I would’ve posted this in the mid-week photo fun thread, but the photos are each 250-300k, and it wouldn’t be nice to embed those large photos without warning.
Anyway, some of you may recall that I started construction of my “Behemoth Helix” about Thanksgiving. I thought I’d write up a little status report.
As of mid-January, this is what the helix looked like. About half of the bottom tier of track was in, and roadbed (cork) was drying on the second half. Note the uninstalled subroadbed tiers “stacked” at the top of the suspension rods.
Here’s a look at the two tiers that have been final located vertically. The foreground track that runs off to the left is a connection between my Burlington mainline and the NP staging loop.
I’m installing re-railers in each of the two-foot straight sections that separate the semicircles of the helix - cheap insurance for any minor derailments. That’s a Spectrum C&NW 4-6-0 sitting there. I just got it. It will need some break-in and some fine tuning to run like the BLI locos!
The helix as it sits now. I stopped work on it for about three weeks because I had to add the second deck support studs for the Laurel peninsula (that’s the one you can see in this view) and the front wall benchwork (out of the photo to the right), and lay some other track behind the helix before I could’t reach across it anymore. The train is for testing both the track and the loco. I was somewhat surprised to see that the lo
That’s one monster of a helix, but it’s coming along great. I notice you’ve got some wiggle room there on the outside edge and it looks like a track center drawn. Is this to be a 4 track helix in the end? How many tiers to the final design? Total lift?
Yes, it will be a four-track helix, but not at the lower levels. The fourth track takes off from the helix on the tier above about the middle of the test train.
There are six tiers. climbing 4.5 inches per loop - total climb about 27 inches.
That will put a train out of sight for 6-7 minutes at a time - not one of my favorite features of this thing, but unfortunately necessary. I could find no other way to provide the space to incorporate all the visible features I wanted on the layout.
I love helixes Mark, and that one looks like a dandy. The rest of the layout looks like it is comming along in the background. You and I seem to be at about the same stage in construction. I still have another helix to build.[;)]
Behemoth doesn’t give it justice. I’d love to see other photos of your work as if this is indicative of the remainder of the layout it will be incredible when finished.
Mark, I don’t like helixes. I think they are unprototypical as all hell, and bulky and hard to disguise. They are a pain in the butt to design and build. But I will tell you, that’s one fine helix you have there. A lot of hard work has gone into it, that’s easy to see. You do some mighty fine work. You might even go some way toward making me see them in a different light. Looks good.
Hope mine turns out as good. I’m in the same boat I have to have one to get what I want in the space I have.
I’m going to use a router with the right width bit to match my track and lay the track in the groove ( no roadbed, it’s in another room so it doesn’t matter) It should make alignment really easy I hope.
wow, thats GINORMOUS!!
" yeah my train just went into the helix, sooo. anyone want to go watch that new episode of lost? we could probably watch it and get a drink before my train gets to the top"
lol
Thanks for the comments, everyone. A few specific responses:
Or maybe more a lack of perspective…[:D]
I agree with you on the first two sentences, but it was the only way to get what I wanted - long runs and many towns, while retaining the “lone track on the prairie” feel of Wyoming railroading. It’s been fun to design and build so far, though. Then again, being an engineer means my idea of fun isn’t always the norm…[swg] But it is very gratifying to see the structural concept working out as well as it seems to be.
That’s an interesting idea, Ken! Let us know how it turns out!
The backdrops from the sides will wrap around the helix, so I’m not going to scenic it at all, except for applying whatever backdrop treatment I’ll use on the rest of the layout (the jury is still out on photo backdrops or painting). If I have a problem, there is ample room to deal with it from inside the helix, though I have to crawl under one side to get to it.
Trainfreak409, prr67, and others - I hear you about the time the train will be hidden in the helix. That’s probably the biggest drawback of helices in general, an
Is there any way you could put windows or cut outs so you could look into the helix? And do it in such a way that it looked like you were peering into the tunnel. I guess the way to describe it is a diarama within.
So true Ferg, visitors always want to see the helix. I thought about putting in windows in mine, but am leaning toward not doing it. Instead I’ll have a step stool so people can look over the top of the backdrop, and see it that way. There are going to be building flats along the backdrop. I suppose I could make some of the windows into peep holes.[swg]
Windows (slots) are a good idea. You’ll find when someone starts a train into the helix, their throttle will start to creep up as they wonder where the train is. It will usually exit the helix at 100+ mph. A slot big enough to see the train pass on each level goes a long way to stopping this as they can watch the progress of their train.
Thank you Mark for sharing this set of informative pictures. I noticed that you use always two nuts for fastening the tiers. Why? Does it not suffice to tighten the upper and lower nut of one tier together? I have just laid the “foundation” for one 38-inch radius helix and now I am ready to hang in the first tier. I am very interested in your answer.
Thank you
Rene.
