We are going to put a helix on our soon-to-be-started new layout that will allow us to have staging under the layout.
We’re also fighting having a small room for our horseshoe\walk-in layout. (We’re in n-scale). By the time we add a helix, and then have trackage go around the helix (with adequate scenery) we start exceeding the space we have a bit.
SO here’s a crazy idea my son and I cam up with. Would this work? Are we asking for trouble?
Rather than begin the transition to the helix from the main level, is it possible to track split off from the mainline, and then start a 2% grade DOWN through the layout, until we’ve cleared the table, etc, then start the helix? This way we can keep to a <36" width (having the helix fit neatly under the layout.
Thoughts? Remember, half the design team here is 9.
its totally doable, you’ll just have to cut through the layout do get the track to descend. Is your layout started yet? If so, this might be tough. But anything is possible.
If you haven’t started building, you’ll want to build your layout with L and T girders, using risers to support the track. This keeps you from having to deal with a flat table top, and also will allow you to have scenery below track level, as well as allowing you to create a line that descends below track level to get to where the helix is.
I’m kind of having trouble understanding exactly what your space is like… maybe a picture or track plan?
Having a grade leading to a helix isn’t just doable, it’s a good idea. The less track actually in the helix the better and the less grade in the helix the better.
I’m not so sure. The length of the combined grade through the framework and time hidden will be nearly the same, and it is likely that access to track going through the framework (which will be subterrainean) will be worse than in the helix (which with an adequate track radius, can usually be accessed from inside the helix). I see no advantage with a through-the-framework-with-a helix-also approach, and the all-helix approach sounds easier and shouldn’t take any more space because the space required is defined by the diameter of the helix, not its height.
I think it would be a good thing to do. One go around on the helix is enough to get you subterrain, minus any landscaping. If you have a track decending beforehand, even better depending on the total drop. This would allow you to run track n scenery on top of the helix. You might consider having some sort of liftout to get access to the helix and approach innerds when the inevitable happens, but it only has to be big enough to access it, not the whole top. The area above the helix could then contain some large industry with the large space you’d have available
