How Much Room on either side of Roadbed?

or not. The thought was what does one need for attaching wire screen or other scenery materials. I plan on a cliff on one side and a stream on the other.

Thank you for the reply.

Carl 

My few cents:

As Bryan has said, the longer the car/locomotive the wider the clearance that you will require on on curves.

As a rough guide I tend to use half an inch either side of the SLEEPERS (Ties) not the road-bed per se', as this gives sufficient clearance for rolling stock and ballast etc as well as providing sufficient clearance for the rolling stock I use, remembering always that even in the most difficult terrain, railway cuttings are angled away (outwards)  from the track (except on Bush Tramway (Logging) lines which are a special case in themselves), for drainage purposes, and are very rarely vertical, while tunnel portals on curves will always be wider than the roadbed, though how wide willl depend in the sort of equipment you are running. 

Again, use your longest 'stock to determine the room you will need when entering the tunnel portal.

I would suggest that you draw-in two lines on your roadbed (to represent track) and place your longest locomotives and cars on the curves - this will give you an idea of how much room you will need to allow for.

NB - Don't forget that any scenery you add will tend to 'close' the available space, especially as you add plaster, foliage, ground cover etc, hence the half-inch space I refered-to before - it gives a bit of leeway and saves having to remove too much if things become a little to 'tight' clearance-wise.

As I said, my few cents - hope it helps. 

Komata

"TVR - serving the Northern Taranaki . . . "

May I make a suggestion that if you're using "cookie-cutter" style roadbed that you cut the edges at an angle, as this gives you a more realistic way to attach your screen, plastercloth, hardshell or whatever.  Any edges of the roadbed still seen after scenicking will look like grade, not an unrealistic shelf or cliff alongside the tracks that a straight cut edge leaves.

It's a small matter to add at this stage and can prevent big scenicking hassles later. 

Just my two cent's worth.