Experienced? Steam & track

[Hyperion]

I'm starting to worry about buying a new steam locomotive!

All of the above posts are informative, if somewhat contradictory. The way I interpret them is that you can probably get away with tight curves on flat baseboard, but Peter is talking about baseboard joins here.

I'll let you buy them, then when they don't make it around your small radii curves, you can sell them to me for a used price 

[dodger]

Due to a recent house move to a much smaller property I am having to use Kato 183 mm (7.2 in) radius curves and was surprised that the following steam locos still operate:

Dapol M7
Dapol Q1
Dapol Ivatt class 2 tank, with some lifting of the inside leading pony wheel
Dapol A1X, provided that the SR 4 wheel utility brake van is not coupled at the bunker end
Farish Class 4 2-6-4T (Poole)
Farish unrebuilt WC/BB (Poole)

Dodger

[Les1952]

I have operated and provided stock for three of Trevor Webster's layouts.  Trevor is a brilliant builder of scenery and structures but does tend to let trackwork take care of itself.  Parnhams had radius 1 pieces on both tracks (work out the geometry of that on a double-track main line).

We ran Dapol B17s and my Hall and Ixion Manor with no trouble on either track.  My first Britannia ran quite happily on the inner but not the outer, where the 9" radius was pinched slightly.  No Farish tender locos other than a V2 failed to make the turns- the largest tried were an A3 and a Jubilee.  The mainstay of the fleet were Union Mills and all ran well throughout.

Stamford East had a 9" radius through a tight bridge.  Dapol B1s no problem- a Dapol A3 would run one way but strike the bridge going the other.  However it derailed at a bump in the station approach so the largest locos we used were the B1s.  The B17s struck the sides of the bridge.

My Hawthorn Dene has 10.5" and 12" setrack as the hidden curves on the main line.  ALL locos will handle both radii with no problems.  The colliery is a slightly pinched 9" out of sight, but ordinarily only 0-6-0 tanks run on it, though the Farish WD and Ivatt 2MT don't have any issue.

hope this helps.
Les