Hi All; I run HO and in the process of an small extension and trying to get approx a 1/2 turn on a Helix: Problem is it has to be tight (26"-28") and Light & Portable as part of it will be above our TV; I have a Drop Ceiling (in basement) as I could not do the hanging wires idea.
Any ideas and/or pictures would be Great!
thanks, Cary
hi let me see if I got what you want to do? as I see your writeings you want a half circle, 26 radius, above the tv correct? as yo stated false cealing,whitch do hang from wires,you can hang from the floor beams above the false cealing with wires and run throo the cealing.If your going to use plywood for your base you wouldn’t need as many wires as with foam.now if you wanted to rase and lower this part you could use cables and a crank to do this.hope I didn’t step in and confuse you
slow train Ed
Find the floor joist that is where you want to hang from, I would use a rod though.
Your 26-28 inch radius over a half circle would be a run of only about 7 feet. Even at a horrible 5% grade, that would only give you about 4 inches of elevation change. Is that enough, and can you tolerate that kind of grade? In truth, I have just such grades on my layout, but the only thing that runs on those lines is short subway trains and trolleys, which can tolerate it.
I would simply build a curved ramp using blocks cut from 2-inch pink foam. That could be very solid and very light. Use another strip of foam on top to get a good flat surface for laying the track.
A simple solution would be to get a set of Atlas piers and build your grade with those.
Thanks for the info but the Drop Ceiling won’t work as My WIFE will not let me put Rods through that Drop Ceiling unless I can somehow Hide the Rods; I haven’t really looked to see if it can be done or not…Just don’t want to push my luck if yknow what I mean…The TV is LCD and does sit on an Entertainment Center which I could swivel the TV a little and put a Brace on the Entertainment Stand when needed?
The Inches left is approx 2.75 for this approx half circle…(have about 9 ft)
The 2" Pink foam I did think about; but exactly how I am not sure; meaning to Temporarily attatch to the Perm End Pieces…Brain just not thinking?
Perhaps a train elevator? It would be able to accomodate 7 foot trains. There have been several articles in Model Railroader on the subject.
S&S
A sketch of tyhe track plan and a pic of the room will be a big help here.
It sounds like you need a 2.75 inch rise over a 9 foot run correct? That’s a bit over a 2.5% grade so it’s do able.
For that large an area perhaps a cookie cutter style roadbed may work better than a full sheet of plywood (or foam) Lighter for sure but a bit flimsierbut the big advantage is it would have less “visual mass”
Wires would certainly be able to support it (14 guage solid), rods would be overkill.
Why would it need to be removable? Would it block the view of the TV?