Trackwork: Siding Following Curve

Hello, and welcome to a "Model Railroad Academy" video. In this video, we'll talk about how you can vary the track work. Get the same functionality, but much higher reliability, meaning less derailments and less fuss with your rolling stock. And what we're gonna look at is how to create a siding of the curve. This is very common, because we typically build our model railroads in rooms and well, the sidings then typically is somewhere after a curve, meaning where a corner is. So this is a common situation. And if you look into many of the track plans, you find both in books and from the manufacturers of the tracks, they have actually laid out the turnouts quite poorly. So this is hopefully a guide which helps you to do better track work, which also suits your preferences. So let's get to it. So here's a typical track work to create a siding after curve. And this is a solution you typically find in track plans. And, well, first there is a left hand curve. And directly after that, a right hand turnout. This will create a double S-curve, which is a challenge, especially for long course with bogies. With this design, the core bodies will swing out to the maximum in opposite direction just as they pass over the turnout. If possible, it's better to have a left hand turnout after a left hand curve. This way you only get one S-curve, and that S-curve will happen in deciding away from the turnout. One solution to overcome this S-curve problem is to add a straight section between the curve and the first turnout. Make sure that it's longer than the longest car you have. The drawback with that solution is that it shortens the siding. In most cases, you want to go the other way, meaning you want to optimize the length of the siding. Then a curve turnout is the solution for you. The only problem with this is that curve turnout are not all that common in the prototype. So if realism is very important for you, well, then curve turnout is not your option, but you can still have basically the same track work but using a standard turnout instead. So this solution gives you the long sidings, it helps you to avoid the curve turnout, and at the same time staying in the same space restrictions for the track work. All right, so. It's not just about getting the turnouts in place to get your siding, but it's also to get a good reliability, no derailments, and also to suit your preferences. That's, of course, the first priority. And if you're interested in track work planning, everything from the initial phases of, you know, getting your prototype together and transform that into a kind of track work, and squeezing it into your available space, then there is a class available. If you look into here on "Model Railroad Academy" website, in the shop, there is a class for track work planning. So check that out. It's a helpful guide to take you all the way from beginning to, you know, actually ballasting the tracks. Everything's in there. Thank you very much for watching this video. See you in the next one.