What is the minimum curve radius requirement for coupled Pullman heavyweight cars?

JonMyrlennBailey

Active member
These have 3-axle trucks. The tightness of turns must not exceed the mechanical limitations of truck rotation, coupler travel or inter-care diaphragm movement.
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it very's from railroad to railroad. something you're going to have to play around with, in trainz there is no set requirement.
 
There should be technical data for rolling stock somewhere. There has to be standards.

Minimum railway curve radius - WikiMili, The Best Wikipedia Reader

Factors affecting the minimum curve radius

Minimum curve radii for railways are governed by the speed operated and by the mechanical ability of the rolling stock to adjust to the curvature. In North America, equipment for unlimited interchange between railway companies is built to accommodate for a 288-foot (87.8 m) radius, but normally a 410-foot (125.0 m) radius is used as a minimum, as some freight carriages (freight cars) are handled by special agreement between railways that cannot take the sharper curvature. For the handling of long freight trains, a minimum 574-foot (175.0 m) radius is preferred.[SUP] [3]

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The sharpest curves tend to be on the narrowest of narrow gauge railways, where almost all the equipment is proportionately smaller.[SUP] [4] [/SUP]But standard gauge can also have tight curves, if rolling stocks are built for it, which however removes the standardisation benefit of standard gauge. Tramways can have below 100-foot (30.5 m) curve radius.


In the real-world of North American rail transportation, my 1500-foot long passenger trains should handle the 89 meter radius as I have above if they were to be real-world railway equipment. I have these tight curves in a 15-mph zone anyway.
 
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Hey, this is virtual railroading. The minimum track radius is that radii that will allow your locomotive to move a train transitioning from curve to straight or visa versa.

John
 
Dunno if it will help, but I found a similar discussion here: https://www.railroad.net/questions-about-track-curvature-requirements-t159834.html Pertinent comments include the following:

[FONT=&quot]As you see, the curve at 41.2675N 122.30395W is just over 400 ft radius-- lots of six-axle cars ran over it.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Nobody knows how sharp the curve at the east end of the river bridge just east of Portland OR's station is, but far as anyone knows its radius has always been less than 400 ft.

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[FONT=&quot]The famous Horseshoe Curve at Altoona PA is a 9 degree 15 minute curve: radius about 650 feet. This IS mainline: over the years it has seen lots of Pullman cars, and still has lots and lots of six-axle diesels hauling freight around it. Speed limit (because it is on a heavy grade) is I think 30 m.p.h.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Note that one might not want to run every day over a curve as sharp as the sharpest your vehicle can do occasionally. The Monon Railroad bought six-axle C-628 diesels, which COULD negotiate the curves on its track, but soon traded them in on four-axle C-420 because they decided they would rather NOT operate the six-axle units over the curves of the south end of their line.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]I don't know, and don't know where to look for, the curve limits for six-axle heavyweight passenger cars, but I would GUESS they aren't TOO different from those for six-axle diesels.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]I have sharp curves and steep grades with southern California's Mojave Subdivision in mind through the Tehachapi Mountains. I think I used my ruler on Google Earth maps and found a 180-degree turn to be as sharp as a 561-foot radius. SD40-T-2's used to run over these daily and so do modern six-axle locomotives like the GE Dash 9's and the EMD SD70 series. This is is a slow main line in these mountains at 25 MPH speed limit in many parts, however. Is it because of the tight curvature or the steep grades which go 2-something percent? I drive my SP SD40 freights in train simulator on this sub a lot as this is my favorite line in game play with the tight Waylong loop. I haul mile-long fully-loaded trains over these twisties in train sim too.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]My guess is the six-axle Pullman HW's and any articulated steam locomotive with no more than three driver axles per bogie should handle the Mojave Sub as well without too much squeal.


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