Sexy Curves

 One of my big plans this year was to drop a little cash into some new track pieces. I found that I used everything I had that was larger radius in every layout since I got them, and I wanted to get more. Not so much that I could rid myself of 1/60 curves forever [although that was the main driver], but so that I can use them to break up the monotony of a basic layout. I mean, no matter what the design, throw in a few 2/30 and 3/30 curves and you've got yourself a smooth flowing raceway. 

Originally I planned on getting only a few 4/15 tracks to pepper around layouts, but then I saw a decent price on twelve pieces, which would make a 180° turn. So I bought that.

The shot on the left is them all strung together in a l/r/r/l pattern with the middle four reversed. Altogether, it's the same length end-to-end as eight straight track pieces. 

The driving experience was exactly what I expected: big and flowy, able to be taken at an extremely high rate of speed...almost punched...but not quite. It almost works out like a natural S-section, although better suitable for a long mountain pass setup or something. I could totally see that. For replacing a straightaway, doing something like this is a really fun idea. 

I also set up the big 180°, but it's so big I can't do much with it on my apartment floor. I'm working on a test layout, but so far it's looking kinda funny. 

I'm also going to be working on getting the 4/15 tracks inserted into layouts of the past that I liked as well. There were lots of times when they could have come in handy, if not to just add some variety.

So now I have a 180° in every radius. I also picked up three more 3/30 tracks, so now I have six. I really like those as well. 

These are going to be used in all sorts of ways, many of which I have yet to discover. While I'll probably try the Big Curve at least once, they'll more than likely be used as straight replacements or for multi-radius curves. Layout design is about to get really interesting, and I think I'll be doing a lot more of it.

There are a lot of possibilities. I know I don't have all that much space, so I'll have to use them where I can. I know they're going to enhance just about any curve on the track.

Just a few of the 180° curves that can be done with varying radii curve pieces. 1/60 [brown], 2/30 [yellow], 3/30 [green] and 4/15 [blue] track pieces.

I've tried all of those on the top row, and some on the bottom. The generic one-color turn is pretty predictable and boring. The more color the better. The three-color curves up there are the most interesting, provide the biggest challenge and can be taken at a much faster speed, provided you know your braking. You can go in deeper, brake hard and accelerate sooner out of the corner. The car might pitch out a little bit at the apex, but usually not enough to crash. The two-color curves are even faster, as the sharp apex is taken out in favor or a bit more flow.

So I'll be exploring and reporting on track layouts, looking for good, challenging stuff. I'll be looking for sections and replacement sections. I've found a few so far. But the 4/15 curves will probably primarily be used in pairs or fours or sixes, enhancing sections. I have enough to do doubles with them, so that'll be interesting as well. 

This should have an interesting effect on the race cars. Less straights means more of an advantage for the shorter cars, although a 4/15 curve can be taken at an extremely high rate of speed, which makes it almost a straight. So I'm going to call it a tie. Used as enhancers, they'll play more of a role in the handling of the cars,  so I'm curious how that's going to work. 

When I think about it, adding the first group of 2/30 and 3/30 tracks was a real challenge, and it's only going to get even more challenging now. Here's my setup at the moment:

Six 4/15 tracks equals four straight tracks. So twelve equals eight here. I wanted to try this to see what the flow was like. The 4/15 tracks, if you break them up into thirds, are L/R/R/L. Basic roll. Make three of those, invert the middle one, essentially making it R/L/L/R, and there it is. Add some fun multi-radius curves on the end and this amounts to an extremely fast and fun race track. It'll be the next one featured for a race. 

You can take that 4/15 snake at such high speeds that you can really push every car's ability to do subtle weight shifts. In a high speed race I can see this section being the make-or-break for pretty much everybody. The best handling cars are going to set the best lap times. Or is it the grippiest? Shortest? Longest? 

I'm so glad I finally got these. So much fun to be had. More to come.