Layout Underway At Last


DougC said:
fcwilt:
My suggestion is that while building...

Hope this is helpful.
DougC
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. I know that the track work needs to be as good as I can make it.

Seems to me I have two options as to how to lay the track.

One way would be to lay it one circles worth of track at a time as I install each circle of roadbed into the supports. By doing it circle by circle I wouldn't have to deal with reaching into the limited space between the layers of the helix but I would still be working at the layout in somewhat awkward working conditions.

The other way would be to lay the all of the track on each circle of roadbed at the "workbench" leaving a gap of a inch or two at each end. The next step would be to install each circle into the supports, connecting each circle to the previous with a short piece of track.

Thoughts, please, from any and all - particularly from those who have done this before.

Thanks!
 
fcwilt said:
Thanks for the input. I know that the track work needs to be as good as I can make it.

Seems to me I have two options as to how to lay the track.

One way would be to lay it one circles worth of track at a time as I install each circle of roadbed into the supports. By doing it circle by circle I wouldn't have to deal with reaching into the limited space between the layers of the helix but I would still be working at the layout in somewhat awkward working conditions.

The other way would be to lay the all of the track on each circle of roadbed at the "workbench" leaving a gap of a inch or two at each end. The next step would be to install each circle into the supports, connecting each circle to the previous with a short piece of track.

Thoughts, please, from any and all - particularly from those who have done this before.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

fcwilt, What I am doing this time on my helix is to make a full circle of lumber, road bed, and track with feeders then do another full circle on top of that in the same order. Since mine is 77" diameter I figured it would be better to build it in sections. I will leave the last piece of flex track and road bed off untill I have added the the next section of the wood helix. Make sense? It doesn't to me... :D Check out my thread: http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29162
 
irocinblue89 said:
fcwilt, What I am doing this time on my helix is to make a full circle of lumber, road bed, and track with feeders then do another full circle on top of that in the same order. Since mine is 77" diameter I figured it would be better to build it in sections. I will leave the last piece of flex track and road bed off untill I have added the the next section of the wood helix. Make sense? It doesn't to me... :D Check out my thread: http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29162
Click to expand...

It looks like from one of the pictures you are adding the road bed to the circle of lumber BEFORE you install it into the supports. Is that correct?

I was thinking that if I could install the foam-roadbed/track/wiring at the "workbench" I could do a better job given the improved working conditions.
 
fcwilt said:
It looks like from one of the pictures you are adding the road bed to the circle of lumber BEFORE you install it into the supports. Is that correct?
Click to expand...

Yes it is. I am actually installing it all "as I go up". But in order. Wood, roadbed, track, then feeders. Repeat. I feel the same way about building it where I can reach everything better and then locate the helix in it's final resting home.

Seann
 
fcwilt:

You're welcome.

"Seems to me I have two options as to how to lay the track. "

My response is: Given the high importance of the helix and its maintenance difficulty once installed, I'd suggest you build the helix whichever way that would facilitate the smoothest trackwork - i.e. no kinks, smooth joints, no discrepancies in rail height from one baseboard section to the other, etc. If it takes a little extra time - well, time very well spent (and you and your back will continue to thank you too!)

This thought just occurred to me: If it was mine I would reverse super-elevate the curved track inside the helix. What I mean is, I'd raise the inner rail (not the outer rail) by shimming under the ties. You could experiment with this a little first (I'd use thin cardboard strips and start stacking them) as to what height to raise the inner rail. As long as you're not running trains at break-neck speeds down the helix I'll bet a super elevation (even 1/64 or 1/32nd of an inch) of the inner rail will help a lot.

If anyone has done this track reverse super-elevation please let us know how you fared with downhill and uphill trains, your track radius and grade percent, number of cars in the trains, and anything else that you think is relevant. Thanks.

DougC
 
DougC said:
fcwilt:

This thought just occurred to me: If it was mine I would reverse super-elevate the curved track inside the helix.

DougC
Click to expand...

Sounds interesting (and curious) but I don't understand why this might be good.

What's the theory?
 
fcwilt:

Good question.

The physics of reverse super-elevating the helix track is that, when trains are going uphill on a curve there is a lot of pulling force on the head end cars of the train to try to string-line themselves (i.e. the locos pulling on them with the dead weight of all the railcars pulling on them from behind) to derail themselves on the inside of the curve - stringlining).

By raising the inner rail a little the head-end cars will have a harder time string-lining themselves - they have to go uphill some (the inside wheels' flanges have to climb more to get over the inside rail.) Also, with the outer rail now lower than the inside rail the center of gravity of each car moves a little to the outside and it is therefore less likely to derail toward the inside of the curve.

By the way this actually happens on the real railroads from time to time; that's why on mixed freights with a lot of curves on grades the lighter railcars (like empty intermodal cars) are put on the back end of trains. Also, I've string-lined on my own HO model railroad (not on purpose) by starting the train (60 cars) too fast - usually with a jerk from a balky loco - and the first 5 or more cars behind the locos string-line right off the track to the inside of the curve.

And as info, a few weeks ago I saw on railpictures.net a photo of a current BNSF train that string-lined the first 8 cars behind the locos on a crossover track (going from one parallel track to the next) because the engineer didn't wait long enough for the brakes to release on the rear of the train. I bet he was embarrased.

DougC
 
OK I can see when going uphill there might be a benefit but it would seem when going downhill just the reverse might be true.
 
While waiting for the items I needed to start laying track I went ahead and installed the foam.

I still need to smooth things out a bit - there was some variation in the thickness of the foam pieces - in other places I used too much adhesive.

But a little work with a belt sander and all will be good.

Don't ya just love that steel column rising out of the area which will be home to the passenger station? I haven't decided how to deal with that. Perhaps I will steal John Allen's idea, giving all due credit of course - Allen's Apline Bed & Breakfast perhaps?
 
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Track laying will soon begin - the items I was waiting for have arrived.

Here is a piece of track with one of the SweepSticks in place.

It's easier to see against the foam but I included a shot of a part of the helix with roadbed installed and that piece of track just sitting on it.

They slip into place easily and will yield a better result then I could get by eye.
 
Wow. looking awesome. Very good to see progress to your nice layout.

Everything you are doing looks very clean and neat!

Keep the pictures flowing
 
Thought this might be of interest to some.

Knowing I was going to be soldering a lot of joints I thought I would give resistance soldering equipment a try.

One of the points that the vendors make is the very localized heating you can achieve.

They are telling the truth.

This thing works just dandy. It's very quick, maybe 3 seconds to solder a joint. You can turn off the current with the foot switch which instantly stops the heat but you can keep a grip (if needs be) on the things you are soldering.

The tips on this "tweezer" style hand piece are replaceable and you can bend them, if needs be, to suit the problem at hand.

And I had no problem with heat getting to the plastic parts and melting them.

If you have used Peco flex track you know how small the "spikes" are - well all mine are still there.

I wasn't sure what to expect but it is everything the vendor says it is. It's not cheap (they say it's all made in America) but I think it is well worth it.

https://www.americanbeautytools.com/site/models/rs
 
Things have been busy here at the lake and then I got a bit of a bug but I did get back to work long enough to get the helix installed (more or less).

The hard part has been done, getting the basic helix structure in place, with track installed.

I need to position, plumb and fasten the uprights.

Then there is a small bit of work to make and install the transition from the helix to the main level.

Then there is the wiring.

In one of the pictures you can see the SweepSticks I used - they really made it simple to keep the radius consistent.

There is also the jig I made to make it easy to ensure that the track was correctly positioned with respect to the MDF sub-roadbed.

Heading out of town for a bit but when I return I will have a good hunk of time to settle back down and get some work done.
 
Beautiful work. Sorry if I missed this.....but....how are you holding the track to the roadbed....helix.....and foam? Nails? Caulk? Hot glue?


Mike
 
railfan said:
Beautiful work. Sorry if I missed this.....but....how are you holding the track to the roadbed....helix.....and foam? Nails? Caulk? Hot glue?


Mike
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,

I am using Woodland Scenics foam roadbed and their FoamTac glue. Many folks use adhesive latex caulk. I tested caulk after reading about it and found that it seemed quite similar to FoamTac glue. FoamTac is a bit thinner and "grabs" quickly - more quickly then I found the caulk I was testing. I would be OK using caulk but I had already purchased the FoamTac. I like the FoamTac so I am using what I have and then if I need more I may give caulk a try.
 
It's been a long while since I have had anything to post.

Between the death of my mother (at 96) and all the things that needed to be done in dealing with her estate and the various holidays I had little time to do any work.

Now that things are returning to "normal" I have been able to return to working on the layout.

As you can see in the photos I've got most of the roadbed down. The large areas are the freight and passenger yards.

The section that will cover the helix is on hold pending the materials I need to finish installing the "guard rails" on the inside of the helix. I thought I had correctly computed how many strips of "plexiglas" I would need but I messed up and only had enough to do the outside.

In the picture of the helix you can see one of the two Azatrax IR detector boards installed to allow monitoring of a trains progress through the helix.

The last switch machines and associated hardware just arrived and the additional "plexiglas" strips for the helix are on the way.

So the next step is to cut the remaining recesses for the electromagnetic uncouplers in the newly laid roadbed.

After that I can return to laying track until the "plexiglas" arrives and I can finish the helix. When the helix is done I can install the plywood and roadbed for the section over the helix.

It's good to be back at work.
 
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