What Locos Will Run On 1st Radius Track? - Model Railway Experiment!

Let's find out what locos will run on 1st radius set track in this model railway experiment!

In my final video for the year I thought I'd try out a little experiment that I've always been curious about. These days most manufacturers state that their models are capable of running on 2nd Radius curves as a minimum but is that necessarily true for all models?

Well the main circuit on my Christmas layout North Poleton is made up mostly of 1st Radius setback from PECO so I thought I'd put a selection of locos to the test to see how they all cope on a tight circuit.

Some of the smaller industrial locos I'm expecting to run without any problems but what about larger locos? Would it be possible to run a pacific on this layout? Stay tuned to find out!

Thanks for watching 😃

[Trainsofthemidlands]

9fs we’re designed to be able to run on any type of line, they’re praised for there versatility. It’s good that the hornby counterparts channel that. Awesome video as always 🎉

[willbreckinridge]

This is just a loco collection video in disguise XD. I’d love to see more of these experiment videos in future. Hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

[darkfrag]

Nice to see a photo of the layout published in the new edition of Railway Modeller

[Valleysxx]

Well the 9F amused me greatly. Interesting video - happy new year to all :)

[MistaMatthews]

Interesting experiment! I have some “off scene” first radius curves and some the stuff that goes round them is very interesting. Never had any problem with any Bo-Bo diesels or EMU/DMU’s. The 9F was a surprise although clearly the driver was struggling as he was nearly falling out the window!

[adam_fordham]

Very interesting video, it's good to see and know what goes around 1st radius, the biggest shocker was the 9f, that went round no problem, happy new year 😀

[TheSailingMuso]

I was pretty amazed that my Bachmann WD 2-8-0 and the Hornby O1 ran on R1 curves and they didn't seem to have any problems!

[fastoutnotforkids]

This reminds me of when Sams trains did a test similar to this. But he was pushing them to the limits. Like how small can a curve be for a train to stay? Or how high can you make a "bump" in the tracks without the train derailing. Along with many different other tests for tracks and trains. He try them with many different locomotives and its worth a watch. I think he gots a video and a live stream segment for the tests. Again this just reminded me of it and so i thought i tell you since you seem to want to look more into track testing. Oh that would be a awesome collab sams trains and you doing track tests together. Lol. Time will only tell.

[piers]

A fun video and a lovely little Winter Layout. Charming. I have an Oxford Rail J27 and it would derail on a turn out onto a radius one siding. Investigating it I found the turn out was not lying perfectly flat. Adding an extra track pin to hold it down perfectly flat solved the problem. The J27 seems to have very fine wheel flanges and therefore is a real stickler for flat level track, more so than any of my other locos. It now runs on the radius 1 curves though absolutely fine.

[mickaka]

Very good vid, and great information.
Some things may look very unrealistic but if you’re planning on having your radius 1 curves hidden anyway that’s not an issue.
Thanks for sharing this!

[notsosaltyseadog]

Great experiment. I thought I was destined to only old tender drive engines due to a few 1st radius curves on my layout. But there is hope for some modern loco's. Now I just need to figure out how to pay for one!

[PaulinesPastimes]

Because I have a small layout, EVERYTHING has to be able to negotiate 1st radius curves and not look silly. Your video just goes to show that you can't rule anything out. 😊

[TankEngine]

Nice little experiment. I had a feeling the 0-4-0 would make it round with no trouble and it seems 0-6-0s with shorter and long wheelbases work very well too. After watching this, I think tank engines, particularly the smaller ones like 0-4-0s and short based 0-6-0s are best suited for layouts with 1st radius curves.

[ianpress]

Hi I’ve built a first radius layout I tested my Bachmann 3f tender loco and the 4-4-0 dukedog will go round quite nicely. Great video this gave me the inspiration to build my 👍🚂

[Northerner_Transport_Hub]

What I've noticed about you is you've kept the same intro from the start! That's commitment.

[TheGreatWesternGuy]

My god! How on earth did that 9F make it around those curves?!? Great video!

[comicfan]

The 9F was honestly a shock. I would not expect such a large engine would fare so well on a small branch line set like this

[RobA]

Interesting experiment with some surprising results as far as the 9F. I have eliminated even R2 curves on my layout so this shouldn't be a worry for me but I can see that some will still consider R1 due to space constraints, think I'd rather go a smaller scale in that case.

[NicholassTrainChannel]

Great little experiment mate. Even I was surprised that the 9F was running around the 1st radius curves with no issues! It just shows that models that are made today are capable of things like that. Happy new year. - Nicholas.

[yogibear]

most large locos dont mind R1 curves, except the like of the A4 were the bogie is resticted,
i have not alot of space so have used R1 for years no problems, luckly i have managed to fit R2 on my layout now so much better all round, great video anyway 🙂