Cagney engine track

Discuss park gauge trains and large scale miniature railways having track gauges from 8" to 24" gauge and designed at scales of 2" to the foot or greater - whether modeled for personal use, or purpose built for amusement park operation or private railroading.

Moderators: Glenn Brooks, Harold_V

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duckman903
Posts: 326
Joined: Fri May 28, 2010 3:40 pm
Location: Winchendon Mass. USA

Cagney engine track

Post by duckman903 »

A club that I belong to has a Cagney engine (needs work but that's another story) we are laying track to be able to run our small gas/hydraulic engine my question is what is the minimum radii for the Cagney right now we are laying it out with a 40' radius is that sufficient for the steam engine with the track set to 16" gauge at the radii.
STRR
Posts: 469
Joined: Thu May 24, 2007 9:01 pm
Location: Westminster, CO

Re: Cagney engine track

Post by STRR »

Duckman,

Miniature Train Co. (MTC) recommended no less than 50' radius for their G-16s.

There are a lot of considerations in minimum radius. I am proof you can run 18" gauge with a 12' radius. YES, I said 12'. Yes, I have excessive rail and wheel wear, but, I don't have a choice. If I want to run this train for Christmas, it has to be able to go around the house on this small lot.

That being said, there are some good articles and formulae for more accurate results.

http://www.smex.net.au/Reference/MinRadius02.php

This SMEX article on Minimum Radius has a lot of info in a small package. Grand Scales Quarterly has a good 5 page article dealing specifically with Grand Scale railroads. If you need that one, PM me and I'll try to get it to you.

One thing to remember: Cagney's have small wheels with small flanges. Small wheels are good for short radii but small flanges are NOT.

Good Luck,
Terry
Glenn Brooks
Posts: 2930
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2014 1:39 pm
Location: Woodinville, Washington

Re: Cagney engine track

Post by Glenn Brooks »

Hi Duckman, there are a couple of very knowledgable Cagney experts on the forum, who may be able to comment. As I remember, my copy of the Cagney brochure says 15' radius is minimum recommended radius. I can check my brochure when I get home on Tuesday to confirm. Certainly 40' radius would be much better if space allows. Another consideration would be whether your club may wish to later operate larger equipment with more drivers in the future. For example a 4-8-4 connfiguration may require a 200' radius, or a loco with 6 drivers at least 100' radius on the mainline anyway.

Probably you will only need only 15 1/4" to maybe up to 12 3/4" max gauge on the curves. Seems like 16" might be to wide, potentially causing the wheels to fall off the track. You might experiment with a wheel set or one truck early on to see if 16" gauge will be to wide.

Certainly show us some pictures of your loco and track build. Cagney's are rare and magnificent machines!

Regards
Glenn
Moderator - Grand Scale Forum

Motive power : 1902 A.S.Campbell 4-4-0 American - 12 5/8" gauge, 1955 Ottaway 4-4-0 American 12" gauge

Ahaha, Retirement: the good life - drifting endlessly on a Sea of projects....
STRR
Posts: 469
Joined: Thu May 24, 2007 9:01 pm
Location: Westminster, CO

Re: Cagney engine track

Post by STRR »

Instead of guessing and measuring, measuring, and more measuring, why don't you build the triangle track gauge?

A very basic explanation: A triangle is constructed out of steel with two tabs, at EACH point of the triangle, that capture the rail head between the tabs. Dimensions are very important. The "bottom" of the triangle, between the two points, measures equal to the center to center distance of your longest FIXED driver set. The "top" point dimension is a vertical line from the top point, straight down to the bottom of the triangle (splitting the triangle into two equal smaller triangles) and is equal to your track gauge. If your standard gauge is 15" then the measurement from the inside tab at the top, down to a line between the inside tabs on the bottom, should be 15". If your gauge is 16" then that should be your measurement.

To use the track gauge; place the gauge either way on tangent (straight) track, capturing the rail heads between the tabs. On curves, place the bottom points on the OUTSIDE of the curve and the top point on the INSIDE of the curve. This will automatically spread your rails adequately for the drivers to pass through the curve without binding. This is important as if you get the gauge backward, it will narrow the gauge in the curve, i.e. bottom points on the inside and top point in the outside.

If you would like to add just a little MORE to the spread gauge in the curves, extend the length between the two BOTTOM points.

I have a Word document where I explain this in more detail. If you would like a copy, PM me and I'll send it through a PM and not clutter up the thread.

You may also be interested in the "track ladder". This is an invaluable tool for removing and inserting ties under existing track/rails. I will be glad to PM info on that as well.

Good Luck,
Terry Miller
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