TrainHead posted:hey John I really enjoy your tips. What is the largest radius curves can you get into a 12 x 12?
Trainhead:
That is a tough question to answer without specifics.
One big circle would be a 144 diameter curve--72 radius..would fill that space...don't do that. :-) The question involves how big of curves do you need for what you are going to operate? If you are running "standard" cars 10 to 15 inches long you could use tight curves. If you are going to run scale passenger cars I'd use 96 diameter curves at a minimum.
It completely depends on what you want to do. What is your railroad's name? Where is it located? What is it going to be doing? Is this a "real" depiction or are you doing a toy train layout? If it's real: what are you, and others, going to be doing to interact with the trains?
I wrote an entire book on how to design a layout including curvature recommendations/suggestions...tough to answer a question in a few sentences. :-)
