I have a space 13 & 1/2 feet long, 6’ deep ant one end and 42" deep at the other. I am consudering a multi-deck shelf layout and want to be able to run my trains from one deck to another. I’m modelling the steam - diesel transition era.
I’ve looked at various publications and they all seem to lack pictures of how to get the rolling stock from one deck to another without a helix.
Anyone know where ther might be some photos of such a thing?
There are really three ways that I know of to do this without using a helix.
The first is to simply move them by hand. Effective, but not the most elegant solution.
The second is by using a train elevator. This takes up some space lengthwise and the engineering is a bit tricky, so you don’t often see it done, but it does work.
The last is a nolix. Think of this as an around the room helix that is sceniced, and you stand in the middle of it. Kind of like a giant corkscrew around the room. It can be very subtle, depending on the size of the room. You may not even notice it without looking for it.
That’s about all that I can think of right now. I’m sure there’s some that I’m missing. Someone else can hit the high poiints of those.
101 track plans for model railroaders by Linn H. Westcott might help you they have some switch back plans in there that will probility help
‘John Armstrong on Creative Layout Design’ has plans for his ‘dehydrated canal lock’ train elevator and ‘vertical turnout’ level transfer device. Both were designed for long trains in O scale, but could be reduced in size for a smaller scale. Neither seems to be particularly complicated.
If you are modeling a prototype that had a helper district, or want to try one freelance, the ‘nolix’ is a good choice, since it can be made steep enough to justify big power on short trains.
Check back in this forum. There was a lengthy discussion on this topic several months ago. A person designed a lift mechanism using two cheap auto scissor jacks, a length of threaded rod and a cheap hand drill to turn it.
The best I’ve ever seen for moving cars between decks is a fellow in my area that uses ships (Lake Michigan car ferry). He models railroads in Michigan (lower deck) and Wisconsin (upper deck) and uses the car ferries to move about 15 cars at a time between the two. Fun layout.