How do you get Lionel FasTrack to spiral around itself to form a cone?

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

I saw a couple YouTube videos of mountains made of Fastrack that spiral up from a large circle to a small circle at the top. I’ve been fooling around with it in XtrkCad, but I’m not getting it. It looks so lopsided and deformed. I was wondering if there was a trick to it.

If there is a parts list somewhere, that would also be a great help.

2

Here’s a scheme that might work, starting at the top of the mountain:

O36 270 degrees
Straight 6 inches
O36 90 degrees
O48 270 degrees
Straight 6 inches
O48 90 degrees
O60 270 degrees
Straight 6 inches
O60 90 degrees
O72 270 degrees
Straight 6 inches
O72 90 degrees
O84 270 degrees
Straight 6 inches
O84 90 degrees

All the turns are in the same direction of course.

3

Oh wow, this is great!

Thanks Bob. I’m going to give it a try in XtrackCad.

4

Here’s another one, with a loop at the top:

O36 360 degrees
Straight 10 inches
O36 90 degrees
O48 90 degrees
Straight 4 inches
O48 180 degrees
Straight 10 inches
O48 90 degrees
O60 90 degrees
Straight 4 inches
O60 180 degrees
Straight 10 inches
O60 90 degrees
O72 90 degrees
Straight 4 inches
O72 180 degrees
Straight 10 inches
O72 90 degrees
O84 90 degrees
Straight 4 inches
O84 180 degrees
Straight 10 inches
O84 90 degrees

5

Thanks that’s pretty big. I drew both up in XtrkCad to see how they look and I think the second one looks the best, but it’s a little too big.

I am now trying to figure out the clearance for a bridge to crossover at the top for a return loop. I thought I saw Fastrack Figure 8 add on bridge kits using 036 curves, but I can’t find one right now. I might be confusing it with another track.

6

Of course, you wouldn’t have to use all five turns.

An escape is possible at the top, but just barely. I think you would have to use a through-truss or through-girder bridge, with the rails at the absolute bottom of the bridge, at least right where it crosses over the lower track, to maintain 5-inch clearance with a 4-percent grade.

7

I have 3 of those through-truss bridges with the flat sheet metal bottoms. One is 24” which would probably work the best, but I’m using it for something else unless I buy another newer bridge. I also have two 18” bridges that I might be able to use if I put a section of the lower loops in a tunnel on one side so that I can have something to support the other end of the bridge.