when using transition curves, you will need to parallel both of these curves separately.

 

 

Hopefully, that is of some use.

 

Best

 

Scott.

 

 

Edited November 25, 2021 by scottystitch

[Mike Buckner]

Perhaps you might do better limiting yourself to Setrack, at least to start with.

[Il Grifone]

22 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

 

That really is a blast from the past.  Is there some reason why you prefer than brand?

 

It's the only code 100 brand (without going even farther back to fibre based track) that is actually 00 gauge with sleepers at least approximately the right size. (Having stocks is a secondary reason, though I have run out of plain track.) The sleepers are too close together, which is not too difficult to correct.

 

Note: curves should not be uniform. There should always be a gentle transition between straight and curve.

Edited November 26, 2021 by Il Grifone

[Michael Hodgson]

1 hour ago, Il Grifone said:

 

It's the only code 100 brand (without going even farther back to fibre based track) that is actually 00 gauge with sleepers at least approximately the right size. 

Ah, OK - I hadn't realised they had moved on from the fibre !

Haven't seen the stuff in shops for years, Peco seemed to have cornered the market in track.

[RobinofLoxley]

Considering the poster said he was completely new he has now been deluged with a mix of basic advice but also stuff that takes no account of a new starter. And really totally no assumptions can be made at all new.

 

My advice; practice drawing layouts on Anyrail using Hornby track oo gauge only to start with; don't use Flexitrack R8092 to start.

Read all the layout discussion threads over and over until they make sense;

Do Anyrail exercise again with Peco streamline code 100 track. This is basically free form.

Then start thinking about a layout. 

 

Anyrail leads to over complication on first use in my opinion. 

[Il Grifone]

9 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Ah, OK - I hadn't realised they had moved on from the fibre !

Haven't seen the stuff in shops for years, Peco seemed to have cornered the market in track.

 

Farish gave up on the 00 market in the 70s and specialised in N, at which point I lost interest (eyesight and all that plus the only decent UK locomotive model was the Peco/Rivarossi 4-6-0). I do have some American stock stashed away though - I was going to build a mini dockside layout...).

GEM had a range but it seemed to just fade away leaving Peco to clean up (not that there is anything wrong with their product apart from the scale).

 

The Peco fibre based track was actually quite good considering the limits of the medium.

 

 

[ejstubbs]

9 hours ago, RobinofLoxley said:

Do Anyrail exercise again with Peco streamline code 100 track. This is basically free form.

 

Although does have some useful tools to help with the task, in particular with the specific question the OP asked - as pointed out by njee20, ITG and scottystitch,  I'd agree that a lot of the other advice offered has been pitched at an inappropriate level for someone who is fairly obviously - on the basis of the questions asked - a fairly raw beginner, and could as easily result in confusion and possibly demotivation as enlightenment.

 

Then again, that's not particularly unusual on this forum.  Some people - albeit from the best of motives - do seem to embark on a bit of a  brain-dump when it's a subject they know (or, dare I say, in some cases think they know) about, when their no doubt extensive experience could likely benefit from being edited in order make allowance for the ability of the recipient to take it all in.

 

This isn't a complaint so much as a plea to consider whether ones input, while it may well be valid, is actually useful in the context of the question(s) raised by a particular poster.

[RobinofLoxley]

Did something happen to my post above after I wrote it? Like every other word removed?

[roythebus1]

On 26/11/2021 at 21:07, Il Grifone said:

 

Farish gave up on the 00 market in the 70s and specialised in N, at which point I lost interest (eyesight and all that plus the only decent UK locomotive model was the Peco/Rivarossi 4-6-0). I do have some American stock stashed away though - I was going to build a mini dockside layout...).

GEM had a range but it seemed to just fade away leaving Peco to clean up (not that there is anything wrong with their product apart from the scale).

 

The Peco fibre based track was actually quite good considering the limits of the medium.

 

 

the GEM flexi track was scale sleeper spacing and size. their pointwork was pretty good as well with cast metal frogs and wing rails. Formoway had the variety of pointwork though with 3-way, double and single slips etc.

[RJS1977]

On 24/11/2021 at 22:25, Phil Bullock said:

Worth buying 2or 3 as they won’t break the bank

 

Especially if you have a sister who decides to insert one in the gap between an anglepoise lamp hood and the bulb!

[Il Grifone]

On 28/11/2021 at 18:00, roythebus1 said:

the GEM flexi track was scale sleeper spacing and size. their pointwork was pretty good as well with cast metal frogs and wing rails. Formoway had the variety of pointwork though with 3-way, double and single slips etc.

 

The only piece of GEM I have is a point, but it seems a bit flimsy to me, compared to the Formoway. No-one seems aware that wooden sleepers on plain track were 10" wide and on pointwork 12". Early Formoway have plastic crossings    but later ones (Liveway) are metal. The former get replaced with new ones made from rail. It would not be a bad idea even with Liveway as the crossing nose is a bit short. Dublo depth flanges run smoothly on the fill-in of the flangeway, but others bump a bit. (They are not alone in this!) Unfortunately the fancy point work tends to come in 2 foot radius rather than 3 foot.

Edited December 3, 2021 by Il Grifone

[roythebus1]

I used to love the Formoway track adverts on the back of model magazines at the time, it always looked impressive. I built a small roundy-roundy with Formoway in the mid 1960s.