Hi All, It's been a while since I was around, finally bought my first home (yay!!) and proposed (she said "holy F!@#" (so I assume it's a Yes)) and had to dismantle and dispose of my last layout I was building (check profile for older posts) - I did salvage a lot of the points and point motors and disposed of mostly Hornby set-track (no great loss there). I'm ready for the next challenge and rather than just winging it with whatever takes my fancy on the layout, I've pulled down Anyrail and am going to plan out the whole thing from the get go (who knew that projects work better when working to a design ) lessons learned and all that, Anyway - wanted to reach out to the brains trust and ask a few questions. My current 'playable area' is around 3m x 3m (the back of the garage) and I'm going to be pushing forward with HO scale, ultimately, I know this will limit my modelling area but I'm liking more and more the idea of doing 2 (or maybe 3) decks to make up for the 'play space'. My Questions are: - what's the smallest area you should consider doing multiple decks? Am I being too ambitious considering putting a Helix between the decks given I'm sticking to HO? is three Decks too 'greedy'? if I went with a Helix over a lift to connect to two (or more) decks, does anyone recommend a method/product that might suit? I'd love to hear what people think/suggest, its all a pen/paper exercise right now and there is no ticking timer. Cheers, Wombat.
Congratulation's Wombat on your new home and wife to be the layout plan sounds ambitious but doable. I cant help with the questions but good luck with all of your plans. Ian vt
Sounds like a pretty involved project but exciting and doable at the same time. I have seen information on both helix systems and lifts in the past but would need to try and find them again. There are commercially available " lifts " which were eing sold at some exhibitions but they are expensive. From memory over a grand and possibly .... way over. A ore affordable option may be to build your own and motoring/ controlling using jardine's and big easy drivers etc. You would need to speak with Dundee ( Paul_l ) moderator about that kind kf black magic mumbo jumbo. A multi level Helix system ..... now that sound the doggies doo dars. They take up space but a bit of time at the planning stage after looking the mini um radii required etc could be the cheaper way to go. Think plywood and screwed rod. If I can find any leads to give you some food for thought, I'll post them up. Likewise, anything you find on your search, post up here too as it could be a very handy resource to have. Cheers Toto
A helix will take up a fair amount of space, approximately 48" in diameter for a dual mainline. A few things to consider would be : 1. Is the layout going to be end to end or continuous run ? 2. reach in distance : how deep will the baseboards be ? 3. access to the helix : in case of derailments. 4. how much of the baseboards will be used for scenery ? 5. what is the separation height between each level ? 6. what type of trains will be run on the layout ? Hopefully these questions will help you decide on your track plan for the available space. Cheers, Gary.
Hi Wombat These may help with your Helix planning As others have said not a minor undertaking, but certainly effective. The lifts are expensive to buy ready made. But definately be doable - not sure how the nerves will take it when your putting a hole train in for testing. Good luck and keep posting up the plans Paul
Gary - not wrong about it taking up some space haha - Current thought would be to use this as an up/down between both decks. Paul - Thanks for those Links I do like watching Chadwick's videos Toto - I've seen one using ply to make a hexagon style rise but i've not really found any templates for it. Ian - Cheers for that will throw up a better design once I've captured my scribes/thoughts into anyrail Cheers, Wombat.
Great stuff. I was never off Anyrail when I was modelling in OO scale back at the start of my modelling interests.( now in O Gauge ). Gary will bear testimony to that as he was always proof testing my track plans and the various changes. He knows his stuff. I'm looking forward to see where your track plan goes. I will ter to get the source of the elevator for you as an alternative to the Helix. Just food for thought and another ( expensive ) option. Goid luck with your planning progress ..... note to self ..... must get a buzz on Anyrail .... it's been a long time. Cheers Toto PS .... for anyone interested, you can get a free trial download of anyrail to play around with.
Just found it but I'm pretty useless at inserting links. Look up " Nelevator " under model train lifts. I'll see if I can master this link nonsense Toto
Hi, may I refer you to my "Realising a Dream", part #13 onwards, where I discuss options for multiple levels, gradients and helix design. You can find them here :- https://platform1mrc.com/p1mrc/index.php?forums/how-tos/ Jim
G`day Wombat, I have seen spiral layouts in sheds, however I think more space than you have would be required to achieve suitable gradients and clearances. It might be possible though but would take some serious calculation regarding gradients and clearances between boards. Gormo
Hey Gormo, Your probably right, This was some lunch time playing around made. Bottom Deck so far, current plan has 3 decks, helix from 1 to 2 and another from 2 to 3. I'll probably start a new convo thread in right section soon Cheers, Wombat.
Hi Wombat You may want to include some form of fiddle yard as this is the end of the layout (unless you add a basement storage level ), and a reason for such a large loco facility is a long way from it's reason to exist. What are your proposed layout deck heights ? You may find a single track helix a bit restrictive - yes you can have more than 1 loco / train on the helix at a time, but they must be moving in the same direction. I'd be tempted to move the loco depot to a higher level, and replace it with a reverse loop, and have storage sidings in the Railyard area. This would allow you to turn a train without having to touch them, afterall this is your lowest level and you'd be bending over all the time. Paul
Hi Jim, All my kit (from last layout) and loco's are DCC, was planning to stick with it, I would think DCC has more options than DC. Paul_I The Helix I made is R3 I was toying with only having 1 line for up/down, mostly just looking at trying to keep space consumption down. Re Spacing, I was toying with having the first deck start at around 60-70cm off the ground then have each deck around 40cm's apart. I'm 6 foot 4' so having the deck reach 1.5m(ish) isn't a huge issue for me. I'm trying to keep a list of things I'd like to see on the layout: - Operating Era - Transition Era (1955-1975) Industry - Ore Processing, refinery, Steel. operational limit - 2 trains running simultaneously. HO Scale - Using NCE DCC controllers. Train ops - turntable - kinda ran out of idea's here haha. My current thoughts would be have a mine/loading at the top deck, middle refinery and bottom fiddle/rail-yard, but it makes more sense To have that in the middle now you mention it Paul. Cheers, Wombat
Could I suggest the following... 1. Make this level your top level. More operation will take place here with the inclusion of the engine facilities. 2. Change direction of the helix and make the top section a feature by hiding the helix entry. 3. Change the pond to a river within the top baseboard and make use of the available space. Here is a your diagram with those changes in place... I did notice that you are using Walthers largest turntable on the layout (90' ?). I believe that is almost half a metre in size. Perhaps you have a Garratt that needs turning ? I would choose a smaller turntable, perhaps the 70' (or is it 75') turntable from Walthers. Then again a nice 75' turntable from Anton's Trains would be nice... (if one could afford it ! ) http://www.antonstrains.com.au/Accessories_Turntable75.html Cheers, Gary.
Thanks Gary, that is actaully a much better Idea putting it as the top level, Re Turntable, it's currently the 130' Walthers Turntable as a 'place holder' as the library only seems to have the 90' and 130' turntables. You are correct and I do have a Garratt and a 2nd is on my 'wish list' i currently own a Walthers DCC 110' turntable that was apart of my last layout I tore down before the move and I had planned to re-use it if possible. Cheers, Wombat.
Good to read about reusing the turntable. Better off keeping that going as they are not cheap to replace ! Are you mainly modelling NSWGR transition era or will other railways be run on the layout ? Cheers, Gary.
Besides when the nephew's/Neces come around and Thomas and Friends make an appearance, most of my 'fleet' is NSWGR (around 6-7 Loco's ranging from C35's to C38's and the AD60), I've been drawing inspiration form the Port Kembla forge works for inspiration mostly and not really had the time to go to deep into the research, Id assume given the time-period it would mostly be NSWGR operating in the region. EDIT - Spelling Cheers, Wombat.
