Thank you fellows for convincing me to move away from that plastic tube idea I was entertaining.
I next went to that 3" square alum tube that I sliced in half lengthwise to produce 3" channels. These are fine for those 'bridges' that only need to be straight track segments.
But there are a few that need to support curved sections of track. I was thinking of cutting multiple short cuts in their sides that would allow them to bend in a curve. Then I paid another visit to my trusty old metal scrap yard and found some 6" alum channel material. So now my helix bridges are going to be a combination of these 2 type alum channels.
So here is a photo of that 6" wide channel material I found (I believe it is also an extrusion that is utilized in the 'screening' industry). The photo shows a stock piece on the right, and a segmented piece I built on the left,...for one of those curved track segments I mentioned needing above.
That segmented channel above is needed for this very upper loop of helix track that snakes between those upright post of the helix circle to enter back into the layout room.
The two tracks under that wider bridge channel on the top are actually two side-by-side 3" channels (one of them carrying that auto-max cars). Those two 3" channels will mate with a single 6" channel once inside the shed. That 6" wide channel will be a 'singular foundation' for the double crossover arrangement just inside,....originally conceptualized here,..
I next went to that 3" square alum tube that I sliced in half lengthwise to produce 3" channels. These are fine for those 'bridges' that only need to be straight track segments.
But there are a few that need to support curved sections of track. I was thinking of cutting multiple short cuts in their sides that would allow them to bend in a curve. Then I paid another visit to my trusty old metal scrap yard and found some 6" alum channel material. So now my helix bridges are going to be a combination of these 2 type alum channels.
So here is a photo of that 6" wide channel material I found (I believe it is also an extrusion that is utilized in the 'screening' industry). The photo shows a stock piece on the right, and a segmented piece I built on the left,...for one of those curved track segments I mentioned needing above.
That segmented channel above is needed for this very upper loop of helix track that snakes between those upright post of the helix circle to enter back into the layout room.
The two tracks under that wider bridge channel on the top are actually two side-by-side 3" channels (one of them carrying that auto-max cars). Those two 3" channels will mate with a single 6" channel once inside the shed. That 6" wide channel will be a 'singular foundation' for the double crossover arrangement just inside,....originally conceptualized here,..